Dark Horse Tres Blueberry Stout

Thanks to Beerhunter for this one: This beer pours a thick black opaque colour with hints of dark reddish brown. A nice full sized head cocoa brown head with aromas of blueberry pie, coffee and oatmeal. Mouthfeel was relatively creamy, flavors of blueberries, toffee, and chocolate syrup. Nice beer overall.

Bottle. Pours a very dark brown, virtually no head to speak of, even after trying to produce one. Very nice ripe blueberry aroma. Flavor lacks the punch of the aroma, blueberry is so very faint in the background, almost non-exsistent. Malt and touches of choclate. A well done dry stout.

Pours a completely opaque black with a very nice deep tan head. Aroma is somewhat muted, but it is still full of fresh blueberry and is complemented nicely by some roasted/burnt malt accents. Flavor is very nicely done...lots of blueberry, but it is melded very well with sweet chocolate, burnt nut and malt flavors, some slight coffee notes, and ends with a strong dry, yet sweet note. Palate is well above average...very creamy and extremely smooth. Slight bitterness towards the end was a bit odd, but didn’t detract much. Overall this was a very nice offering...one of the rare beers I’ve had that hypes the blueberry, but does a great job melding it with other flavors.

Poured a rich black from the tap with a trim dark tan head. Blueberries dominate both the aroma and flavor of this beer, which sounds bad, but it’s really awesome. Tasty notes of cocoa are also present. Of all the Dark Horse stouts that I’ve tried, this one is the most distinct and successful. Well done.

Bottle, aged for a few months. Ah, the last of the four that I haven’t rated yet. Pours an opaque jet-black with mild viscosity. The head is a dark burgundy that fades quickly and seems to be rather difficult to stir up. The aroma is of fresh, juicy blueberries with some lightly smoked woody notes. Some dark chocolate is noticeable. It’s rather oily to the tongue with some acidic tinges. The initial flavour is dominant in blueberries, but not overpowering. It’s graciously assertive. The front of the palate enjoys the nice, mellow blueberries as the centre starts to notice some more of the mildly smoked woody notes. The back of the palate, however, is assaulted with a bitter dark chocolate. As the smoked flavours increase, it quickly gravitates towards the back of the palate making the bitterness escalate. The blueberries are the first to fade. Smoke fades quickly as the bitterness overcomes it. The bitterness at the back of the tongue lasts for a long time. As the astringency fades, the wood notes prevail. Subtle cocoa and even more subtle blueberry is a nice addition to this somewhat dry finish. This is such a unique experience. Because its assault to the back of the palate, I feel to thoroughly enjoy it, one must give each sip some time for the palate to reset itself. Now, from my previous experiences of this beer (which were more fresh), I hardly remember the astringency towards the back of the palate, and the blueberries were definitely much more intense. It’s hard to say which I liked better. However, I can say that aged for a few months, the experience becomes rather interesting.

The aroma is particularly good on this stout; there is a lot of fresh blueberry aroma, along with nutty, chocolaty, and yeasty aromas to compliment. The beer pours with a very deep black color and a head that stays around the rim of the glass leaving a swirl on top of the beer. From the smell I expected this to be very fruity, which in it’s own right it is, however not in an alcipop sort of way. The initial flavors are of a very strong and bitter stout. Flavors that hit the tongue right off the bat are a little overwhelming but very nice to pick through. The blueberry introduces the beer at the tip of the tongue while strong flavors of wood and dark roasted coffee take over. The back of the tongue gets a deep almost burnt malt flavor which dances well with the hop bitterness. The flavors are so intense that it reminds me of an imperial stout! The palate is almost bizarre as the beer slides across your tongue but is somewhat harsh going down. Overall this is absolutley worth a try (or even a case)

(Bottle 35,5 cl) Courtesy of Thomas E. Completely opaque black with a small light brown head. Aroma of burned malt, tar, ashes and some vague underlying berry notes. Medium body with lots of burned malts, ashes and blueberry notes appearing in the late finish that also contains quite some malt bitterness. 260708

Poured a very dark brown with a tan head. Aroma was of coffee andd chocolatre covered blueberries. Flavor was very thick and dry but tasy. Blueberry flavor was there but not overwhelming. Very good Brew.