Dark Horse Reserve Special Black Bier

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

poured out of bottle into glass. rich, chocolate-coffee taste. Very good if you like dark beers.

Pours dark black with a small brown head that quickly fades. Aroma of roasted malt and some citrus. Starts off with flavors of vanilla, malts and chocolate and finishes off with burnt coffee and hops. Fairly thin body Not bad. Interesting beer.

The label doesn’t say porter, it doesn’t say anything. I was hoping I was buying a strong ale. So when I realized I had a porter on my hands I was instantly dissapointed since I’m not a porter/stout fan. I tried a couple of sips. Super rich, thick powerfulbodied. Dark horse might want to put the make on the label next time.

Holy crap this is some nice porter. Pours a deep black with a smallish dark tan head that eventually fades to a long lasting espresso swirl style head. The aroma is at first very strong with vanilla some roasty notes almost a peaty character finished with a strong hazelnut aroma. The flavor is a little vanilla at first that fades away right quick then it is very dry and bitter, strongly roasty with some great coffee tones, plenty of molasses and a nice little nuttiness and raisin in the background. Complex and awesome.

Not sure what this beer wants to be, perhaps it doesn’t want to be anything except for a tasty dark ale. Opaque brown body, very dark color. Thin brown head and spotty lacing. Aroma of burnt pan leavings, roasted malt, coffee and more roasted malt. Thick with an upfront bitterness followed by a burnt kick. Finishes full. Heavily roasted flavor with an English malt influence. Some dark berries and lots of bitter hops. A lingering after taste of coffee and nuts.

12 oz bottle courtesy of SamGamgee. Poured a dark, brown/black wiht a minimal tan head. Nose of chocolate and coffee.The taste was of roasted malts and bittersweet chocolate. did not taste too heavy and had a nice dry finish.

12oz bottle. Almost black color with a beige head. Milk chocolate aroma with emphasis on the milk part; creamy, burnt, and a bit smokey. Dry and roasty in the finish with some chocolate sweetness to start, and a firm hop bitterness. Medium bodied with medium carbonation. You might guess that this was lower in abv by how it drinks.

Bottle courtesy SamGamgee. Pours blackish with brown highlights and a dark tan head. Aroma is straightforward milk and dark chocolates, with maybe a lactose note. Super roasty flavor with black, roasted, burnt barley notes and an even bitterness. Dry, maybe a bit astringent. Still pretty good.