Whenever my pal Frank tells me to try a good beer, he’s usually not far off with his recommendation. He recently passed along a can of Wolf’s Ridge Brewing‘s Daybreak to me and said it was a solid beer. As I turned the can over in my hand, I realized there were Great American Beer Festival medals printed on the label, so I knew I was in for a treat.
The labels on the can were from the “Coffee Beer” category. Daybreak won the Gold Medal in 2020 in front of Karl Strauss Brewing Company’s Golden Stout and BJ’s Restaurant & Brewery’s BJ’s Coffee Blonde. Another Wolf’s Ridge brew, Buchenrauch, won the bronze medal in the “Smoke Beer” category in 2020.
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The other GABF medal on the Daybreak label was a silver medal from 2019. It was sandwiched between Earth Rider Brewery’s gold medal with their Duluth Coffee Pale Ale and Central Perk from Ambitious Ales winning bronze medal. The “Coffee Beer” category is the catchall for all the coffee beers that are not Stouts and Porters. They have their own category, which I’m sure everyone is thankful for.
According to Wolf’s Ridge, Daybreak is a variant of their Clear Sky Cream Ale. Despite it’s traditional roots, Daybreak played the part of a beer looking to play tricks on you. From the crack of the can and pouring it into my glass, my eyes saw the yellow straw colored beer, but my nose smelled the sweet coffee scent from the vanilla beans and the “rotating house roast” from one line coffee. I found Daybreak to be extremely well balanced between the light and refreshing Cream Ale characteristics and the strong coffee yet sweet personality it was given with the coffee and vanilla, respectively.
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This is the best Coffee Cream Ale I’ve ever had, hands down. It is 5% ABV and only has 14 IBUs. Daybreak could work best any time of day, but especially over brunch or with a delectable dessert.
Wolf’s Ridge Brewing is a new-to-me-brewery. I’ve been working on getting to know the Ohio beer scene since the beginning of 2020 and have enjoyed what I’ve discovered so far. I’ll have to see what else I can find from Wolf’s Ridge either by making the drive to Columbus or seeing if there is anything in distribution the next time I cross over state lines.
Cheers!
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