Dark Horse Reserve Special Black Bier

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

12-oz. Thanks, SecretSanta! Pours opaque black with a virtually nonexistent off-white head. Super chocolatey nose. Flat. Not much attack, but the mid-palate picks up some steam. Watery. By the time you’re into it, you get chocolate and roast, and then there’s a burst of ash near the end. Clingy, bitter finish. These guys overall seem to lean toward the flat, watery, and ashy, which aren’t big selling points in my mind, but I can see that people dig them and I respect that.

Nice color, very dark, mouthfeel was a little thin. Taste was very roasted malt, coffee, caramel. Finish was bitter, but very good. A wonderful example of a porter. Update: Mouthfeel not as thin as I originally thought (first sampled at tasting). However, the finish seems to be a little acrid, which is really my only complaint about the beer. That and the mouthfeel is a little puckering/tannic at time.

Big fan! Dark dark dark oil black, into impy stout territory with almost no head. The nose is fantastic. Chocolate hits first, with some coffee roast and even some charcoal. A bit sweet, but not into Founder’s breakfast stout territory. In a way, I like that slightly better. A little bit of berry to floral sort of hops. A bit creamy. The palate is marked by a very subdued carbonation and still a creamy smooth mouthfeel. The roast comes out more in the flavor profile, but the chocolate is still rather strong. Floral hops appear. A bit drier than I would have guess from the nose, a bit of fitting diacetyl making this melt on the mouth. A creamy finish with soem fruit becomign char by the end. I could start seeing myself buying sixers of this stuff.

Bottle. Pours an inky black with a dark tan head. Shades of ruby are barely visible. The aroma seems burnt with many ashy, toasty scents. A little bit of toffee is noticed as well. Medium-heavy mouthfeel on this one. Very nice, highly roasty flavor here. It’s extra roasty with big coffee flavor and a nice smooth chocolate presence to balance, but not dominate. This tasty beer suggests dark toasted rye bread, espresso, chocolate. This was a mighty fine surprise given the somewhat ambiguous label. I’m taking my time with this one and the warmer portions towards the end of the glass are very nice. Much more bitter, espresso notes develop and the chocolate character really comes out. Things start to get a little sticky in a satisfying way. Very nice.

Big dark pour with aroma of big roasted malt and coffee.....mmmmmm. Very rich with maybe a hint of dark chocolate. Very nice. The flavor is very roasty with more chocolate and coffee, with hints of vanilla. Also some wood and elements of toast. Very very nice. Relatively low carbonation combine with a light bitter ending, making this a well-rounded porter. Excellent stuff that could be sipped on all night long.

12 oz bottle. Poured an opaque black color. head was two fingers high and tan. Smelled of molasses and roasty malt with a touch of milk chocolate. Slightly sweet and very roasty on the tongue with flavors of dark chocolate and burnt stick. Finish was roasty and bitter. Pretty good.

Nothing wrong with this porter, but just tasted a lot like many other porters i have had latley, nothing really stands out, but solid non the less, easy drinking, nothing overpowers. Just bitter enough...

12 oz bottle. Pours dark brown black with a tan head. Strong nose on this one roast coffee, licorice, fruit, and alcohol. Roast chocolate flavors similar to the nose a bitter sweetness and the lingering flavor of dry coffee beans. Tasty brew.