Dark Horse Reserve Special Black Bier

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

Dark Horse Reserve Special Black Bier Ale 12 oz bottle Recent brewing, arsed over 11/06 Medium pour in an English pint Poured black with a moderate light brown frothy somewhat lasting head with a tiny ring of lacing. Smelt of strong nuttiness, mild coffee and cream, mild chocolate, with vanilla cola notes. Taste was upfront strong bitter coffee and burnt taste with light sweet molasses, followed by a harsh burnt taste and moderate coffee, licorice and nuttiness, on a long bitter burnt finish. Mouthfeel was medium to full bodied, creamy, lively carbonated, with harsh astringency. Overall, a harsh and not so subtle beer. It smells and looks wonderful, but doesn’t beg to please the tastebuds.

12 oz bottle. Dark brown with a settling woody head. Faint bittersweet chocolate, a touch of french roast and cider. Creamy body with just a slight back tongue tingle. Sour raisins soaked in espresso. Builds into a dry bitterness. Well disguised hops burst through. Interesting take on the style.

Oil like pour with no head at all, Sticky on the lips. Alcohol is very well hidden! Very hoppy for a Porter! A really nice drink for me, the best of both worlds, Hoppy, roasted, Sweet,delicious! Thanks to Duane for the bottle!

Pours black with a thin tan head and thick lacing. Aroma is of rounded roast, an oily sweetness, a mild chocolate, a bit of biscuit and a soft touch of soy. Flavor is a rolling mixture of a very deep roast coffee, semisweet chocolate, dark chocolate, and biscuity malt. Pretty rich. Medium body with a very slightly watery palate. Aftertaste is a a nice mix of roast, semisweet chocolate, and biscuit.

Bottle from Duane. Poured midnight black with almost no head, just a small tan rim around the edge of the cup. Piney hops and lots of heavily roasted malts in the nose. First taste is a pretty overpowering amount of roasted flavors, but once your tongue gets used to it, this is a pretty smooth drinking beer. Roasted barley followed by a pretty dry, hoppy finish. Very tasty porter.

Pours a very dark oily brown with a decent sized head. The aroma is of heavy roast and chocolate. Heavy roast, coffee, and subtle bittersweet bakers chocolate coat the tongue. No trace of hops. Quite a bit of body for a .....wait, what is this supposed to be? More stoutish than Porter, definitely not Shwartzbier. Very dry roasty bitter aftertaste. Body is somewhat oily. Alcohol is nicely masked.

Coffee and roasted barley aroma, black as can be, roasted coffeeish, taste with a touch of licorice, lots of roastedness in the aftertaste, Definitely not a schwarz, body is less then medium, that roasted,almost burnt taste is wonderful, gets a very dry and bitter in the finish. This stuff is special

roasted barley, malts, and too much molasses, and bit of berry and not enough hoppiness for me. Yet is was pleasingly dry and bitter and creamy, sort of oily. I want to try more from this brewer. Are they intentionally trying to confuse via the label what this is? Goofy donkey cartoon label seems odd for this ambitious brew.