Dark Horse Plead the 5th Imperial Stout

Brewed by Dark Horse Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Marshall, Michigan USA

Pours pitch black, small head. Nose is extremely heavy with roasted grain, burnt sugar, and molasses. Taste is bitter dark chocolate, a little thin, acrid, charred and cheap espresso.

12oz bottle. Bottle thanks to Pantanap. Pours pitch black with a thin thick tan head. Nose is heavy roast and wood with hints of bourbon. Rather fruity character with hints of wood, vanilla and nut. Slightly smoky as their other stouts have been. Very complex, well attenuated. This is a really fantastic imperial stout.

Temp:65 Maudite glass. Black,black. Used oil black. Little fizzy bubbles settle to a dark brown,ring. Big roasted grain aroma. Also lots of dark chocolate,with a smidge of hops,and little to no alcohol,which is a plus. Lightly fizzy texture with a very chewy malt profile. Upfront bittersweet roasty flavors,are followed by dark fruit skins,and chocolate. Finishes roasty with a good hint of hops. Little to no alcohol in the aroma or flavor,it’s just felt. Decent balancing of the sweet and bitter,where most are too sweet/cloying this is a bit dry.Seems like a good candidate to sit on awhile. Tasty. Big,roasty,and chewy.

12 oz bottle. Poured completely black with a small tan head that diminished to a fine ring of bubbles. Aroma of chocolate, roasted coffee, and some toffee. Taste is roasty. Notes of coffee, bitter chocolate, toffee. Finishes nice with the hops showing through the dark malty goodness. Pretty good. Hides the alcohol well for 12%.

Bottle. Black pour with disappearing brown head. Dark roasted malts, hops balance this pretty good. Chocolate, caramel, roasted flavors, with some alcohol but not in a bad way for 12 percent.

From JCapriotti via trade. Dark, viscous pour with a nice brown head and tiny flecks of lace. The aroma was chocolate, caramel and a bit of coffee and a whiff of alcohol. The flavor was on the sweet side with chocolate and brown sugars coming to the forefront. Some smoke and coffee cut through as did some dryness on the end I’ll attribute to the hops. Nice, medium bodied plus on the mouthfeel. Almost coating. What alcohol heat is noticed was welcome. Good stuff.

Pours black as an evil heart...and floats a dark robust head. Nose is a great roasty mess of chocolate, espresso, burnt grains, smoke. Flavors are likewise intensely roasted...chocolate, espresso, smoke, molasses, burnt grain, and sweet caramel. Pretty potent alcohol most noticable in the dry boozy finish. Wow, this is good!

BPW #85 12 oz bottle shared by Andy, thanks bud! Appearance is a syrupy velvety dark chocolate with a micro rich brown head. Nose is snicker-doodle cookies, roasted and smoked barley. The flavors are dark chocolate, roasted barley, some smoked sausage. Mouth is a little under carbonated. Medium to full bodied.