Dark Horse Reserve Special Black Bier

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

Pours a pitch black with a small brown leaning on beige head. Nice bitter malty chocolate aroma. Taste is bitter roasted chocolate malts with hints of roasted grains and a slight dry coffee bean finish. Very nice.

A streaky, tan lace formed off the quickish head above this beer’s deep brown/black body. Big roasted coffee and dark chocolate aroma. Thick & sturdy. Flavor held a predominant bitterness based off the raw character of wort. This is a porter? I drank my pint slow and thoughtfully, believing it was a wonderful rendition of a Schwarzbier. Then again, I suppose if you must classify it an ale, "Porter" seems an adequate parking space.

<font size=-4>Draught pint at <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Place/michigan/marsha Horse Brewing Co., Marshall, MI 49068</font>

Decent sized dark brown head of fine bubbles. Reduces to a creamy ring of foam. Minimal carbonation. Strong licorice aroma with soy sauce, dark roasted malts and a little bit of woodiness. Color is a very dark brown. Kind of like a black walnut stain. Rich roasty flavor. Lots of roasted grains, bitter dark chocolate, coffee (shows up late) and some prune? Finishes dry and roasty and with a lingering strong roastyness and coffee. Yet it is not really a burnt flavor. Very good combination of flavors there. Thanks to sliffy for this gem.

12oz bottle from EithCubes - thanks, Mike! A lovely and unexpected beer. Massive body and frothy head, it comes on with a pleasant roasty aroma. THe first sips, though, are very powerful with chocolate malts. But the finish! Oh man, the finish is gorgeously dry, going right to the edge but not too much. Bitter coffee, a trace of charcoal grilling, like unsweetened dark chocolate and some cracklings from the grill. Excellent.

12 oz bottle. Pours ultra black with mahogany at the extremities and a finger of red-brown head. It has a rich mocha aroma with some pure malt notes and just a faint hint of wood and dark spice. The flavor is very fresh espresso and cocoa up front, and then a distinct ashiness. Not like charcoal, but like charred firewood. Some sweet raisin notes float around, too, before some piney bitterness comes into play. The pine bitterness and some bitter cocoa notes make the finish slightly drier than the rest of the sequence of flavors, but the aftertaste gains a rich sweetness reminiscent of chocolate-covered-cherries along with another strong burst of ash. This is some pretty good stuff... I wish I’d bought a few more bottles.

Bottle courtesy of Moejuck: Poured a pitch-black color beer with a medium foamy head with good retention and good lacing. Aroma of medium coffee with light roasted malt. Taste is dominated by some medium dry coffee with some light roasted malt and some nice oatmeal notes. Body is quite creamy which I always enjoy as well as being full with some medium to low carbonation. Well done and something I wouldn’t mind having again.

4/23/2007: Dark Horse Reserve Special Black Bier is near black in color and pours clear. There is a good-sized foamy brown head the slowly collapses and leaves a frothy dark tan crown on the beer. Thick foamy lacing with brown speckles cover the glass almost from beginning to end. Semi-sweet chocolate, some alcohol, and delicate char (nice complexity) can be found in the very nice aroma. The flavor contains heavily roasted malts, dark chocolate, and coffee. The flavor isn’t really that sweet and it has a perfectly balanced bitterness from all the roasted malts. The roastiness is like dry roast all the the way to just before being burnt; it’s just perfect! The finish has a wonderful milky/creamy dry cocoa and espresso flavor. There is no alcohol detectable in the flavor. The body of this beer is full and it feels very smooth in the mouth. Dark Horse Reserve Special Black Bier is quite complex and almost reminds me of an Imperial Stout! 12 oz bottle from illinismitty. Thanks Sean!

big thanks to Paul for sharing this after the CL anniversary party. Just about a solid black in color with a medium brown head. Alot of chocolate and roast wafts from the glass as you take in the aroma. Taste is chocolate, and light to moderately roasty, with a creamy body. Very drinkable and pretty smooth- finishes roasty and moderately bitter. a great porter.