Dark Horse Plead the 5th Imperial Stout

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

12oz bottle from west lakeview or masonjer.....close to black pour with a medium brown head that dissipated quickly and gravitated towared the edges.dark ruby red hints at the sides when held up against the light..... aroma of rich chocolate and roasted. nothing too out of the norm but it still was executed well..... flavors were of the same. smooth mouthfeel with medium carbonation......very solid imperial stout.

Bottle. Does Dark Horse brew a run-of-the-mill stout? Pure black body with a deep tan head that dminishes. Nice aroma of roasted malts, mocha, molasses, licorice and peat. The flavor is moderately sweet and lightly to moderately bitter. Tastes of chocolate, pepper, vanilla, sugar and smoke. Alcohol bite and strong alcohol presence in the dry finish. Nicely balanced though the alcohol is a bit overpowering, especially as the stout warms. Full body. creamy texture. Moderate carbonation.

5-30-08 bottle shared with lb4lb thanks to hoppymeal!
Pitch black pour with the thickest, darkest chocolate cocoa brown head I have seen. Smell is chocolate milk and bitter coffee with cinnamon in there too. Flavor is super complex or busy but is straight up and to the point. It has chocolate, roasted malt, and some hops in the finish even. Palate is carbonated but is a touch thin. A small smoky leftover remains on the tongue. Overall, a winner.

Thanks to hoppymeal for the bottle in trade!!
Pours dark oily black with a rich dark tan head. Smell is roasty malt, molasses, and chocolate chip cookies. Reminds me of the rich decadent smell of Abyss. Taste is dark, dry chocolate with slightly chalky roastiness bordering burnt. Rich oily mouthfeel and very tasty. Slight bit of alcohol as it warms, but still a fantastic imperial stout and one of my favorites.

12 oz bottle in a snifter. Fills glass with a pitch black thick liquid with almost no head. Aroma of dried dark fruits, roasted malts. nice tingly mouth feel, dry finish. Large dark chocolate flavor some biting bitterness with a rich sweetness caressing the palate. Good dark imperial stout.

Pours black with a thin tan head. Weak aroma of chocolate, roasted malt, a little coffee and a little licorice. Nice sweetness with enough bitterness to back it up. Alcohol is well hidden.

12oz Bottle. Brisk roasted aroma built from a steady sweet base of barbeque bark, french roast coffee, oyster salt, charred oak, and candied grapefruit peel. Dense, seemingly smoky and sweet. Not overly complex or deep, but nice and comforting. Pours a viscous oily black, with silky, lacing hot chocolate foam. Flavor is mostly as expected. Rich roast plays off of caramelized malts and soaks up some soy. Toothy, but not cloying. Roasts come as a little ashy and burnt. There’s a nip of thinness mid-way through this beer. Alcohol alights in the nostrils at a point of liquor-like nut character. But, 12%? Totally concealed. Decent, but not mind-bending. I’d like to see a few more hops in this beer and some more malt complexity. Otherwise, balanced, but maybe a little reserved. A bit of yeast water brings up the backend. Unfortunately, what this beer comes across to me as is an Expedition-clone, for which it kind of fails. Same alcohol, same general malt character goals, but just not the same beer. Otherwise, a mildly-flavored, clean, well-built Imperial Stout, not showing enough depth or complexity for me to put it in the top tier for the Style. Thanks Sean!

Grain chocolate aroma, some roastedness, very inticing ,tastey chocolate flavor,reminded me of Bosco, more chocolate evident then in many Chocolate Stouts,little hints of hops, roasted malt,hard to believe this is 12%,didn’t pick up all the hops others were getting,seemed to thin out a little bit in the last half of bottle. Excellent brew,thanks Kingpin