Dark Horse Reserve Special Black Bier

In short: Molasses and roasted black chocolate
How: Bottle 12oz. Consumed about six months after receiving it from my man WeeHeavySD. Thanks a lot Jon.
The look: Black body topped by a tan ring of foam
In long: Molasses and black chocolate with high cacao content (the kind of 90%+ cacao black-chocolate). Medium roastiness. The strong cacao presence gives the beer a dry and floury sensation. It’s like they have used roasted black chocolate bars (if such a thing even makes sense) to make the beer. A light lemony hops presence just isn’t enough. A little alcohol in the end once the beer as warmed up. It is tasty and has a lot of “oomph” but overall the beer comes out as a simple mesh of two basic flavours and to tell you the truth the last few sips of my bottle were getting hard to enjoy. Souts/Porters have become the workhorse of the American micros and while this one is definitely part of the horse family this is more like a… well, you know, check the label.

pours very dark with little to no head, despite the brewers description...carrying a chocolate, caramel, malty aroma. not a bad flavor, but could be a little more robust..tastes similar to smell, but finishes with a slight coffee flavor. Not bad...Id consider it to be pretty good considering the county it comes from.

12oz bottle from Party Pak Liquors (Indianapolis, IN). Pours a dark brown to black with tannish, almost purple, head. Head settles quickly, but still laces the glass to some degree. Aroma is roasted malt, dark chocolate, some ripe dark fruit, coffee. Flavor is strongly coffee and toffee with some hints of dark chocolate and ripe raisins. Smooth and velvety with a bitter finish.

Thanks to Jason for bringing this to a tasting and leaving it! Black pour with quickly receding tan/yellow head. Roasty, roasty, roasty aromas with tons of malt but some hop notes as well. On the nose and palate, roasted barley, chocolate malt, molasses, some coffee bitterness, hops, and toasted hazelnuts. Damn, this is good.

Pours thick black with brown head. Tons of chocolate and roasted notes in the nose, a good amount of coffee, and a bit of alcohol astringency. Lots of coffee, chocolate, and roasted notes in the flavor, some slight dark fruit and bitter hop is also present. One of the more flavorful porters I’ve had and also one of the best.

Pours dark black with a brown head that recedes quickly. Aroma of coffee and roasted chocolate. Taste is very coffee with some roasted flavors. Light lacing. Solid stout.

The aroma of this beer was all coffee. Anything thing else seemed roasted to the point where it too smelled like coffee. The not surprising coffee flavor, while not overly complex, was very drinkable with some sweetness, some bite, some hoppy dryness, and lingering dark flavors of deep forest fruits.

On Tap at the Great Lakes Brewfest. Brown to black with a frothy tan head. Aroma of roasted malt, chocolate, oatmeal and coffee. Taste of roasted malt, chocolate, coffee and fruit. Smooth and tasty with a mild bitter finish. Yet another quality beer from the state of Michigan and Dark Horse brewery.