Black Widow
Props Brewery & Grill

 

Its it porter, is it stout or is it IPA. Well, maybe its all three! Good things come in dark packages, at least for the lovers of both IPA and dark beer. A "black" IPA flies out of the Props Brewery to refresh the palate with hops but to sooth the need for a coffee accent.

Black Widow pours a dark brown, rather than black, looking most like porter even with its light sandy tan froth. Dry char enters the nose along with a faint campfire engulfed citrus, wood and earth fragrance. Its taste follows suit with overcooked caramel, burnt toast and a soilish flavor of scorched earth.

As the light sweetness dissolved on the middle palate, the remainder of taste relies on hops and char. Grilled citrus brings a taste of pink grapefruit and orange that trend earthy, piney and grassy. Smoldering ember, pinecone and a hay-like bitterness has a peppery, toasty and roasty linger on the late palate.

Medium bodied, the bitterness of hops and the natural bitterness of roasted grains work in tandem to heighten the level of bitterness that neither can do in their own. Arid but not ashy, the light tannins and carbonized char dries the palate just as easily as does the spicy alcohol or hop resins for a long roasty, bitter aftertaste.