Widmer Brothers - Pitch Black IPA

Beer Report Card - Widmer Brothers Pitch Black IPA - 6.5% ABV

In an effort to expand our tastes of different beers, Blake and I will be doing a combination of PTI mixed with beer tasting.....Beer Report Card!

Each week on Monday we take turns buying either new beers on the market or a beer we haven't tried yet, and evaluate it, then give it an overall grade. Since this is our first "beer evaluation", you'll have to bear with us if you are more seasoned at doing this, but I welcome all comments and suggestions for what to look for when evaluating a beer.

Matt's Review:

I am not usually one for darker beers, however I do like IPA's so I was very interested to try this beer. Definitely get a dark roast smell right away when opening the bottle. Inside each bottle cap has something to "cheers" towards that I thought that was pretty cool. On the bottle it says "Smooth, Dark and Hoppy", it is definitely smoother than most dark beers I've had and no doubt that it has a dark body from looking at the picture. However I did not get as much of a hop flavor as I had hoped. We had this beer while grilling out for Memorial Day and it's actually getting kind of cold and windy outside so it's not as bad having a dark beer for this occasion. Overall I did enjoy this beer more than most dark beers, just wished there was more of a hoppy taste.
Overall Grade: B

Blake's Review:

I typically enjoy medium to moderate dark beers for many occasions. My taste for hops has noticeably increased dramatically over the past year to 2 years. That combination had me pretty excited to try the Pitch Black IPA from Widmer Bros., whom I have been a fan of for quite some time. That said, I very much enjoy this beer for a noticeable roast flavor initially that blends right into the hop character that certainly isn't overbearing for an IPA. I would rate this beer very good for smoothness and for a blend of dark with some hops, I very much enjoy the beer start to finish. The hops hold on to my taste buds just long enough to at least warrant its IPA classification and the blend is incredibly well done.
Overall Grade: A-

Stuck Fermentation

Hey everyone!

Just wanted to apologize for the lapse of posting and everything as of late. No, we're not having troubles with our yeast or wort. Simply unfortunate personal delays that have caused the world renowned Brew-A-Palooza to be delayed for a few weeks. Blake and I will have to circle the wagons again and determine when we can give this another shot. I will definitely be making another post later this week on something actually beer related, but wanted to get this posted out to let everyone know.