Dark Horse Plead the 5th Imperial Stout

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

Pour is black with a thin dark brown head...smell is oaky for sure with lots of charred and roasted chocolate...taste is sweet sweet sweet...chocolate and caramel with a still mouthfeel...somehow, it keeps me going back for another sip and another sip...

An older rating from notes. Black body with a small brown head and oily lacing. Aroma of chocolate, coffee, molasses and some sweet cherries. The taste was of alcohol, chocolate, caramel, and molasses. Also a bit sugary sweetness as well. Clingy, oily mouth feel.

12 oz bottle, via Styles. Blackest pour possible that yields a thin dark brown head, no visible carbonation. Heavy chocolate aroma with accents of coffee, alcohol, soy, and smoke. Flavor is a mix of heavily roasted malt, soy and alcohol. Alot of depth and complexity to the flavor. Finish is loads of coffee and burnt malt. Full bodied with an oily texture and minimal carbonation. This beer is awesome! Everything you could want from an Imperial Stout. I can find no shortcomings in this beer. Greatly enjoyed.

jet balck pour dark brown head some lace. HUGE malt and roast malt aroma hints of maple syrup. Big syruppy palate full coated palate & creamy. Flavor is big sweet molasses chocolate roast malts lots more malts light alcohol some raisen some plum. MMMM BEER.

Thanks Chuck! Pours to a dark black body with a thin dark brown head. The aroma is light dark chocolate and sweet coffee espresso. The flavor is a dark chocolate and grassy hops. Very strong flavor. Well balanced and good. 8, 3, 8, 4, 16 = 3.9
So, thanks John for a sample of this renamed beer. The beer pours to a black body with dark brown edges and a thin tan head. The aroma is very similar to Leine’s Big Eddy I.S.. The flavor has a rich roasted chocolate and charred black malt. The palate is rich and creamy but has a really charred bitter roasted palate that didn’t mingle as much as it could have.

(12oz bottle, thanks Barry) Oily black body with the tiniest sliver of brown carbonation hugging the sides of the glass. Aroma is medium sweet, espresso, some dark chocolate. Taste is sweet, espresso, dark chocolate, some molasses, light earthy -- its rich chocolatey sweetness evokes one of those flourless chocolate tortes. Creamy full body that mostly conceals the alcohol, but lacks carbonation. A little more carbonation, and this would be among my top impys. As it is, this is quite tasty.

This opened with the faintest "pop’ and proceded to pour a flat, oily, dense black brew into my snifter. Roast malt aroma that carried some coffee notes. Much more in the flavor than the aroma had prepared me for, adding to the aforementioned coffee and licorice, with some vanilla cream, and some chocolate. Thick and coating, there’s a nice feel to this sipper.

The beauty of an opaque, black beer warns the drinker even before its consumption. It challenges "I am old, I am history, I am the pinnacle of saturation, I am what brewers strive to perfect." Rarely does any other beer style taunt me or make me question myself as much as an Imperial Stout. That said, looking at how that muddy, cinnamon-colored head forms nothing more than a thin collar at the edge of the glass lets me know this is strong. Aroma has everything I would expect from an Imperial Stout less the strong, black current/burnt fruit I prize so highly in this style. Instead it hits with cream, toasted white bread, molasses and maple syrup, higher/fruity alcohols, licorice, caramel, and even a subdued burnt fruit raises it head as the beer warms. After 10 or more minutes basking in the glory of the aroma I decided to taste it. Quite right, but still quite young. The palate was not as complex as the aroma and the alcohol showed itself as spiciness, warmth, and almost numbing on the tongue. One thing I really like about this beer is that even though there is an amazing amount of dark malts utilized in its production, it has no sour character.