Widmer Brothers W’10 Pitch Black IPA

Brewed by Widmer Brothers Brewing Company
Style: Black IPA
Portland, Oregon USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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Tap, JL Beers, Fargo, ND, USA. Deep black colour, frothy beige head. Fresh hop aroma, deceiving for the appearance. Some chocolate on the first sip, then fading to a bitter finish.

Bottle courtesy of kenb in the Mystery Swap v4.0. Pours a clear dark ruby brown with a medium sized tanned beige head. Big pine and citrus, sticky, caramel. Medium bodied, malty, spicy earthy grapefruit pith. Finishes with some light roast, and grapefruit. Tasty, thanks Ken.

12oz bottle. Poured a deep, and see through, brown color with a large sized off white head. Aromas of pine, floral, a little earthy, and toasty. Tastes of pine, toasted caramel, floral, and some chocolate.

Black body with a soft, frothy beige head. Solid toasted malt body that was refreshingly not heavily roasted. Piney hops with a leafy, citrus, floral character. Good offering.

On draught at the Draught house. Pours a dark ruby pour with soapy beige head. Aroma is soap, caramel, bitter. Flavor is soap, bitter, nutty, bread. Nice carbonation.

UPDATED: JAN 23, 2010 This was a pleasant surprise from Widmer. I’m not a big fan of all of the new black (D)IPAs and still found this beer quite enjoyable. There’s a healthy if restrained roasted/chocolate malt note. The hops are floral and piney, strong but not harsh. It’s quite dry, which is very good for this sub-style. It’s a creamy, rich beer that drinks bigger than its abv. I assume this beer is a limited edition, which is really a shame as it’s quite good.

Murky, brown pour. Not exactly "pitch black", but darker than most IPA’s. Aroma of charred toast, pine, grapefruit. Flavors of citrus, grapefruits, and perhaps a touch of roasted malts. Bitter, juicy hop finish. Watery mouthfeel. Not complex or really that mind blowing. Fair I guess.

Really dark brownmore than black but that was the least of my complaints. It smelled weird, sort of hoppy and then brown ale. The taste was more of the same, mostly dark malts with a slight bit of hops, like a hoppy brown ale but not an IPA as far as my tastebuds are concerned. Still, not a bad beer but not a true black IPA like Stone 11. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 01-18-2010 03:43:54

Fill disclosure: I’m a fierce critic of Widmer for many reasons. Their "W" releases are usually pretty good (and, I must add, I’ve been the first reviewer of several), but last years completely sucked arse, and but for this six-pack on sale, I might have given up (I’ve really cut back on both consumption and certainly rating lately). That stated, I’m impressed.. Pours very dark indeed, but has a very thick, fluffy head that doesn’t die very quickly. It leaves one of the nicer lacings down the glass that I’ve seen lately. Scent is almost completely of Cascade-ish hops: lots of citrus, but just a hint of coffee, which is odd yet enticing. The best way I can describe the flavor is imagine a great PNW IPA and give it a bit of a coffee taste, but only slightly. So yeah, citrus-grapefruit, very light fruits, and coffee (hints of chocolate). Palate is nice; it’s full and well-carbonated with a crispy cleansing IPA aftertaste going on. Overall, I’m very impressed. The only thing I can say negatively is for style, and that I’m quite sure they’re using coffee in the batch, but I gotta say that it works. I must add that I just drained the pint glass and there is indeed lacing all the way from the rim to the bottom of the glass. Nicely done!

12 oz bottle from Fred Meyer - coffee, roasty aroma, black color, tan foam, medium bitterness, full body, thick feel, bitter. The roasted grain is a nice taste. This is an interesting beer. It looks like a porter with the hops flavor of an IPA. There are starting to be enough of these black IPAs that they deserve their own category. I like this beer. Bravo to Widmer on W’10!