Black Widow
The Tin Whistle Brewing Company

Black WidowBlack Widow
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From:
The Tin Whistle Brewing Company
 
British Columbia, Canada
Style:
American Brown Ale
ABV:
5%
Score:
82
Avg:
3.5 | pDev: 13.14%
Reviews:
18
Ratings:
28
Status:
Active
Rated:
Nov 29, 2021
Added:
Dec 25, 2004
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  3
No description / notes.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Shadman:
Photo of Shadman
Reviewed by Shadman from Canada (AB)

3.08/5  rDev -12%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
HTried this one before..but was so sour I felt it must have been a bad bottle so i refrained from submitting a review. Tried another...

WEll..over-powering sourness is certainly not here..replaced by some roasted malt and slight hop bitterness.

looked alot like Coca-Cola in a gless except Coke doesn't leave a head, nice ring, and some decent lacing.

Taste is mostly roasted malt with enough hop bitterness to keep things interesting.

Mouthfell is medium/light..maybe a touch on the watery end

i have had two so far and the hit/miss ratio is 50%...would make certain to check the freshness date stamp on the sid eof the bottle before buying this one...if new..a good bet..if not..buyer beware
Jan 05, 2008
More User Ratings:
Photo of Beersnake
Reviewed by Beersnake from California

3.77/5  rDev +7.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Poured at fridge temp. Pours dark brown with tan head. Nose is coffee, roasted malts, raspberries, bread, and a familiar German dunkel lager smell. The taste is dark malts, bread, wheat, chocolate, molasses, and raisins. Overall, a nice and light beer.
Nov 29, 2021
 
Rated: 3.44 by IPAnicked from Canada (BC)

Feb 16, 2019
 
Rated: 3.5 by PaulietheBrit from Canada (BC)

Oct 23, 2014
 
Rated: 3.92 by FadetoBock from Canada (AB)

Sep 30, 2014
Photo of flagmantho
Reviewed by flagmantho from Washington

3.8/5  rDev +8.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Poured from 650mL bomber into a pint glass. The bottle calls this a "mild ale", but it also says 5% on the label, so ...

Appearance: very dark amber/brown hue, definitely within the color story of an American brown or a particularly dark mild. Head is minimal, though, and retention isn't great either. Color and clarity are great, though.

Smell: nutty and caramelly with a little bit of bread and biscuit; the perfect balance of malt character for me when it comes to brown ales. Great!

Taste: toasty, nutty, caramelly and a little bit biscuity. Hops are not particularly present, although there is a mild bitterness at the end. I would agree that this is somewhere between a brown and a mild; I quite like it, although I could do with a little less biscuit.

Mouthfeel: medium-light body with a decent carbonation and creaminess. Not perfect, but good enough for me!

Overall: this is a pretty drinkable beer, however you want to classify it. Other than that dollop of biscuity malt character, I could find myself liking this beer quite a lot.
May 22, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by Tivlavrie from Canada (AB)

Apr 06, 2014
 
Rated: 3 by Exeter from Canada (AB)

Nov 02, 2013
 
Photo of zachloveshisbeer
Reviewed by zachloveshisbeer from Canada (AB)

3.82/5  rDev +9.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
I had this beer on-tap at Zia's Stonehouse in Summerland, BC. I tried to ask the server if she knew the style of beer, but she just knew it was "dark and tasty" - hell, sign me up! I suspected it would be a Cascadian dark ale as the style is quite common right across BC and the U.S. Northwest, but to my surprise, it was a dark brown Ale. The smell was great with a hint of smokiness and charcoal even, with the underlying American brown ale caramel and chocolate malts. It tasted really good too and paired nicely with my plate of pork, beef, salmon and shrimp, and it had a a nice effect on the Thai curry on the plate as well.
I liked the beer so much that I went to the brewery in Penticton and picked up a nice mixer. Brewer Jeff is a really cool guy and he was definitely open to chatting about all things beer, and he even gave me a few posters to throw into my beer room. Being that they're a brewery about the size of a house and just off the main road in Penticton, in wine country, they make a lot of damn fine ales. They incorporate a lot of local produce and ingredients from local farmers, which helps everyone out.
Jan 09, 2013
 
Rated: 3.5 by 4ster from Canada (ON)

Oct 12, 2012
 
Rated: 3.5 by bumchilly25 from Canada (BC)

May 13, 2012
Photo of LampertLand
Reviewed by LampertLand from Canada (BC)

3.15/5  rDev -10%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Gonna give Tin Whistle "Black Widow" @ 5% a review , tried at GCBF recently
A-served cold , poured into a stein , a dark cola brown with a thin head and lacing
S-woodsy , roasted nuts
T-mild with a hints of cocoa , roasted malts nutty flavor almost chewy
MF-mild carbonation , not smooth
Ov-this beer is lacking something , tasted better when served from a cask at GCBF

cheers LampertLand
Mar 01, 2012
 
Rated: 3.5 by elricorico from Canada (AB)

Feb 16, 2012
Photo of maclean25
Reviewed by maclean25 from Canada (BC)

3.79/5  rDev +8.3%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5
Drank two bottles from a liquor store in northern BC. Got one for christmas and the other I bought for fun.

