Wolf’s Ridge celebrates 7th anniversary with decadent new brews

One of the most lauded beermakers in the city of Columbus is celebrating its seventh anniversary—consider this your official invitation.

Wolf’s Ridge—the Fourth St. brewery behind the smooth, quaffable Daybreak Cream Ale and the fierce Dire Wolf Imperial Stout—is launching a slate of anniversary activities that no serious Columbus craft enthusiast will want to miss.

On Oct. 21, Wolf’s Ridge will kick off the festivities with a virtual bottle release of not just one celebratory brew, but an entire list of decadent Barrel-aged beers, just in time for colder weather.

The bottle list includes:

VII, a cuvée-blended seventh-anniversary ale
Bourbon Barrel Canis Mexicanus, a barrel-aged imperial stout with chili peppers, coffee, cacao, cinnamon, and vanilla.
Bourbon Barrel Coffee Joy, a barrel-aged imperial stout with coffee, coconut & cacao
Maple Barrel Magellan, an imperial maple stout aged in maple syrup barrels that formerly held rum.
Coffee Maple Barrel Magellan, an imperial maple stout aged 1 year in a maple syrup barrel that formerly held rum, then conditioned on espresso beans.
Bourbon Barrel St. Francis, a blend of 75% Belgian quad and 25% imperial stout aged in a bourbon barrel for 18 months
Coconut Cream Pie, a cream ale infused with hand toasted coconut and vanilla bean
Boss Red, a Rooibos tea-infused barrel-aged sour red ale.
Cinnamon Vanilla Rum Barrel Dire Wolf, an imperial stout aged in South American Rum barrels for a year, then conditioned on cinnamon and vanilla. This beer will only be available for purchase in the bundle option.

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According to Wolf’s Ridge marketing coordinator Jenny Hauck, the brewery’s seventh-anniversary beer is not only something you need to try, it’s one you’ll likely only have one chance to buy, as the circumstances that created it are so unique.

“The story of that beer is pretty fun; it’s kind of a making lemonade out of lemons sort of thing,” Huack said.

“We were brewing a barrel-aged pumpkin ale with peppers and spices for release in September, but because of COVID, our source for peppers ran out, and we had to go with a different purveyor.

Our brewers could tell they were spicier, so they used less, but ever then the beer turned out way too spicy to drink. We ended up making a cuvée blend [combining different beers to reach a desired strength of flavor profile, similar to blending in winemaking] using 50% of that beer and several different styles. The result is super fun and nuanced, it’s still spicy but it’s a great beer.”

Beginning at 11:00 a.m., virtual bottle sales for a pre-selected bundle of these beers (priced at $235) will kick off; à la carte sales will begin shortly after 12:00 p.m. All sales will be given the option of next day curbside pickup or delivery.

The bundle includes:

1x 4-pack of VII

2 x Bombers of bourbon barrel Canis Mexicanus

3 x Bombers of bourbon barrel Coffee Joy

4 x 8oz Bottles of Maple Barrel Magellan

4 x 8oz Bottles of Coffee Maple Barrel Magellan

1 x Bomber of bourbon barrel St Francis

1 x Bomber of Cinnamon Vanilla Rum Barrel Dire Wolf

Bombers denote 22-ounce bottles.

If you do opt for the bundle, we recommend drinking some of these fresh and stashing a few others into a cellar or basement—many of these full-bodied sippers will only get better with age

And while no all-out bash like last year’s Wolfstock is possible this year, the brewery is still offering an in-person event for their anniversary. On Oct. 24 and 25, their Hickory Room, a space regularly used for private events, will be set up with seven socially-distanced tables. Strict COVID-19 safety guidelines will be enforced.

Groups can purchase tables for 90 minutes, where they’ll enjoy sampling flights from a 20-beer tap list, including the brewery’s stalwarts in addition to limited release favorites like Cinnamon Vanilla Rum Barrel Dire Wolf, Coconut Cream Pie and Bourbon, and Barrel Coffee Joy

“It’s a shame we can’t have another Wolfstock this year, but we can still do what we love most, let customers sample a variety of our beers.”

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