Dark Horse Reserve Special Black Bier

Excellent beer. A big brown head with lots of chocolate in the nose. The flavor is very smooth and rich. A dry chocolate finish. Well done.

Smell of chocolate and booze with a hint of vanilla. Smell gives the impression of light body.........smoked, roasted coffee malty nutty flavor. Good stuff!

(Bottle, Monk’s Café, Wallingatan, Stockholm, 2 Oct 2009) Black colour with frothy, brown head. Malty, roasted nose with dark chocolate, strong black coffee and liquorice. Malty, roasted taste with notes of black coffee, dark chocolate, dark fruit, liquorice and a balanced coffee bitterness in the finish. Slightly above medium body, with some sweetness. Very nice porter.

Pours black with a dark tan head. Strong coffee aroma backed by chocolate. Medium body with moderate carbonation. Flavor is primarily coffee with burnt malt. Definitely bitter. Finishes smooth and burnt and bitter. Very nice ale.

I worship the ground that Dark Horse Brewers walk on. If I ever turn into a boozehound, they are partly responsible. It really doesn’t get any better than this. The Special Black Bier is really a stout, though not a super strong one--it drinks very easy. Not very complex--typical of most stouts--but a nice body. Dark Horse Brewery’s Uno Oatmeal Stout is also delish--recommended if you like this one. Last, their IPA is unusual and very good too.

Bottle. Duh -- it’s black. Almost no head, surprisingly. The aroma is full-on chocolate syrup. It drinks with a big-time richness, with bitter dark chocolate as the primary component, a little bit of woodiness finishing it off. Tasty beer. (#3677, 9/19/2009)

Bottled at Monks Café, Wallingatan, Stockholm. Pours out in an opaque black appearance topped with a small beige head. Rich but a bit simplistic aroma of black chocolate with minty and grassy hops. Nearly full-bodied with strong notes of chcoalte sauce, cocoa powder, cookies and mint. Long full medium-bitter aftertaste of dark chocolate, brown sugar, crackers, grass, mint, mild black pepper and mild alcohol. Flavorful but a tad too sticky and rough.

Sampled at 2009 Bruegala. Black with an average light-brown head that is mostly diminishing. Light chocolate aroma with moderate coffee roast, bordering on burnt. Short, lightly bitter flavor has light notes of dates but is largely dominated by burnt coffee and bakers’ chocolate. Surprisingly thin body.