Dark Horse Reserve Special Black Bier

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

12oz Bottle $8.69 6-Pack Village Dell and Wine, Rice Lake Reserve Special Black Bier pours black without a hint of light coming through when backlit. A three finger brown head formed on the pour and slowly fell to one finger becoming extremely creamy. Leaves some decent patchy lacing on it’s way down. Roasted malts kick things off and lead into a mildly fruity (figs, prunes), nutty aroma. Cocoa shows itself complimenting the nuttiness. Mild alcohol fumes way in the back. Complex and warming. Roasty malts combine with a mild lactic quality quickly leading into the nuttiness that was present in the aroma. Cocoa and mild brown sugar lead their way to the the finish the cocoa becoming most dominant. A hint of fig peeks in and out throughout the palate. Heavy body with a smooth silkiness as it slowly works it’s way over the palate. Becomes slightly gritty on the swallow. Leaves my mouth watering after each sip. Good balanced moderate bodied Imperial stout keep this going down easy. I could see myself putting a few of these away on a cold winter evening. Another high quality brew from Dark Horse. I’ve sampled three or four of their offerings (all being darker, heavier styles) and everyone was excellent. I said it before and I’ll say it again to the brewers at Dark Horse...Please find a distrubutor in Chicagoland. 10/7/07

Thanks to JB175 for the bottle. Pour is pitch black with virtually no head. Aroma is coffee, chocolate and a bit of alcohol. Very chocolatey in tase with coffee and roasted/carmel malt there as well. Light bitterness. Body is medium with low carbonation.

Tap. Black body, small tan head, lightly roasty nose. Fairly bitter with typical mocha/roasty flavors. Not exceptional.

12oz bottle- A black bdy with a nice tan head that dissipated into a small ring. Aroma of dark roasted malt, coffee, licorice, and chocolate. Taste of the same with a nice chocolate/coffee finish. Very well blended. A GREAT porter.

Thanks to footbalm and CaptainCougar who each sent me a bottle of this. Pours deep brown (opaque in glass) with a super-small head. Aroma of chocolate and dark, roasted malt. Taste is moderately sweet; chocolate, coffee and roasted malts. Bitter finish. Medium to heavy body. A nice one.

Thanks to Olso2116 for sharing this excellent porter. Black with faint brown head. Lots of roasted malts and faint coffee on the nose. Rich roasted malt body with coffee and chocolate hints. smooth finish.

[Bottle] Pours black with a dark tan head. Aroma is strong roasted malt, chocolate with some hops. Taste is the same with the hops a little more pronounced. Long finish. Quite thick. I know you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but at first glance I did not expect this to be the high quality beer that it turned out to be--the only thing I can fault it too much on is it being a little hoppy for my liking, otherwise it is great.

A porter can’t get much better than this. Black and thick, syrup like beer. It looks great and it has a great palate. Aroma is roasted malt with some coffee, chocolate, and just a hint of oak. Flavor is exsceptionally rich. Tons of malt with medium sweetness and a roasted character, more coffee and chocolate.