If you have liked the Beer Spy’s Facebook page then you know that Annebeth’s in Annapolis put their long awaited keg of Terrapin’s Cinnamon Roll’d Wake-n-Bake on tap for growler fills this past Tuesday night.
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We knew this beer wouldn’t last long, but Casey and I had to get to the Annapolis Homebrew Club’s happy hour over at Metropolitan. We made a game time decision to jump in the car, drive over to Maryland Ave, fill our (Fishpaw’s branded) growler, rush back home to put it in the fridge, then walked our way over to Metropolitan. We were only five minutes late.
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Last night we popped that growler open and I am so glad we did! Regular Wake-n-Bake Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout is a personal favorite that we first had in Savannah, Georgia several years ago. The brewers at Terrapin make this Imperial Stout with coffee beans from a local roaster and just as its name suggests it is big, dark, roasty, creamy, and strong. The Cinnamon Roll’d version is something new.
The first wiff of this beer seriously smelled like a cinnamon roll. It was sweet, almost sugary, roasty, and of course full of cinnamon. The first sip was really thick and creamy, with dark roast coffee, chocolate, sugar frosting, and again cinnamon; however, I thought the cinnamon was more hot than flavorful. It actually made some of the other flavors more difficult to taste, and was a bit disappointed.
We then sat down to dinner with our beers, and both thought our navy bean soup just wasn’t spicy enough. Casey added some Sriracha to her bowl, and I threw some chipotle Tabasco into mine. After a few spoonfuls of spiced up soup I finally got around to taking another sip of the beer. This is when the clouds parted, the sun shone down, and a chorus of angels joined Guns ‘n Roses for a background power ballad.
The heat from my soup mellowed the heat from the cinnamon. Suddenly the cinnamon heat was completely gone and all I could taste was the sweet cinnamon roll, coffee, and chocolate flavors in this beer. So get yourself some Cinnamon Roll’d Wake-n-Bake, and pair it with a moderately spicy food. Consider salsa, a mild curry, or a simple dollop of hot sauce on a deviled egg. You will not be disappointed.
The Beer Spy 
This truly is an amazing beer. I’m glad y’all enjoyed it. Living in Athens and like 8 miles from the brewery we’ve enjoyed this many times. Having it on draft and countless number of battles is always a different experience, but thanks for the recommendation to pair with something spicy.
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It really is a great beer. We used to live in Georgia and had the original Wake-n-Bake before it was even called Wake-n-Bake. When I first saw the Cinnamon Roll’d version I had to try it. What usually changes about it when you’ve had it? Is it different from year to year? When did it first come out? Is the difference between keg and bottle significant?
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Wake-n-Bake was the original name, it’s now called Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout since the TTB doesn’t like the weed reference. This was the first for CRWnB and White Chocolate Moo Hoo; which for us was a better version of Moo Hoo than the cinnamon version of WnB. So that beer has only been out maybe two months. The difference we’ve noted is the amount of cinnamon we pick up; which I would call a spice not so much a heat, but that’s my palette talking. I have a bottle of each left to save or savor; not sure. I would say it’s more subtle in the bottle than draft and having it fresh at the brewery is when the flavors really pop.
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Weird. Maybe the bar in Savannah just didn’t know what the beer was called, or just decided to call it Coffee Oatmeal Stout. Whatever, it doesn’t matter.
I still have not tried the White Chocolate Moo Hoo. I’ll be looking for it around here. I did just pick up a bottle of the Pineapple Express, and will probably pop that open this week.
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