Dark Horse Tres Blueberry Stout

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

2/26/2007: Dark Horse Tres Blueberry Stout is black in color, opaque, and has a really subtle veil that lasts for about a second after the pour. This beer has an awesome aroma. It smells just like hot blueberry pie with a touch of chocolate sauce on it! The blueberry is much more subdued in the flavor but is definitely there and it tastes real like a fresh blueberry. The blueberry floralness mingles nicely with the dry roasted maltiness and chocolate flavors that follow. The finish has a wonderful milk chocolate flavor with traces of blueberry. The body of this beer is medium to medium-full and is just right for the style and overall impression. This sucker is delicious a very impressive fruit-flavored stout! I am very pleased!

12 fl. oz. bottles from Silphium (trade in December 2006) and Tish. Thank you Brad and Tisha! Rating #271 for this beer...

12 oz bottle courtesy of footbalm, thanks! I have to say I really like blueberries and I am usually dissapointed with Blueberry brews. The brew pours black with a thin brown head. The head seems uncharacteristically dark for a stout that is so small in ABV. The blueberry aroma is fanstastic, it is subtle, but upon opening the top I could smell it and it smells fantastic. I can almost taste the berries in my mouth. The taste blends the subtle blueberry with a nice malty rich body. This is a very succesful blueberry beer in my opinion. Great work darkhorse.

12 oz bottle pours a jet black body with a small light brown head. Scattered wisps of lace decorate the glass. Bold aroma is blueberry puree and milk chocolate. Medium body with subdued carbonation. Taste mirrors the aroma but with some mild roasty notes of coffee. Chocolate kissed by blueberries is the dominant feature. The blueberry is subtle enough to integrate into the roasty character quite well. A very nice fruit stout here!

Pours a black color with a small brown head. Aroma is strong blueberry with chocolate and roasted malts. Blueberry taste isn’t overpowing and meshes well with the chocolate. It’s not a harsh stout but very easy to drink and pretty well balanced.

12oz. bottle with thanks to tytoanderso for this great bonus! Pours thick and solid black, with a sizable three finger dark brown fluffy head that slowly dissipates, very little lacing. Aroma of blueberry bursts out on the pour, and then subsides to let more roasty malts, chocolate, and coffee come out, but every swirl of the glass brings that pleasant blueberry back on strong. Flavor includes glimpses of dried blueberry, with more roasty chocolate, coffee, and a slight drying bitterness. Another good one from DH; thanks again Tyler!

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.

A: Pours like many stouts, a nice inky brown/black with very little head. Keeps swirling along the top of the mug after a bit, hardly any lacing at all. Looks nice if you like stouts, won’t make you drool with desire if you don’t. S: Considering that this is a fruit/veggie beer, the smell/scent of blueberries is not as overpowering as it could have been, though it’s definitely there. After those first initial whiffs, it’s more of a "standard" stout smell (roasted cocao, dark fruits, etc.). T: Okay, I’m not sure how to approach this one. As far as it being a tasty stout, it most certainly is, but there is very, very little actual blueberry flavor IMO. It is far more attuned toward a quality roasted stout, with hints of cocoa, dessert fruits (I suppose this is where the faint blueberry notes come in), and a sweetened baker’s chocolate. The cocoa sticks with your palate with each sip, but otherwise it finishes quickly. Not bad, not exceptional. M: This beer feels brilliant in the ol’ mouth, it just coats the tongue and roof of the mouth and flows down the throat so well. Wow, that sounds rather, errr, beerographic. A perfect blend of texture and carbonation. D: Given that this beer is NOT very fruity or sweet, I think it’d be pretty easy to drink several in a night. A fantastic after-dinner drink, or for sitting around with friends. Not sure of the ABV since it’s not listed, but the drinkability is solid. I’m very new to Dark Horse Brewing Co., but thanks to my friend Dan from Michigan, I’m getting the opportunity to sample some of these wondrous brews. Seek them out!

Utterly opaque black. Very fine dark brown head sits and stays at a solid quarter inch. Nose is a touch of wild blueberry over coffee and brown bread. The whole is quite well-intergrated, and nothing is over-the-top. Medium in the mouth with the bready malt leading over dark chocolate and a touch of coffee. Initially, the blueberry comes across more as a fruity element of the chocolate component, but comes more to the fore (sorry, bad Dark Horse pun) at the finish. Its never obtrusive, and its a quality blueberry flavor - not the nasty taste of supermarket blueberries. Nice crisp body cuts through the richness of the malt and keeps the beer on its toes. Very nice bottle-conditioned mouthfeel. The restraint of the fruitiness, and the level of integration make this an easy one to down. Great job!