Brewery: Wicked Weed Brewing
Beer: Black Angel (2016)
Style: American Wild Ale
ABV: 7.2%
Character: Aged in Bourbon barrels with a large amount of tart cherries for 5-12 months
Ratings: BA: 92 | Untappd: 4.26
Metal Connection: WITCHTRAP – Black Angel
BeerMetalDude Rating: 4.75/5
God damn the man! Wicked Weed was once a brewing company that traders would go ape shit for around here. Then they announced that distribution would start here in Texas, so their bottles would be easily available now. Cool, we all thought! Then the mother fuckers sell their souls to the Devil. No, not the Devil we all love to look up to, but to the Devil of the beer industry, AB inBev. It sucks because this was only my fifth beer ever that I got to try. The first 4 being samples from a bottle share, and now finally, my very own bottle. This bottle was actually purchased for me by a friend who visited North Carolina before Wicked Weed gained distribution here in TX, but you know me, I am just now getting around to drinking this bottle.
The labels by Wicked Weed are some of my favorite in the business. Talk about every label being equivalent to kick ass Metal album covers. Black Angel is no different. The story of Bacili the Black infecting the Angel of Light with an obsidian parasite. Being not fit the heavens, she was banished to the fruited woods. The angel now has the strength from the fruited woods and spends her time between words nourishing all who drink. Seriously, this is awesome. Do you see why it pisses me off that these fuckin’ fuckholes sold out to the biggest pricks in the beer industry? I mean, they took a simple thing like a tart cherry sour beer aged in bourbon barrels, and made a killer back story including these elements. The actual artwork is just as amazing. All done in purple, the image is of the dark angel herself with long flowing wicked vines sprouting from her head. Her body looks invisible with the stars in space making up the color of her silhouetted body. God damned beautiful.
I used a snifter glass from Epic Brewing Company. Upon first sight, the beer appeared to be black in color, but when held to the light, the reality is that Black Angel is a very dark purplish-red color. On initial pour, this beer was topped with half of an inch tan foamy head, which disappeared pretty quickly, leaving no lacing down the glass.
The aroma was pretty complex, having the main components being tart cherries and oak wood from the barrel, and then there are subtle characters like vanilla, toasted coconut, some small hints of chocolate, dark bread and a very faint trace red wine vinegar, but not in a bad way at all. The oak wood from the barrels make up the lasting scent in the nose after each whiff.
Black Angel’s taste is all so similar to the aroma. Tart cherries, and oak wood are very dominant in the flavor, followed by the additional flavors of vanilla, toasted coconut, some chocolate, and dark bread, with a very subtle trace of red wine vinegar. The tart cherries and the oak wood both appear in the aftertaste, where as the wood was all in the lasting aroma.
The body was a bit light for a barrel-aged beer, which helped make this beer easy to drink faster than usual. The mouthfeel was oily, and slick. With the tart sourness being a main focus with this beer, it helped make the finish pretty dry.
Overall, I was really in love with this beer. It was damn near perfect, in my opinion. As I said earlier, this was my first full bottle of Wicked Weed, and due to their recent buy-out by AB inBev, this will unfortunately be my last. Yes, I am one of those who doesn’t want to support these once small independent Craft Breweries who were recently bought out by the enemy of our beloved scene. I can’t stand what they are trying to do. I loved what Wicked Weed was doing with their beers, all the way to their artwork. It was all so fuckin’ Metal. God damn them. Oh well. Next!
Metal Connection: With a beer named Black Angel, I knew this one was going to be easy. In fact, originally I wanted to use “Black Angel, White Angel” by the mainstream rocker, Danzig, but I chose to go with a more underground choice, the more independent choice for this Metal Connection. Let me introduce you to Witchtrap from Colombia. This Black/Thrash Metal band has been alive and kicking in the Underground since 1992, and still going strong. The song here is simply titled “Black Angel” just like the reviewed beer here. This Blackened Thrash Metal song comes from their 2002 debut album, Sorceress Bitch. Yes their debut album was released 10 years after their inception.
I love the old school feel in this recording. This sounds like it’s right out of a garage recording studio, and it’s amazing. This song features some riffs reminiscent of classic Metallica, Slayer, Venom and the like from the early 1980’s Thrash Metal era. I am very happy that I went with this more underground choice for the Metal Connection. This song fuckin’ jams! Check it out if you don’t believe me!
Beer Metal Media 