Widow Maker Black Ale
Keweenaw Brewing Company
- From:
- Keweenaw Brewing Company
- Michigan, United States
- Style:
- Black IPA
Ranked #204 - ABV:
- 5.2%
- Score:
- 80
Ranked #36,714 - Avg:
- 3.51 | pDev: 16.24%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 111
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Sep 26, 2025
- Added:
- Jun 13, 2009
- Wants:
- 8
- Gots:
- 84
SCORE
80
Good
80
Good
Don't let its looks deceive you. Clean and smooth, easy on the hops and easy on the palate; this light bodied ale has a surprising depth of malt flavors with pleasant hints of a smoky molasses.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Reviewed by LesDewitt4beer from Minnesota
3.66/5 rDev +4.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
3.66/5 rDev +4.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Pints on tap at Mackinaw's in Green Bay, WI.
L: Pours cola black with a thin light khaki head that recedes to edge foam, light carbo, light random lacing.
S: Darkly toasted malts & grains, a distant molasses note, very distant char.
T: Same as aroma plus it is lightly sweet with a note of brown bread and caramelized malts, a hint of raisins, and just a tickle of a hop note.
F: It has a slightly cola-like feel with a wet center, a medium body, and a semi-fast clean and lightly dry finish.
O: A very easy drinking beer with dark tastes and a lighter body though the tastes are not thin. It's a beer that is in the middle. Not hop or malt forward. Just good tasting and goes down pretty quick. IMHO it is less Ale-like and leans more Lager-like. Sort of a session beer if one would like. It is good to very good in its style.
Jul 19, 2025L: Pours cola black with a thin light khaki head that recedes to edge foam, light carbo, light random lacing.
S: Darkly toasted malts & grains, a distant molasses note, very distant char.
T: Same as aroma plus it is lightly sweet with a note of brown bread and caramelized malts, a hint of raisins, and just a tickle of a hop note.
F: It has a slightly cola-like feel with a wet center, a medium body, and a semi-fast clean and lightly dry finish.
O: A very easy drinking beer with dark tastes and a lighter body though the tastes are not thin. It's a beer that is in the middle. Not hop or malt forward. Just good tasting and goes down pretty quick. IMHO it is less Ale-like and leans more Lager-like. Sort of a session beer if one would like. It is good to very good in its style.
Reviewed by rodbeermunch from Nevada
3.66/5 rDev +4.3%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.66/5 rDev +4.3%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
This was the second black ale for this brewery I had in a row while in Suamico, Wisconsin.
Black ale pours black. Struggles at maintaining any semblance of head space, the color is beige nonetheless, but it dissipates quickly. Aroma of roasted malt and bittering hops. This one isn't all that different from the previous one. At least thus far.
The taste brought about a slightly better interplay between the bittering hops and roasted malt. A levity in the mouthfeel separating the beer style wise, lacking the porter/stout viscosity and heft. I'm not really getting the commercial tug job about smoky molasses. The weird part has to be the reviews that find it both thin and syrup like. Choose one.
I'm not really understanding the namesake, its a relatively easy drinking 5% beer. Widow Maker? Its like when you're skiing and you come across a widow maker run, you can expect 1-2 black diamonds. This beer can be sessioned. Its not a widow maker unless they mean you're just going to hang out on the bar stool and drink this all day I dunno. Down on mainstreet.
Jan 14, 2025Black ale pours black. Struggles at maintaining any semblance of head space, the color is beige nonetheless, but it dissipates quickly. Aroma of roasted malt and bittering hops. This one isn't all that different from the previous one. At least thus far.
The taste brought about a slightly better interplay between the bittering hops and roasted malt. A levity in the mouthfeel separating the beer style wise, lacking the porter/stout viscosity and heft. I'm not really getting the commercial tug job about smoky molasses. The weird part has to be the reviews that find it both thin and syrup like. Choose one.
I'm not really understanding the namesake, its a relatively easy drinking 5% beer. Widow Maker? Its like when you're skiing and you come across a widow maker run, you can expect 1-2 black diamonds. This beer can be sessioned. Its not a widow maker unless they mean you're just going to hang out on the bar stool and drink this all day I dunno. Down on mainstreet.
Rated by BlueTrain
2.82/5 rDev -19.7%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.75
2.82/5 rDev -19.7%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.75
Thin, watery and lack of carbonation. Just not very good.
Aug 15, 2024Rated by ecringler
4.04/5 rDev +15.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
4.04/5 rDev +15.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Easy to drink, full flavor without being filling.
Apr 05, 2024
Reviewed by Giantspace from Pennsylvania
3.07/5 rDev -12.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3
3.07/5 rDev -12.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3
Can from a six pack. Purchased at a market just outside Traverse City. Pours with a large head that fades quickly and the carbonation does not exist after the pour. Deep burgundy color with a light smell of sweet caramel malt. Taste follows and is quite average at best for this style. The feel is thin and the lack of carbonation does not help here. Overall an average beer at best. Very odd name and description of the name on the can. I will finish the other 5 cans but will be thinking of the local black beers that crush this beer.
Edit….As I get closer to end of the beer it becomes sweet and syrupy, lack of good carbonation really hurts this beer.
Aug 24, 2023Edit….As I get closer to end of the beer it becomes sweet and syrupy, lack of good carbonation really hurts this beer.
Reviewed by chum_husk from Minnesota
3.45/5 rDev -1.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
3.45/5 rDev -1.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
On tap at the Sidelines Sports Bar in Cambridge, MN
Black. Smells like coffee and pine trees. The taste leans heavy into smoked malt and bitter coffee grounds. If I didn't know it was a black IPA, I would have guessed this was some sort of stout. Great full feel, easy drinking, perfect for winter
Dec 11, 2022Black. Smells like coffee and pine trees. The taste leans heavy into smoked malt and bitter coffee grounds. If I didn't know it was a black IPA, I would have guessed this was some sort of stout. Great full feel, easy drinking, perfect for winter
Reviewed by Truegent2004 from Minnesota
3.22/5 rDev -8.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
3.22/5 rDev -8.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
I had it on tap. Not a big fan of black ales. It's fairly bland. Very watered down. Slighty bitter on the after taste. It's not terrible but I woudn't have it again.
Oct 22, 2022
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