Pitch Black IPA - Widmer Brothers Brewing Company

BuckeyeNation

Iowa

3.95/5  rDev +3.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Pitch Black IPA is not pitch black. It's lucent mahogany with generous brick red and apricot orange highlights. The upper third of the glass contains a wonderful looking crown of caramel nougat colored foam that is no slouch when it comes to laying down lace.

Grapefruit zest-like hops (Cascade) dominate the nose. Since this bottle is only about six weeks of age, that isn't surprising. Kudos to the brewers for adding 65 IBUs worth of the little suckers. Black maltiness? Not so much.

This is a solid American black ale that, again, benefits from being fairly fresh. Once the hop character start to fade, the taste score will probably fall pretty quickly. Of course, that's true of most highly hopped beer.

Juicy white grapefruit and Mary Jane are still well out in front, but at least the caramel and roasted malts are now contributing and are keeping this offering from tasting like a straight-up IPA. Good mix of sweet and bitter, with the latter winning handily. The back end is nice and tight... just like I like 'em.

The mouthfeel falls a fraction short (light-medium for the style) when compared to the rest of the beer's attributes. That said, it doesn't impinge on my enjoyment and it's well-suited for either gulping or sipping.

Those of us who never got the chance to try W '10 are grateful to Widmer Brothers from bringing it back in the form of Pitch Black IPA. This is a tasty little American black ale that is scratching my 'gotta have hops' itch this morning.

Serving type: bottle

04-20-2011 11:59:14 | More by BuckeyeNation

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