A big deal seems to be being made of Widmers ’10 Brewmaster Series release Pitch Black IPA. Personaly I’ve never been a fan of black IPA’s as I’ve always thought they were more poorly executed novelty then a distinct style. Anyway, here goes.

Aroma

Imagine that, lots of hops. Very floral with some herbal and pine notes. Not really getting much in the way of malt aromas.

Appearance

Looks black in the class but is a deep maroon color when held up to the light. Somewhat translucent for a beer that looks this black in the glass. Khaki head. I love the color of this beer when you pass light through it.

Taste

Lots of piney and herbal hops but not as overpowering as I expected. Widmer was fairly restrained with this one.distinct bitterness up front that shifts slowly to a charred grain flavor. Finishes with biscuity and grainy malt flavors.

Overall this wasn’t what I expected. I was thinking this beer would be a dark colored IPA that was a hop bomb like Widmer’s other Northwest IPA’s. This beer wasn’t. The hops and the biscuity malt flavors went well together. The charred malt flavors didn’t quite fit and felt out of place, but they didn’t hurt the beers drinkability at all. The IBU’s and ABV are restrained for a northwest IPA coming in at 62 IBU’s and 6.5% ABV. Even though I enjoyed this it’s not a beer I’d keep stocked. My personal rating would be a B. I don’t have alot of experience with this style though. This is only my third black IPA and all of them seemed to be blending beer flavors that just don’t harmonize. I will admit out of the three I’ve tried I liked this one the most which is why it got a B. Also this beer had alot of elements I liked. It was just the dis chord between the dark malts and the rest of the beer that ruined it for me.