Dark Horse Plead the 5th Imperial Stout

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

slightly different imp stout...very, very, very chocolatey, but like bitter chocolate. kind of dry, pretty smooth. not too bad at all...

pitch black with a nice sized brown head. Aroma is heavily roasted malt and some nice chocolate to back it up. Flavor is similar, some raisin, toffee, and coffee to back up the flavors. Finish wasn’t as full as I was expecting for the ABV. On the plus side, the abv wasn’t noticed one bit. Interesting.

Aroma is toasty, fruity, pear, dull fruit, dark malts, sweet cloying coffee roast with buttery caramel. Taste is creamy mild cocoa, hop bitterness, coffee sweetness with some lactic milkiness, more hop bitterness. Lingers like a MF, more biscuit, dark fruit and malts. I also get a little currant/cassis blend. Apples also make a small presence. Sorry, this rating is a mess, I was probably a little "off" by this point.

4 Bottle pack from the package store in front of Dark Horse. Poured a black color with an average creamy brown head that mostly lasted and produced good lacing. Heavy roasted malt and chocolate aroma. Full body with a smooth texture. Good complex roasted flavor with a heavy roasted bittersweet finish of long duration. Good complex standout brew.

Picked up a four-pack at Cellar’s Wine & Spirits in St Paul, Minnesota. Pours an opaque dark brown brew with a beige head that has some nice retention and spotty lacing. Aroma of dark chocolate, a touch of coffee, some vanilla and light molasses. Taste is full bodied, very light carbonation with flavors of dark chocolate, roasted dark malt, some quick vanishing vanilla bean, caramel and light coffee. Finish is thick and chewy with a mild hot chocolate and toasted malt aftertaste that even hides the alcohol presence.

Pours positively opaque black. There no dark brown edges on this one......just black. It looks like engine sludge, topped with a spongy brown head of foam. Beautiful, thick rings of lacing coat the glass well. The nose shows a ton of vanilla cream over dark, bittersweet chocolate and roasted coffee. Some alcoholic, vodka-like notes emerge, as do dark fruits. The flavor is very chocolaty, with heaps of lactic cream. Mocha plays a big role, as does oak and some earthy, dry hops. Tastes like an imperial sweet stout, if such a thing exists. The palate is very creamy and lactic, almost like room temperature 2% milk would be. Finishes long, roasty, and sweet, with mocha as the dominant flavor. Very good brew, but not as great as I had built it up to be in my head. The Tres, Fore, and Black Bier are all more impressive.

12 oz Bottle: Aroma is nice roasted malt characteristic, light coffee notes, dark chocolate, and a bit of alcohol within this brew. Appearance is pitch black motor oil pour with a small sized head that diminishes into a light tan film. Taste is dark chocolate is predominant, but there are also some roasted malt, caramel, light coffee notes, and the alcohol is nicely hidden. Overall, really nice Imperial Stout not the top of the line but a really good showing from the Old guys at Dark Horse.

Perfectly black body with a very thin orangeish brown head. The aroma has some rich coffee and green beans There is also some sweet cake donut. The taste has some nice chocolate chip pancakes with some light molasses. Soft, silky smooth body. Another solid winner from Dark Horse.