Dark Horse Reserve Special Black Bier

Nice coffee/roasted aroma to start with, just hints of chocolate. Pours an opaque black, with a dusting of light tan head. The flavor of the beer comes across with bitter coffee and chocolate notes. Nice full mouthfeel, and very drinkable. A good solid beer, and yet another reason I’m happy that Dark Horse has started distributing to Cleveland.

Poured a beautiful silky black with rather modest head. The head is dark-brown, like the "crema" on the espresso. Has an oily look and dissipates within a minute to a thin film. Chocolate notes on the palate. Rather light formation of Belgian lace. Nice lingering. Medium body. Not as dense as the color and pour suggested. Subdued roasted notes. Hints of coffee. Some bitter hops. I like it, but am not overly impressed. I expected more ale yeast character. While I will not seek it out, it is better than a great many beers.

Pours a deep black, motor oil like in color and texture with a medium brown head. Aroma is of dark chocolate, some coffee, earthiness, and some hints of nuts. Flavor is similar, chocolate, coffee, nuts, malts, toffee, some sweet roastiness, and a slightly bitter finish. Quite good overall.

Porterish. Nice to look at. Thick mouthfeel, quite creamy. Moderately bitter finish. Kind of bland.

Pours motor oil black with thin burgundy rings when held to light. The 2 finger creamy tan head has decent retention and fades to a nice thick skim and ring after a while. Aroma is dark chocolate, roasted almonds, lots of roast, herbal hops, a little char, burnt sugar, coffee, and dry forest earthiness. Flavor is dark roast coffee, rich dark chocolate, loads of roast, an odd nip of blackberry, plums, a hint of fresh cut grass, a little earthy smoke. Toffee, roasted nuts, lighter roast malt, caramel and bitter hops to finish. Palate is medium thickness with a lightly syrupy feel and a slightly too sharp level of carbonation. Finish seems to coat the tongue, feels a little oily.

12 oz. bottle (2009) in a shaker; pours a pitch black w/ a large cinnamon head that rapidly diminishes into nothingness, lending this beer an almost Cola-like appearance; aroma hits you with the chocolate straight up, followed by coffee, hazelnut and sweet roastiness- pretty standard, smokey porter flavors, very nicely defined in this case; flavor is more chocolate, w/ the coffee bitterness a lot more evident than in the nose- this takes over and leads into a long, chicory bitter finish; thin-medium bodied. Quite a tasty brew, but the finish is a little heavy on the coffee. Probably on par with the Edmund Fitzgerald, but nowhere as smooth as the Founders Porter.

2008 btl. Pours inky black with gorgeous mocha head. Very roasty, bitter, loads of coffee. Hints of Bourbon. Palate is lacking a bit, not much complexity or mouth feel. Lingering alcohol presence. Tasty, but not great.

Bottle thanks to northernbrews!
Black with a decent beige head, qoes quickly to a ring with little lacing. Nose is burnt sugar, malt, licorice. More licorice, salt, sugar, and tar in the flavor. Very dry, bitter, moderate bitter with a strong finish. Pretty good, but I don’t find it very enjoyable.