Dark Horse Reserve Special Black Bier

Pours pitch black, thicky with a quickly receding mocha head. Aroma of sweet vinous roast, dark chocolate, and alcohol. Taste is lightly roasty, sweet chocolate and dark malts. Notes of coffee, earthy spicy malt. Mouthfeel is full bodied with smooth carbonation. Dark Horse does a good job with the darker beers.

Bottle Shared with lb4lb. Poured a dark coffelike color. Aroma is coffe and a slight hint of smoke. Taste is smooth and crisp with a smoke hint in the finish.

Bottle courtesy of, and shared with ford9719.
Pours big and black with a smallish tan head. Smell is dark and roasty with a big smoky tone to it. Although the flavor of dark smoky roastiness was nice, it was a bit thinner bodied than expected, overall. Didn’t get any coffee flavors in this. Would definitely like to try again and a nicely made beer. Thanks Chris!

Black pour with a tan head, reminicent of many imperial stouts. Strong roasted coffee notes with some chocolate. Coffee flavor, although not as strong as many coffee flavored beers. A better balance. I can see why this rates high. Nice blend. BTW....I’m not a coffee drinker, although I do like the flavor incorporated into my beer.

Bottle: Pours black as pinhead’s soul with a minimal, evil halo of a head. Dark malt based aroma, notes of chocolate, robust black cherries and coffee. Silky mouth feel leads the way for flavors of dark chocolate, coffee and a dry hop finish. Very good stuff.

Pours black, with visible sediment upon close inspection, with a very small, thin, dark brown head. I downgraded the appearance, for the lack of head, though I notice the most recent rating claims a "rick foamy tan head," which is similar to the commercial description, so perhaps my bottle wasn’t as it should have been. Otherwise, however, the beer is very good! Nose is chocolate, a little licorice, and dense bread. Flavor is rich and full. Roasty, coffee, and chocolate flavors abound. Long lasting on the palate, and generally good from front to back. Considering I rated it down for the head issue, this may be the best porter I’ve had the pleasure to try.

Sweet malty porter aroma. Dark brown with a rich foamy tan head. Flavor is very porter-like. Rich dark chocolaty malt. Some hops bitterness to balance. Fairly straight forward but good. Palate is soft and even. Well balanced with a good light bitter duration.

Six-pack of bottles purchased at Flanagan’s in Appleton. This is an awfully good Porter -- I think it’s the highest-rated Porter I’ve sampled. Pours black and oily, with a dark tan foamy head that leaves nice lace. From the bottle, it has strong coffee and cocoa aromas, and those transfer to the flavor. Almost a baker’s chocolate flavor as it warms. EXCELLENT for a cold night. Despite the heavy aroma and flavor, this is quite sessionable. Trying to find other Dark Horse beers in the Valley