Dark Horse Reserve Special Black Bier

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

12-oz. bottle from artusory. Pours dark black, near opaque, with a tiny tan head that clings to the edges. Aroma is dark and sweet chocolate and caramel malts, yeast (leather), charcoal, coffee. Moderately bitter and acidic dark chocolate and coffee flavor, slight smokiness, finish is sour. Dark bodied and smooth dry palate.

Finally a beer that has something going for it. Pours black with a nice looking mocha head. Aroma with rich coffee with cream and roasted malt...a bit of burnt chocolate comes in as it warms. Flavor is loaded with robust and bitter coffee...quite a lot of red fruit comes through as well...this is the only DH beer that has had any complexity. Mouthfeel is thick and oily. This beer is much more of a stout than a porter...but I dig it.

the last of our Dark Horses. A pretty good one to end on considering the range we experienced. Not sure "porter" is accurate. Alcohol and flavor are more intense for the simplicity of a "porter." okay, this gets a lot better when it warms. it moves from good to terriffic. Pours black with a one finger brown head. Just huge chocolate roasted malts all over the place and totally masking the 8% abv. Great beer, complex and tasty. Lasting bitterness after the swallow.

a bit too bitter in flavor for me. it’s pretty close to a weaker imperial stout. beautiful elegent appearance. aroma is pretty terrific, but the taste is just a bit too bitter and empty (otherwise) for me.

Bottle. Pours oily black, with a diminishing plummy brown head. Nice aroma of dark roasted malt, molasses, coffee, and hardwood mulch. Good initial flavor of burnt dark chocolate, brown sugar, and dark roasted malt. The finish is dry and bitter, with very pronouced roasted coffee flavors that linger.Parts of this beer remind me of 2004 MendocinoWinter (Porter). Whatever you do, do NOT drink this too cold.

Roasted malts and bitterness dominate this porter. Inky black pour with short, tan head. The aroma is mostly burnt malt, but underneath are notes of chocolate and coffee. After a swirl, you get a whiff of earthiness that seems out of place. The flavor is hefty on charred malts with a hint of licorice. That gives way to a bittnerness, somewhat reminiscent of strong, burnt, bitter coffee. The finish is dry. Medium to thick body seems heavier than a stout, more like an imperial stout than a porter. Sticky palate and a long, bitter finish.

Pitch black, nice sized creamy tan head. Looks like a stout! Looks wonderful regardless. What a lovely roast aroma with hints of smoke and hops. Taste - wow, incredibly flavourful. Porter roast taste comes through at first with a hint of sweetness and a bit of acidic sourness. This is followed up by a ton of flavour - more roast, this time more coffee like, dry bakers chocolate, and a good dose of hops. Seems thinner at first before exploding into a robust body. Long lingering roast and bitterness. Wow, big thanks to Hogtown Harry for the bottle. This is instantly one of my favourites!

Black, bitter, roasty, tasty. Not much complexity or anything, it’s just dark, good and delicious. I love how bitter it is. Hops and dark grains both contribute to that, and it works great. Some alcohol in the aroma, but none in the flavor. Get some if you can.