Beer Review: Widowmaker (Fall River Brewing Co.)

It was podcast taping night. And we had a full plate. First up, Esteban, Trevor, and myself were covering LOST Seasons 3 and 4. After this, D. Scott, Esteban, and I did a commentary track for Evil Dead (the 1981 version). We recorded both podcasts for their “So a Mexican and a Scot Walk Into a Bar…” podcast. Its a pop culture (movies, TV, etc.) that the two of them (Esteban and D. Scott / Drew) run; I often guest-star on it.

Widowmaker is yet another beer from the West Coast; part of my beer mail from Eureka California. This time coming from the brewery of – Fall River Brewing Co. They are a micro-brewery out of Redding California. They have 155 beers listed on Untappd for a global rating of 3.89 (as of 3.3.20). Their Untappd description reads: “Come visit the Fall River Brewing Co. brewery and tasting room at 4001 Eastside Road in Redding. On Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays we’re joined by food trucks that serve delicious local cuisine. Check our social media profiles to see which food trucks are joining us that day. You can also bring your favorite food from one of our local restaurants or have it delivered. We welcome kids and have games they can play, too! At the Fall River Brewing Co. Taphouse located at 1030 E. Cypress Ave. in Redding, you can pull up a barstool, meet interesting people, drink great beer, and make new friends! Enjoy our handcrafted IPAs, ales, stouts, lagers, porters and more at a dog-friendly hangout with a sweet patio, TVs, and complimentary WiFi for customers. Feel free to bring in your favorite food from one of several nearby restaurants. Children are welcome at the Taphouse until 9:00pm and can enjoy any one of the soft drink options we have available. Well behaved dogs on leashes are welcome at both locations. There’s always something great on tap! Stop in and try our ever-changing seasonal craft beers. 4-packs of many of our beers are available to purchase. Or if you prefer, bring in or buy a growler container and take home 64oz of your favorite Fall River beers to enjoy later.”

As you can see in the above picture, I’ve already covered Sunshine and Opportunity, Chocolate Confidential, and Daebak. So the Widowmaker makes the fourth from this beer package to be covered here on the blog. I will be getting to all of them in time, have no fear.

This article was supposed to go up last night. I had one of those “productive feeling” kind of days at work, where I said to myself: “Self. Its your Friday (despite it being Tuesday), after work, the world s your oyster. You are going to go home. Crack open a new craft beer from your beer mail or one of the others in the fridge, your going to write your article, and your going to finish the book your reading. This weekend you are going to do one new beer, one new book, and one new article each day.” ….This was me at 3PM telling myself this; yesterday (3.3.20). Well….. Obviously, plans changed. Got told a co-worker was having his “leaving work” party…. so obviously I had to stop out for that; which required us all meeting at the local (local to our work) drinking hole dive bar. And then, my friend D. Scott says about hanging out (D. Arndt, also messaged that he was at Newfangled Brew Works, but by the time I was done at the dive bar they had went home). So, after rounds of Yuengling’s and some shots at the dive bar, I hung out with D. Scott for a bit drinking Elysian’s Space Dust (his go-to easy quick pickup at the Sheetz just down the road from his house). Got home at 11PM… and theoretically thought I could still do some work and reading… and then well… I started eating. Which is sporadic enough that I do, so when I do, the body goes into “sleep mode” almost immediately. And I was probably zonked out by 12:30AM. (This would be considered an early sleep for me, as its typically 2-3:30AM; and then up at 6:30AM to get the girls ready for school.) So needless to say, I’m now doing the article this morning (3.4.20). In between getting Child 1 to her school, Child 3 to her pre-school activity, and now Child 2 ready and going to her school. I’ll make up for it by turning this into a double-blog day.

Ok, now that I got that spiel out my way, and a look into the daily life of B. Kline (which nobody asked for or probably cares about), lets move on and actually review some good stinking beer ok?

Beer: Widowmaker
Brewery: Fall River Brewing Co.
Style: IPA – Imperial / Double
ABV: 10.2%
IBU: 100
Untappd Description: Our Double IPA is designed with the hop-head in mind. This beer is not only loaded with late kettle additions, but is also dry hopped many times after fermentation making it very aromatic. Clean, crisp, and easy to drink this Double IPA packs a punch with 10% ABV.

This is made for the hop-head in mind; like they said. This is a good clean Double West Coast IPA from the West Coast. Like everything is alignment, Mars, Venus, Earth, The Moon, The Sun, Saturn, Jupiter, the former planet Pluto, and the little green guys on Neptune. All in alignment.

This has your traditional west coast IPA clarity and appearance. Clean, clear, golden light amber honey looking hue. The carbonation was especially strong with this one, rocking a huge head that lasted and left lacing the whole day down. Big giant fluffy head to this bad boy.

The smell was exactly what you wanted from a good hoppy West Coast (D)IPA. Bam – HOP. BAM – HOP. Piney, cedar, earthy, musky, hoppy, little hint of floral hops, but mostly the heavy bitter, pounding hops. Like walking through both a hopyard and a pine and cedar forest at the same time. From the crack of the can to the pour to the last sip; the aroma just hung in the air.

Taste is first sip bitter, punch face bitter, but then mellows and you get just great crisp hop beer. A wonderfully well rounded, hoppy, crisp, clean taste. Unlike New England IPAs or Milkshake IPAs, this has a very defined bitterness, a very hoppy through and through taste, with large notes of pine tips and cedar tips. There’s an earthy, musky, ground-floor of the forest taste that hangs in your mouth as you drink and as the bitterness wears off and gives way to the clean crisp taste of the beer. The dry hopping really lends this an additional hop punch throughout the drink, and its high ABV gives it a very heavy punch as well. This finishes strong, with a nice, full, well rounded taste, good mouthfeel, not watery, crisp, clean, and leaves you with a good buzz after just one can.

My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 3.91 (as of 3.4.20)

Thank you all for reading, as always, take the time to like us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and here on the blog itself. Also, be sure to check out some of our newest posts: A Sneak Peak at Rubber Soul Brewery, Chocolate Confidential, Daebak, Valentine’s Day Beers, I Cannot Tell a Lie, Intemperance, Back to Reality, Florence; and even check out some older posts like Fuzzy Nudge, King Crunch, King Sue, Cinnamon Toast Brunch, and Mellow Mink Visit.

Last tidbit note; with this being March and March being Women’s Month, like to break the great news about the latest science article saying women should drink a beer a day to stay healthy. So women, keep staying healthy, and men, stay healthy too! Cheers!

-B. Kline