Reserve Special Black Ale
Dark Horse Brewing Co. in Marshall, Michigan, United States 🇺🇸
Strong Ale - American Rotating|
Score
7.62
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Conceived in a dimly lit room on a blistery cold night in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, but born and raised here in Marshall Michigan. The Reserve Special is the oldest of all beers in the Dark Horse family. It has an incredibly “thick” presence and when poured into a glass its color is so dark it’s eerie. The flavors explode onto your taste buds with heavy malt, roast, and chocolate, but stay very balanced. The Reserve Special Black Ale has a hard time being called a stout or porter but it fits nicely into the category of a delicious strong black ale.
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7.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Draught. I actually thought this was a black beer at first and was surprised at the chocolate content, but now that I see it’s a porter it makes more sense. Anyway, very chocolatey, goes well with certain foods. Well done.
Tried
on 20 May 2025
at 00:53
8.1/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Looks beautiful and appetizing with it’s black colour and dark tan head. Aroma of roasted malts, dark chocolate, coffee. Flavour is roasty, coffee, espresso, some liquorice, burned sugar. Some bitterness in the aftertaste.
Tried
on 16 Feb 2025
at 14:22
Tried
from Bottle
on 16 Jan 2021
at 14:28
7.5/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle at Fermentoren. Pours black with close to no head. Aromas of strong coffee, some licorice, bitter chocolate. Taste is strong roast, coffee beans, bitter dark chocolate, sweet dark fruits.
Tried
from Bottle
on 06 Nov 2019
at 17:20
7.5/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8
Tap at Craft back in April. Sketchy rating, I had had a few. Aroma is soy sauce, roast malt, bit of light coffee. Taste is chocolatey, roasty malt, bit of cream. Tasty and nice.
Tried
from Draft
on 09 Sep 2019
at 15:54
8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle. Almost black, opague. Malt and licorice in the aroma. Full bodied. malty sweet flavor. Licorice hides the milk chocolate notes. Dangerously drinkable and delicious beer.
Tried
from Bottle
on 26 Aug 2019
at 12:06
7.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Creamy tan head stayed stayed all the way on a jet black still body. Bitter malty aroma with coffee, roasted & nutty. Medium bodied, light & airy over the palate with a clean back. Roasted, nut, malt, bitter, liquorice & dark chocolate tastes with very tangy finish.
Tried
on 26 Jul 2019
at 21:26
7.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
355ml bottle, probably about 2 years old. Pours black with a thick beige/tan head. Aroma of roasted malts, coffee, dark chocolate. Taste of bitter roasted malts, coffee, dark chocolate, liquorice. Medium body.
Tried
from Bottle
on 12 Jun 2019
at 01:37
7.3/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
33cl bottle from Farmers bar. Thin ring beige head. Clear black pour. Chocolate. Very smooth
Tried
from Bottle
on 27 Apr 2019
at 13:58
7.8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7
Bottle, many thanks zvsn, smallish creamy head, opaque extremely dark brown color, cocoa, toasted dark bread and spiciness, lots of toasted and charred notes. Balanced and really nice and enjoyable.
Tried
from Bottle
on 21 Apr 2019
at 20:47