This has a fantastic first impression. It looks and smells great. It has a very dark body like rootbeer. While its brown head looks great initially, it also looks soapy and disappears quickly. Its smell starts with chocolate raspberries and fresh roasted coffee beans. There is also malty milk chocolate and hops in the smell.

It also has a good first impression on the taste. I tastes like an imperial stout with a high, sharp note of hops. I also get thick old coffee. However, it starts to fall apart on the mouthfeel. The further into the bottle I get the more I notice how low the carbonation is and consequently how thin it feels.

Overall, I find it is a fantastic looking and smelling beer but gets more and more average the further into the bottle I get as I start noticing the low carbonation and thinness. Also, the "mild ale" label is a bit of a misnomer, alcohol content and taste wise, there is nothing mild about this.
Jan 10, 2012
 
Rated: 3 by EskimoDave from Canada (BC)

Dec 01, 2011
Photo of wordemupg
Reviewed by wordemupg from Canada (AB)

3.42/5  rDev -2.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
ml bottle poured into pint glass 25/10/11

A dark reddish cola with a cola like fizzy head that's gone before I noticed a color, no lace

S not milk chocolate but chocolate milk with a little herbal nutty chocolate

T some cold coffee on top of what I smell, a little smokey char and just a hint of dark fruits but there just a little sour

M a little watery but enough carbonation to keep it average

O not bad but nothing really sticking out to set it apart

I'm not overly impressed by this one, I was board by the bottom of the bomber
Oct 26, 2011
Photo of Offa
Reviewed by Offa from California

4.05/5  rDev +15.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
Deep brown with a medium tan head steadily shrinking to a foamy ring.

Aroma is strong toasty barley, while wheat bread crust, slightly caramelized, light leafy-tea earthy hop and some winey prune.

Taste is firm, nice toasty caramelized barley & bread crust, hints of chocolate, anise, leafy-woody-tea hops. It’s balanced with light sweetness and light zesty bitterness, some subtlety and light complexity, and a great feel that is firm but lively. This is very good, but seems more like an English rather than American brown ale, if a bit too strong for a true mild as the label says.
May 12, 2011
Photo of andrenaline
Reviewed by andrenaline from Canada (ON)

3.57/5  rDev +2%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
A - Pours a nice dark copper brown with a red hue, solid thumb of head which dissipates rather quickly leaving no real lacing.

S - Chocolate malts dominate the scent on this one, some caramel and toffee also noticeable.

T - This one is quite nice, and I was surprised at the coffee flavours that dominated over top of the chocolate, yet were undetectable on the nose. The finish is rather bitter, and a little bit of a turn off, but it is still extremely flavourful, and much better than anticipated.

M - Light and fluffy, foams up quite a bit on the tongue, but goes down smooth. Bitterness also lends itself a bit of a dry finish, but it doesn't ruin the experience.

D - This one is quite tasty, much better than I had anticipated, and quite flavourful. Highly recommended to anyone seeking a flavourful brown ale, with coffee overtones and a chocolatey finish.
Aug 05, 2010
Photo of biboergosum
Reviewed by biboergosum from Canada (AB)

3.89/5  rDev +11.1%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
650ml bottle. This has recently been denoted a 'mild ale', which is a sidestep from the dark ale we have known and loved when drinking (uh, I mean, vacationing) through the Okanagan.

This beer pours a clear, very dark reddish amber colour, with one finger of thinly foamy, fizzy beige head, which leaves very little persistent lace around the glass in its rather hasty wake.

It smells of rather smoky caramel malt, cold campfire coals, a hard water minerality, a fresh forest woodiness, and earthy, leafy hops. The taste is more BC flora and fauna in a glass - toasted pale and caramel malt, some wafting meaty charcoal, mineral salts, lake cabin wood, subtle dark chocolate, and floral, leafy hops.

The carbonation is on the mild side, but supportive enough, the body medium-light in weight, and generally smooth. It finishes off-dry, the thinning roasted malt holding on, while the mineral, tame smoke, and woody aspects of a BC camping trip linger on.

Wow - this had me at first sniff! The various elements here (and there are more than a few) all convince the disjointed neurons in my head to focus on nothing else beyond my many past visits to this brewery's province of origin. Smoky, sweet, woody, watery (in the best sense), and not to be forgotten - pleasantly mild, all.
Apr 09, 2010
Black Widow from The Tin Whistle Brewing Company
Beer rating: 82 out of 100 with 28 ratings