100-Year Storm
Widowmaker Brewing

L: Poured from a tallboy can to a snifter glass. Had a n orange / yellow color and a very cloudy consistency. There was a half inch of foamy, somewhat long-lasting head. Excellent lacing.

S: A pretty good aroma of hops, citrus fruit, malt, and tropical fruit.

T: Tasted of a small amount of malt (mostly in the finish; not a big factor at all), some tropical fruit (mango and pineapple, in particular), a good shot of hops (not overdone, but just enough), and a decent bit of citrus fruit (grapefruit, especially). This is a sharp, focused, and lively flavor. Very much a well-rounded taste. Pretty tasty.

F: A good amount of carbonation with a lively finish. Medium-bodied.

O: In general, a well made DIPA. Worth a look.

Can in trade from tfontana, thanks for the opportunity.
Bright lemon orange color with a smattering of white bubbles that dissipate immediately. Citrus and tropical notes as soon as beer hits glass. Light resin and alcohol with a sweet bread and a hint of light caramel.

Dayum. Super tasty. Super juicy, Perfect mouthfeel. I'm getting orange, lemon?, maybe a little grapefruit, pepper. This is so good and so smooth despite the 10% abv. I could drink this until the harvest comes in. Whatever that means. Delicious.

Some of the recent offerings I've been able to acquire from Widowmaker have been slightly better than previous ones, but this small brewery operating out of Braintree, MA seems to be a little below-par overall. That said, I have definitely had some solid brews from them, but their IPAs fall a bit under what I expect, especially compared to other breweries in the area, but they definitely have time to improve, and I'm hoping 100 Year Storm is a step in the right direction: it's my first triple IPA from these guys, clocking in at a hefty 10% ABV!

Pours a dingy medium amber color with a slight orange tint. Mostly looks kinda like rusty water, but the head forms nicely enough with about two fingers of beige/off-white/eggshell colored foam that laces extremely well as it sinks to a retentive, rocky half-finger. Good legs and moderate surface coverage. Too opaque to discern anything about lingering carbonation activity several minutes after pouring, but the head is definitely not showing much happening below the surface despite its stability.

The nose here is citrusy and creamy with a light vanilla hint and a smooth hit of tropical fruit hanging around rather anonymously. I do pick up some light orange, grapefruit rind, pineapple, mango, tangelo, and a note of grassiness. It definitely has some kind of chalky yeast aspect as well (yay, extra B vitamins!). As it warms, slightly more "dank" elements pop out, but the character of this beer seems somehow quite "old-school" despite the NE/opaque appearance.

100YS comes across a little strange on the palate, with a thick and chewy hit of oat-driven maltiness right upfront. There isn't much flavor from the grains, of course, as that aspect is absolutely driven by the hops with flavors of melon, leafy dankness, tangelo, passion fruit, and mango, but there is something about their presence here that seems somewhat hollow. Again, there's a bit of overbearing yeastiness as well, which leads to this coming across somewhat amateurish. It's definitely a beer a smaller brewery would make, for better or worse. Carbonation seems a bit lower than I'd usually like, and there isn't as much aggression, which is especially strange considering the name of this beer. Thick and chewy feel, but the ethanol isn't as apparent as many other higher-octane IIIPAs I've had from smaller NE breweries. Cautiously recommending this one... I think it could be improved but it's not bad.

 

 

 

From the 16 oz. can with a March 2019 date on the can rings. Sampled on April 15, 2019.

How NEIPA can it look? Milky, murky, juicy, pulpy looking amber yellow with a lacing leaving foamy white head. Fades to a ring.

Citrus and pine esters play up big in the aroma with a lesser character of white bread. But at 10% ABV, I am not picking up the stench of booze at all.

Medium to full body but warming.

The taste has a bright citrus and tropical character but the alcohol shows up more here. Still, this is a sipper that ends clean and cleansing.

 

Whitish straw color. Extremely cloudy. Good spots on the glass from the minor head.

Weedy nose with a bit of darker bread.

This beer is far more subtle than I expected. The pale malt holds its own but the tale of the tape is the neutral hopped bitterness. Full bodied with enough carbonation to prevent a syrupy effect. Surprisingly, I don't pick up any alcohol warmth. A very deceptive beer.