Shadow's Wild Black - Anheuser-Busch

BeerFMAndy

Wisconsin

2.38/5  rDev -7.4%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

12 oz twist-off bottle poured into a pilsner glass.
8% ABV, 12087
(Reviewed 06-24-12 - from notes)

A - Shadow's Wild Black pours a dark plum purple with ruby highlights and is crowned by a light purple head. Effervescent and fizzy, it evaporates to a thin skim with a wimpy collar of foam.

S - Artificial jam aroma. Should I be getting ready to spread this beer on a toasted English muffin, or drink it? It also has a very awkward light scent of pizza sauce spread over thin crust, oddly enough. A swirl of this beer brings out plenty of sugar.

T - Exceeding my expectations, the blackberry flavor, while artificial and sweet, isn't plain awful. Grainy malt lingers behind but remains at an acceptable level.

M - Cloying sweetness shouldn't be any surprise following the other two versions of this beer. Thick feeling through the moderate carbonation, Wild Black has a faint alcohol kick along the finish.

O - Out of all the "Wild" series of these AB beers, I find this the least offensive and most likely to substitute well for a wine cooler, but it begs the question, "why?" Sadly, I'm left speechless for an answer.

Serving type: bottle

02-02-2013 16:28:31 | More by BeerFMAndy

mcewesr

Pennsylvania

2.75/5  rDev +7%

05-24-2013 17:00:09 | More by mcewesr

davey101

Connecticut

2.03/5  rDev -21%
look: 3 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

Another gem from match1112. 12 oz bottle into an over sized wine glass.

A - Pours a dark purple body with thin light purple edging. Straight 4'Loko style.

S - A pretty intense aroma of fake blackberries and a touch of vodka. Such a strong smell!

T - How do people drink this? Sugar, sweetener, sugar syrup, black berry jam, and sugar cubes. Its so over the top, this taste like an alcoholic sucralose fruity blackberry bomb. Thick and syrupy.

O - There are zero redeeming qualities to this beer. Its cheap and highly alcoholic, but you would have to break through a wall of artificial sweetener and defeat the inevitable headache to achieve any sort of buzz. Just stick with fruited vodka.

Serving type: bottle

05-09-2013 02:32:09 | More by davey101

tommyguz

Pennsylvania

1.5/5  rDev -41.6%

05-07-2013 13:44:43 | More by tommyguz

HideYaBeer

Florida

4.25/5  rDev +65.4%

05-05-2013 20:15:04 | More by HideYaBeer

mfnmbvp

Illinois

2.65/5  rDev +3.1%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

12 oz. bottle, with no apparent bottled on date present. I tried this beer and it's two companion beers sometime last summer, and I remember being underwhelmed, but for the sake of knowledge I decided to give this beer another go. I do remember enjoying this one the most out of the three.

Poured into a Firestone Walker pint glass.

A - Pours about two fingers of fizzing pinkish / purple/ white colored head on top of a ruby red / purple berry fruit juice concentrate colored body. Looks like some fruit juice concentrate in a glass with some cotton candy head on it.

S - Smell is of generic berry juice concentrates more than it is of actual genuine blackberry or blueberry flavor. No natural beer flavors to comment upon.

T - Taste is comprised of artificial fruit juice flavor and a hint of hot medicinal alcohol presence. Tastes like some kind of punch mixed with a bit of cheap vodka more than it embodies an actual fruit beer. Minor tartness. Virtually no legitimate blackberry flavor to be found here, and that is apparent from the first sip onward. I suppose you could argue that there is faint corn husk and grain adjuncts present here as well, but that is debatable.

M - Feel is fruity, sugary, sticky, & artificial. Some burning nail polish remover alcohol astringency.

Overall, another awful Anheuser-Busch attempt to infiltrate the world of craft beer, with shady marketing schemes like releasing this beer under a separate moniker so you wouldn't know it was an Anheuser-Busch product, until you got home, drank it, and realized what a horrible rip-off it is. However, in the grand scheme of the beer world, it is palatable, inoffensive, and packs a solid 8.00% abv so it is sure to please those looking to rage during the summer.

Anheuser-Busch Shadow's Wild Black ---2.5/5

Serving type: bottle

04-26-2013 01:56:39 | More by mfnmbvp

BurgeoningBrewhead

Pennsylvania

2.75/5  rDev +7%

04-15-2013 02:19:36 | More by BurgeoningBrewhead

theAdamsFamily

Texas

2.5/5  rDev -2.7%

04-13-2013 04:46:42 | More by theAdamsFamily

TomG2751

Maryland

2.75/5  rDev +7%

04-11-2013 17:13:01 | More by TomG2751

stephenjmoore

Maryland

1.75/5  rDev -31.9%

03-27-2013 20:18:54 | More by stephenjmoore

thecheapies

Pennsylvania

2.64/5  rDev +2.7%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.25

Pours a magenta color with a lip of off-white foam that even laces a bit.

Smells of grain and berry Kool-Aid. Maybe melted Royal blackberry gelatin. Hardly any hops.

Oh man. Super sweet. Tangy and boozy. Artificial berry and grain gruff. Can't say much more.

Mellow carbonation. Soft body. Too much alcohol presence.

