Dark Horse Reserve Special Black Bier

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

Pours black and oily without any discernible head. Very nice roasted grain, chocolate malt aroma. Medium body. Taste is thick and roasty with a nice hop bitterness. Make sure to let it arm a little, it really lets out some nice flavors. The bitter dry roastiness comes through nicely in the finish. Very nice.

Not a big aroma, but the flavor is HUGE. It is a perfect blend of coffee, chocolate and even a slight hint of smoke on the after taste. Clings to the palate and goes down smooth. Nearly Perfect.

Appearance: Pours a black body with a thin, off-white head. Smell: Roasty chocolate malts with a hint of smoke and a sprinkling of licorice dust. Taste: Rich dark maltiness with flavors of lightly sweetened chocolate and licorice. Touch of smoke. Smidgen of nuttiness along the way. Meager amount of earthy bittering hops. Drying, chocolatey finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium carbonation. Drinkability: Very nice. Packed with flavor, but relatively light enough to pound down a few of these, even at 7:00AM in the morning.

Draft at Jerry’s. Black with big, foamy brown head / Toasty coffee and chocolate nose / Medium to full body, some sweetness, with dry hoppy finish / Flavors of roast coffee, bittersweet chocolate, and vanilla / Straight-forward flavors, very well balanced. A dry stout, I’d say.

Well, Dark Horse hits one out of the park with this one. This brew is flat out awesme, and under-rated at 3.9. Pours jet black with a nice thin tan head. Looks like coffee being poured, no light escapes. Aroma is all malt and coffee, but the flavor delivers even more. Chocolate, coffee, roasted barley, toasted malt, with an alcohol tinge at the end. Hops are there, but play a supporting role. Smooth, creamy, and delicious. Much more impressed than I thought I’d be. I’ll be drinking this one again...very soon!

Thanks tytoanderso. Pours a pitch black with a thin brown head. The aroma is sweet, light sweet chocolate, a little toasty, some coffee, and a little hop. The flavor is strong coffee, also a very evident hop profile, waxy grapefruit peel, roasty malt, chocolate, very nice dry flavor. Wonderful mouthfeel, full carbonation and a waxy finish.

The color was dark brown/black. The head was creamy, off-white, and thin. The aroma was molasses, coffee, chocolate, and roast. The flavor was roasty, coffee, sweet malt, molasses, hops, and chocolate. The palate was thick-bodied. The finish was roasty

Bonus beer from Secret Santa in 7/26/07. Been sitting in my fridge all of this time. I think I should have drank it sooner. Pours thickish black with no head. Liquid does have some carbonation. Aroma is bland, possibly a small hint of cardboard. Very ashy cigarette butt flavor. Very dry. Somewhat acidic. The burnt flavor lingers on the back of your tongue. Yuck.