Dark Horse Reserve Special Black Bier

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

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.

Bottle, poured black into a snifter, no head. Smelled like coffee. Taste is coffee and a bunch of roasted malt. The chocolate gave it a nice sweetness. Nice texture, went down smoothly. Good beer! Thanks st fun!

Jesus, I hate entering backlogged ratings. Shouldn’t I be cleaning the litterbox?? We know what it looks like already so... I like a porter that looks and tastes like a porter. How do they do this? The flavor is so heavily laden with chocolate and coffee. It is like having coffee with a piece of flourless chocolate cake.

12 oz. bottle courtesy of Acknud. Pours an opaque black with dark brown edges. 1/2" brown head with little lacing. Nose is dark roasted malts. Tastes of roasted malt, black coffee and dark chocolate. I knocked off a couple points for an odd chalk like flavor in the background. All in all a good brew. Thanks Bill !!