A mess of a fruit beer. Avoid.

Serving type: bottle

03-12-2013 02:56:15 | More by thecheapies

richkrull

Wisconsin

3/5  rDev +16.7%

03-12-2013 00:57:12 | More by richkrull

bshiban

Pennsylvania

2.75/5  rDev +7%

03-08-2013 00:46:19 | More by bshiban

acurtis

New Jersey

2/5  rDev -22.2%

03-03-2013 19:07:41 | More by acurtis

djrn2

New Jersey

1.75/5  rDev -31.9%

02-24-2013 12:12:06 | More by djrn2

Antikythera

New York

2.45/5  rDev -4.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.75

You know what -- I don't want to review this as a beer. If I reviewed it as a cooler, I might like it. I do like coolers and "alco-pop" sometimes.

This stuff does not taste like beer. It's more like a purple fruity soda. Tastier than grape soda, actually, but I never liked grape soda. For what it is, a sweet party drink, it's fine. As a beer, it's ... not beer at all.

I'm more annoyed that I inadvertently bought an Anheuser-Busch product, which I try not to do. The label made it seem like something made by a smaller local brewery. Ethical buyer, beware.

Serving type: bottle

02-18-2013 01:39:35 | More by Antikythera

JohnnyHopps

Indiana

1.43/5  rDev -44.4%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 1 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 1.5

In my defense, this beer was purchase as the filler beer to complete a pick-a-six. From the label, I would not have known this is A-B. I did not know until I looked on BA, so I prepared for foul swill.

In appearance, it looked like a thinned version of IHOP's blueberry pancake syrup. There was a very slight white head with a purple tint after pouring. In the appearance, there is little that resembles beer. There is a liquor blackberry aroma which reminds me of schnapps. It also reminds me a little of a fountain soda. The initial taste is bubbly cough syrup. Normally when I drink Nyquil, I don't have 11 more ounces to go after the first sip. On the sides of the tongue, it runs very tart. There is nothing in the taste that makes me think this is beer. The mouthfeel is bubbly like a soda, but has the sticky mediciney taste of cough syrup. The aftertaste continues to remind me of cough syrup as the medicine notes linger in the back of the throat. This beer really is as bad as the scores suggest.

Serving type: bottle

02-16-2013 01:48:45 | More by JohnnyHopps

Sailracer

3.75/5  rDev +45.9%

02-10-2013 21:18:24 | More by Sailracer

Stinkypuss

Pennsylvania

2.05/5  rDev -20.2%
look: 2.25 | smell: 2.25 | taste: 2.25 | feel: 1.25 | overall: 1.75

LOOK: Pours like what you can imagine carbonated blackberry juice would look like, the head has a pinkish hue and does not last very long.

SMELL: Blackberry juice and cereal grains. Smells fruity and sweet but not all that bad.

TASTE: Strong sweet blackberry, a bit of corny lager, rice and a small alcohol heat but pretty well disguised. This is a good beer alternative, since it will get you drunk, but if blindfolded I would not think this was a beer.

FEEL: Light bodied, a bit syrupy and cloyingly sweet. Somehow manages to be watery.

OVERALL: Closer to jailhouse hooch than a fine beer, this sweet alcoholic drink could be used in a pinch to please female house guests, other than that its uses are limited.

Serving type: bottle

02-10-2013 19:53:10 | More by Stinkypuss

clark25

Pennsylvania

3.5/5  rDev +36.2%

02-03-2013 02:31:39 | More by clark25

Baldjosh

Indiana

2.25/5  rDev -12.5%

02-03-2013 00:50:08 | More by Baldjosh

mess41

2.75/5  rDev +7%

01-31-2013 22:09:37 | More by mess41

GorrestFump

1.68/5  rDev -34.6%
look: 2 | smell: 1.75 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 2

You're probally better off buying a 4loko. High-Body, sweet and artificial. The stench is overpowering. Grape, Grape, Grape... Not Black berry, it was was fizzy like a carbonated drink but not like a lager. This is a glorified wine-cooler, wife-beaing juice.

Serving type: bottle

01-29-2013 06:18:17 | More by GorrestFump

mralphabet

Virginia

1.54/5  rDev -40.1%
look: 1.5 | smell: 1.75 | taste: 1.25 | feel: 2 | overall: 1.75

12 oz bottle poured into pint glass

A: Poured a clear purple with a fingers worth of pink foamy head the dissipated very quickly to nothing with just a touch of lacing. Looks nothing like beer, more like Welch's Grape Juice.

S: OK... Smells like blackberries and cherry flavored Nyquil.

T: First thing I'm getting is the sweet blackberries, but that quickly goes tart, then quickly to cherry flavored Nyquil. The aftertaste is a strange mix of sweet blackberries and Nyquil.

M: Light bodied, crisp and sharp with a dry finish.

O: OK, this tastes nothing like beer to me.... More like a wine cooler mixed with Nyquil.... Not a tasty combination. Not something I'll be coming back too.

Serving type: bottle

01-28-2013 02:52:57 | More by mralphabet

xShoWTeKx

South Carolina

2/5  rDev -22.2%

01-27-2013 08:20:39 | More by xShoWTeKx