This bottled brew from the brewery poured a small head of fine to medium sized brown colored long lasting bubbles that left behind a good lacing. The body was opaque black like a stout with no visible carbonation. The aroma was a nice mellow dark roasted malt one and the mouth feel was smooth with a mild malt bite and a mild tingle. The flavor was very nice with dark malts, roasted notes, and an overall very nice quality to it. It was very easy to drink and I could not wait for another bottle. Fortunately I had two!

<i>Bottle via Clark, giving him first choice of any of my vital organs, should he ever find himself in such a predicament.</i><br /><br />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!

2003-2004 bottle (don’t remember exactly) from Styles, drunk on 1/24/07<br />Heavily sedimented bottom shows how unfiltered Dark Horse is. Leaving the sediment behind as best as possible, the beer is still more or less opaque (though slight ruby-magenta highlights break through on the edges and near the surface). Dark beige head forms small, but very creamy and dense, leaving moderate lacing on the glass and eventually fading to partial cover. The body is nearly black, with an earthy brown tint.<br />Luscious chocolate and fudge rise up easily in the nose, filling the senses quite well and lending an afterthought of lightly salty char. Strong, sweet base malts combine with the dark malts to add a creamy-sweet vanilla character that nearly matches the intensity of the fudginess up front, and soothes the nose on its way to a more dry finish. Light malt phenolics provide moderately strong notes of anise, with a light breadiness and almost what you might consider to be a bit of smoke. It’s all very cohesive by this point in its age and interestingly, there seems to be no off-flavor nor much more than a slight glimpse of oxidation. With warming, the vanilla seems to dry out and the aroma becomes almost fluffy without being overly sweet. The dry, anise-laden finish reaches out farther in to the middle of the aroma to cut the fudge and chocolate. No alcohol noted, medium-high strength of aroma.<br />Chocolate-vanilla iced cream flavored beer is pretty spot on for the first few notes, though slowly some light earthiness from the roasted barley emerges adding light coffee tones (very faint) and bits of dry roasted graininess. The sweet, velvety fudge-like flavors easily win out, however and the beer comes off as one of the more creamy, velvety, soft stouts I’ve had in some time. Very much like their cream stout. Carbonation is low, but not really lacking, giving some life to the body and helping to highlight the dry anise and bitter chocolate notes that sit on the finish. Light char and lively vanilla-liqueur-like warmth are somewhat evident on the finish, especially with warming, giving yet another layer of complexity and intrigue. Medium-sweet, with a medium body, but not too sweet (which is saying a lot coming from me). Perhaps a bit more roast would lend a some assertiveness to balance the creamy-soft ride from start to finish. Though if you like sweet, soft, chocolate stouts, you’ll love this.

Pours rather thick, dark, and brown w/ a lasting tan head. Coffee, heavy chocolate, toasted nutty malt aroma. Also sweet and a little sugary. Some sourness & hints of woody hop, lightly raisiny, and vanilla notes as it warms. Well balanced just to the bitter side from hops & dark grains. A bit acrid from black malt w/ coffee & chocolate notes. Hop flavor in the finish & aftertaste as well as a residual bitterness & sourness from grains with a light fruitiness. Lighter full m/f, low carbonation, lightly astringent. Very nice porter! A little too bitter for my taste(from the hops), but very well worth having more...Too bad I only have one. Thanks Hopsrus!

damn, these dudes (and a chick) have so many awesome dark beers! This one came from a six pack (yep, another kick ass oddball label)! Pours black with a ruby tint and a thin caramel tan head. Nutty nose has hints of vanilla and ash. Thinner bodied and oily, nice dry peatiness at the start, bitter chocolates and a bit of roastiness in the middle, nicely coats my mouth with a chocolate malt flavor. Nicely bitter at the finish. Oily, coating, bitter aftertaste. This is thin, and scarily drinkable. I love all of their dark beers, and I know they are even better on tap, so I look forward to my next trip to Marshall. Props to the stouties, I have a One, Too and a Tres lined up next...