Dark Horse Thirsty Trout Porter

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

Serve in English pint, Shaker

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Poured a dark brown color with a small, tan head that left light lacing on the glass. Aroma of roasted malts, some chocolate, and an oxidized sherry character. Taste of roasted malts, some dark fruits, wood, cocoa, and smoke as well.

12 oz bottle, via Styles. Pours a pitch black colored body under a chocolate brown creamy 1cm head. Some sediment in bottle. Aroma is thick and chocolaty with some licorice, light soy, and roast. Flavor is full of roast, caramel, and burnt malts. Lots of dark fruitiness and a little alcohol. Mouthfeel is oily and thick for a Porter with minimal fine carbonation. Long lingering slightly cloying finish. Overall, this is a pretty nice Porter. A little too much caramel and roast for the style, but on it’s own it’s pretty solid. These guys know a thing or two about dark beers.

Bottle from The_Man. Unknown age on this but it seems like this has been around for a while. Pouring a deep brown to black color with a fleeting tannish head, pleasing lacing is left behind. Aroma is nicely roasty, notes of dark cherry, wood and wine/sherry. Medium bodied with moments of thinness, soft carbonation. Chocolate flavor balances nicely with a little bit of acrid malt character. Overall a pleasing porter. The folks in Marshall seem to do a fine job with the darker beers!!

Bottle via Clark, giving him first choice of any of my vital organs, should he ever find himself in such a predicament.

Mostly opaque and inky black in color with a saliva spackle and a clinging grey wrung to serve as the head. Aroma is ripe with black currant, dark chocolate smooshed on tar, espresso grease, mocha boysenberries and lactic chocolate. I’m excited. Tasty, dry exhibition. Coffee bitters have the prowess here. Dark chocolate pumped with caramel and crème liquor give stark flavor to the dry espresso and roasted qualities. Chocolate malt balls, crushed and dusted into a morning Carnation breakfast drink. Captive and judicial mouth feel springboarding from centerpoint and spreading rapidly. Perfect, robust one-two punch when it comes to the balanced nature of this treat. Bitter, beautiful stuff, with final flavors akin to dark chocolate stir sticks seeping into French espresso sludge. Thanks for the bottle, Clark!

Poured a dark brown color with a thin brown head and broily oily film on the sides of the glass. Nice roasted aroma with notes of chocolate covered fruit. More roasted malt in the flavor. Notes of chicory mixed in. Light to medium bodied.

Opaque dark brown color with a thin wispy tan head. Aroma is sweet, toasty dark and caramely with some milk chocolate notes. Starts sweet with some light oxidation and sticky dark chocolate finish. Needs a little more balance.

(12 oz bottle: Obtained 06-May-05 in trade with jtw, thanks John!) I don’t know how this beer is when consumed fresh, but this has seen at least 10 months of aging and it’s a pretty awesome porter at this point. Roast is certainly present, but it’s not the dominant feature like in many porters. Rather, the sweet chocolate basks happily in the spotlight, and the flavor is enhanced by strong molasses, hints of cherries, and a pleasant earthiness and woody character. Moderate bitterness complements this beer nicely, adding balance without drawing focus away from the sweet malts. Full bodied, gently carbonated, long-lasting on the palate. Aromas of sweet chocolate and earth are quite a bit lighter compared to the wonderful flavor, but still pleasant. Very dark brown, nearly black, ruddy at the edges. Tan head is only about a half inch in height on the pour, but shows excellent retention by maintaining a thin but complete layer for the duration of the session. Only a few spots of lace on the glass though. I suspect the aging has had a positive impact on this excellent porter, but probably because I really like the effect aging has on dark beers in general. But a beer this tasty had to be solid to begin with.

On tap at the brewpub... Appears a brown/black with a fluffy tan head that retains nicely. Lots of spotty lacing left on the glass. Smell is of roasted malt with crystal malt and creamy sweetness evident. Taste is sweet, roasty, dark fruits, creamy vanilla. Mouthfeel is chewy, creamy, sweet, balanced, and getting the job done.

What’s with the low score? Any decent porter is worth a lot more than a decent anything else. I didn’t find it very thin at all. Really roasty/burny. Damn.

Nearly opaque brown/black, pours a nice light brown reasonably sustaining light brown head. Aromas were of toasated malts (overdone day old popcorn), smoke, some sweeter malts in the background. Flavor was of toasted malts and hops, creating a nice transition of flavors. The beer finished with more hops than malt. Watery and somewhat carbonated mouthfeel. Overall the flavor was good, but weakened from too much watery texture.