Dark Horse Reserve Special Black Bier

Bottle courtesy of KieferUGA, picked up for me while we were all up in Chicago/Indiana. Poured a pretty viscous black with a small and short lasting light brown head. Aroma of roasted/smoked malt, chocolate, coffee and oats. They sure crammed a lot of flavor into this one. Huge amounts of coffee, which I normally do not overly love, but this was really nice tasting. Chocolate, roasted malt, caramel and darkish fruit. A pretty solid hop presence in the finish. Just a really stand out example of the style.

Bottle courtesy of SQNfan. Pours black with a small dark tan head that fades quickly. Aroma of rich roasted malt, alcohol, and bitter chocolate. Flavor of sweet roasted malt and a hint of bitter chocolate. A little boring, flavor-wise but ok.

12oz bottle. Jet black pour, dark tan head. Dark roasted aroma, a little chocolately as well. Nice dark roasty malt body, thicker than most porters to me, slight bitterness in the back of the throat.

Bottle. Absolutely gorgeous aroma of roasted malt, coffee, espresso, supporting sweet alcohol, supporting bittering hops, working well with the coffee notes, giving them different edges. Nothing too fancy, but just everything I’d want in a robust porter. Flavor works together marvelously as well, bitter chocolate, sweet coffee ice cream, perfect alcohol presence. A stand-out in a category where beers are apt to get muddled in with the masses. Mouthfeel is creamy yet airy and silky at the same time. Again, just what I’m looking for, full-bodied and superbly drinkable. Is it a 5 in appearance? Tough to say...not much of a head...but this beer feels like a 5.0 to me, a glorious feeling, and the bubbles on the head that it did have were quite lively and glistening...so...a 5.0 it is.

Beer Tasting at Heritage Liquor(Maplewood, MN) - Pours black with a brown head and some spotty lacing. The nose is powdered cocoa, roasted malts, smoked barley, molasses, and a hint of coffee. Comes across the palate as charred dark chocolate, roasted coffee beans, molasses, and chalky cocoa with some bittering hops in the finish. Full creamy mouth feel.

Growler. Black pour with a serious brown head. A hoppy,bitter aroma. Flavor is of chocolate,and coffee as promised,lightly bitter, maybe hops or coffee , a nice smooth easy drinker. Nice body,nice mouthfeel . A very solid all around offering, and I love the Ass on the label,reminds me of mom. Thank you Dark Horse

Pours black...half finger deep tan head. Aroma is very sweet and malty with hints of dark chocolate and mild coffee...enjoyable to take in. Flavor is chocolate and caramel malts, roasted nuts, sweet coffee and a quick jolt of bitterness. This was an incredibly easy drinker and a very enjoyable rendition of the style. I was looking forward to trying this, and it didn’t disappoint!

Pours black with litle head. Sweet fruity aroma with some mocha. Some coffee, mocha, and hops in flavor. Decent porter.