Dark Horse Reserve Special Black Bier

Dark color. Smell of roasted coffee, oatmeal, malt and some hops. Tastes of hops, sweet chocolate, coffee, rye and oatmeal with a nice dry bitterness. Nice differnt beer.

From a 12 oz. long neck brown bottle with a cartoon moose (my friend splitting this with me claims it’s a mule) on the front label, no bottled/freshness date. Good start, poured a opaque blackish brown with a foamy, fluffy tan head that settled into a thin foamy, skim-like lacing, good laced sticking. Aromas of roasted barley and malts, molasses and a berry fruitiness, and a subtle herbal hoppiness. Also light whiffs of alcohol. Good moderate stout carbonation and a crisp, dryish, slick and creamy smooth medium bodied mouthfeel. Big tastes of roasted barley and grains, a coffee maltiness, a berry fruitiness, raisins and prune juice, molasses sweet, a light herbal spicy hoppiness, the alcohol shows up towards the end giving the taste a bit of a bite, and a dry roasted malty finish. A tasty and balanced double stout from Dark Horse, a good sipper, dangerously quaffable, well worth trying.

The labeling of this beer confused me. I was under the impression I was buying a Schwarzbier. After looking this one up, I found out it was a porter. After pouring it in the glass, I realized it was actually a stout by any conventional and modern use of the term. This one has a great nose of raisons, something else sweet that my inadequate descriptive abilities can’t peg, and some roasted malt. Tan thin head on top of jet black beer. Very roasty and a little too thick. This is no porter, more of an Imperial Stout if you ask me. Had some alcohol on the back end that wasn’t quite enjoyable. This is a good beer in a style I don’t really like.

Bottle thanks to Styles! Poured a medium-viscocity black with a fairly well-retained cap of caramel head. Nose picked up a solid array of dark almost burnt malts (molasses, dark chocolate, raisin, and some soy) with herbal spices and hops... very nice. Burnt dark chocolate, coffee, and soy come on heavy at the front of the palate with herbs, anise, and alcohol pushing through the back end. Solid levels of acidity and coffee bitterness surround the tongue and carry through the finish. Heavier on the palate. Very nice brew!

I find myself thanking Beerdrenched yet again for picking a treat up for me. Pours close to black with a small dark orange head. Aroma is wonderful - roasted and creamy with vanilla, chocolate, anise and other spices - smells like dessert in a glass. Starts out rich and medium bodied with burnt roasted malt and some some and hoppy spice. The finish has lots of spicy hops and tons of roastedness. On the finish the mouthfeel is much lighter. Very nicely done beer.

GTMW ’06. Dark brown body, dark tan head. Chocolate roast and grahm cracker in the aroma. Nice munich, roasted barley, and sweet chocolate flavor. Light noble bittering hops at the end. A damn fine beer.

Near black with a taller dense tan head. Toasty malt and dark chocolate lead in the nose. Fairly simple in aroma, but very enticing and welcoming. Full dark chocolate and bitter coffee flavors. The best thing is that the bitterness mellows to just a mild acidic dry cleansing finish. Full and rich feel that gets thinned out a touch by the black malt acidity. Depending on the time this one "swills’" about the mouth, the bitterness varies. If you take a quick hit, the bitterness is less pronounced and only a short after thought. Let the brew set on the tongue and the acid oozes out and dries the tongue and wears the palate out. A very nice black brew.

Pitch black pour with a frothy tan head. Aroma consists of coffee, chocolate, sugar, nice roasted malt notes, light caramel, and nicely hoppy. What is most prevalent in the taste is first the coffee and chocolate notes, then the roasted malt textures come through with the hoppiness. Palate is bitter/sweet, long, and full bodied. Overall, This ranks up there with the Fullers London Porter I rated a while ago. This Packs a bigger punch though. Very, Very nice Porter!!!!