Dark Horse Plead the 5th Imperial Stout

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

On tap at MBG Summer Festival. Poured black with a brown head. Had a strong alcohol note with coffee and caramel notes. Flavor again had a good amount of alcohol present with coffee. chocolate, licorice and caramel flavors. Alcohol was a bit too present for me.

Rating 1089. Bottle picked up from Sunsinger in Champaign, Illinois. Completely opaque with a difficult to arouse milk chocolatey head that is short lasting. Nose of alcohol and sweetness. Taste malty, roasted with a good kick of alchol. Not so sure about the hops, the sweetness comes from either malts or hops, not too sure. Overall, very pleasant. Going to be a good one to have in the winter.

not a wild combo of flavor, but solid. good flavors all around, sweet roasted. molasses. nice to drink. not as bitter as other stouts, but lots of sweetness goign on here.

This one poured straight black with a big tan head. Aroma was lots of chocolate, coffee and some hints of alcohol as well. Flavor was incredibly smooth, nice sweet chocolate notes with a lingering roasted burnt finish. This one hides the alcohol very well at 12%

Original review date 9/15/2008...12 oz. into perfect size and shape of Moosehead mug. 40, 50 or 60 weight? Thick jet-black spent motor oil topped with very thin banana nut bread-colored head. This one’s gonna be trouble. The gang’s all here - coffee, cocoa, cinnamon sugar, beef BBQ char, oily hop pine and prodigious amounts of slow-roasted chocolate malt. This one’s solid. Extremely roast-forward and complex. Austere to an extent but viscous enough to jell everything going on here - the cocoa, cinnamon sweetness, overloaded burnt malt and a mild piney hop profile. Husky alcohol notes carve out thickness in a very faint bourbon sort of way to keep it clean. This absolutely oozes down the palate with the ingredients working together in Beautiful Chemistry to git ’er done. Finish is long and strong. Strong and soothing. Well this one was finished way before I was ready to let it go. For such a powerful brew this drinks painfully easily. Savor this puppy.

Pours a pitch black, brown highlights around the edges, with a slightly more than thin dark tan head, lot of lacing. Aroma strong of coffee, chocolate, roasted malt, caramel, and dried fruits. Flavor matches with the addition of molasses and a bitterness I wasn’t expecting. Has a nice warmth, but wouldn’t have guessed it at 12% ABV. Altogether a very solid impy.

Pours jet black with a beautiful brown head. Taste is coffee and chocolate. Simple coffee and chocolate. Slight tart finish. Extremely rich. Wow.

Bottle: I forgot who sent this my way, but thanks to whoever that was! Jet black pour with a rich brown head that retains well for the ABV. The aroma has a rich roast presence with notes of black chocolate, black malt char, smoky notes, licorice, mocha- nice! Chewy body with warming smoothness. Smoothly boozy upfront with some underlying plummy notes underneath a huge black malt roast- has flavors of dark chocolate, smoky notes, licorice, fennel, coffee (making it mocha like) and a well hopped finish balancing everything out. Well hidden alcohol, rich yet balanced and rounded. Drinkable. A very well done Imperial Stout made for small doses. Nice!