The American Black Ale is a more recherché beer style.  It is also referred to as a Black IPA or Cascadian Dark Ale.Widmer Brothers takes a break from their flagship hefeweizen and introduces a rarer beer style: the Black Ale.  This one is named Pitch Black IPA.  It is one of the beers in a new series of atypical IPAs including Nelson’s Double IPA and Falconer’s IPA utilizing the exclusive strain Falconer’s Flight hop named after the late craft beer lover, Glen Falconer.   

Appearance: It pours a nice, tight two finger head with a root beer float quality.  The color is a turbid cocoa brown.  It is being served chilled in a standard pint glass.

Aroma: There is an essence of cocoa powder and oily hops.  Roasted malts flow in and out.  The fragrance is potent enough to emit whiffs even sitting away from the glass.

Taste: The first sip is smoky in the finish with a floral hop presence in the front.  It sticks to the glass nicely.  There are almost oak like notes, a woodiness.  The mouth feel is creamy.  It is not a super hoppy IPA but expresses good flavor.  The taste is more like a black lager.

Pitch Black is a decent black IPA.  The rich smokiness and hints of coffee are balanced well by the hops but the hops presence itself is very faint.  Look for this and Stone’s “Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale” at your local ABC.

Beer blogger Adam Shugan is store manager at our Ocala (Silver Springs Blvd) store.