Dark Horse Reserve Special Black Bier

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

bottle. pours a deep dark black body with a medium-sized frothy mocha head. Top notch aroma of vanilla bean, rye bread, milk chocolate, and toffee. Full-bodied, flavourful stuff to say the least. Lots of roasty malt flavour with general coffee and lots of rich chocolate notes. finishes with intensely bitter chocolate and toffee essence. Delicious! Bought at Bello Vino in Ann Arbor in April 2006.

Pours opaque black with a two finger foamy tan head that dissipates quickly, moderate lacing. Aromas of roasted malts, coffee, chocolate, smoke, molasses, soy sauce. Flavor is very roasty with semi sweet chocolate, molasses, coffee, vanilla, smoke and a gentle hop zing in the finish. Seems very well balanced, absolutely delicious. Mouthfeel is substantial for a porter, moderately creamy and slightly oily with gentle carbonation. Is this really a porter? I’ll take this over many stouts any day, great stuff.

Bottle shared with and courtesy of HogTownHarry. First beer of our Dark Horse Brewing tasting. Pours a murky bubbly black with a spare light-brown head. Slightly roasty aroma of caramel malt, chocolate, vanilla, hops and an interesting spice that I can’t place -- very nice! Flavour of roasted malt, chocolate, coffee and a nice hoppy finish. I found the aftertaste had a slight metallic taste to it, subtle but still there, perhaps the bottle was slightly past it’s prime? Nice full body, especially for a Porter. This was a pleasant surprise, a very good Porter and a fine start to our DH tasting.

My second Dark Horse brew and another threat. Thanks to Tom and Nancy (mamabeer) for sharing. Pours out very black with a nice brown head. The nose is semi-sweet chocolate, coffee, with some ripe berries and a touch of citrus hops, all of which carry over to the flavor. Rich and full in the mouth. Smooth. This Dark Horse seems to be a winner.

Bottle (12oz). Shared with blankboy, my bottle, from Pintbypint. Poured thick opaque brown-black with a minimal but dark brown head. Wonderful aroma, very roasty, rich and oily - chestnuts, dark chocolate, burnt caramel malt, but most surprising was this incredible hot cinnamon (and some vanilla) spiciness blended with strong resiny hops. Taste was much more bitter than I expected, not near as much spice in the flavour, mostly burnt chocolate and coffee roastiness followed by a big kick of bitter resiny hops on the longish finish; unfortunately, there was an increasing tang of bottle metal as it warmed - maybe a less than fresh bottle? This had a very muscular body - more like an Impy Stout than a porter - with a flat, acidic quite complex mouthfeel - terrific beer, if this is really a porter, one of the best I’ve had - would like to try it again with a guaranteed fresh bottle to compare.

Bottle. Pours a dark black with a trace of a tan head. The aroma is full of coffee malts and a little chocolate. The taste is a nice balance of coffee and chocolate, with a little roasted malt flavor. Very full bodied. I was a bit confused whether this was a black beer or a porter....

Black color with a thin head. Good aroma of coffee and chocolate. The coffee really piles up in the taste with a dry chocolate and slightly burnt malt base. Dry and bitter finish. I honestly thought it was a light Imperial Stout. Damn tasty!

MI brewers guild fest/06. Opaque black, with just a hint of light reaching through. Looks like a stout to me! Charred malt upfront in the nose, roasted coffee, dark rum , with oakey booze following. Spiced dark rum flavours aside bitter coffee beans, dark chocolate with oaked woodiness. A solid brew from one of the best at the fest!