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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8.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Pours opaque petroleum black. Small beige head. Big coffee, chocolate, earth, citrus hops on nose. Medium body. Powerful flavour. Rich roasted malts, coffee, chocolate. Decent hopping. Long bitter finish. Perfect porter (or stout?).
-- rated with beerbasher/winphone
-- rated with beerbasher/winphone
Tried
on 12 Apr 2017
at 13:06
7.9/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8.5
Big hoppy bitter bomb of a porter, chock full roasty unsweetened chocolate, deep raisin and mocha notes underneath. Mild sweetness perks up as it warms, and a lengthy bitter finish adds a nice spiteful fade. Surprisingly good.
Tried
on 16 Mar 2017
at 14:23
7.8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle shared at home. Black with tan head. Sweet deep roasted chocolate malts, barley, chocolate, coffee candy, molasses, burnt match heads, black pepper (the aroma, not the spiciness), something fruity like brier. Over medium sweet and deep roasty, almost ashy, ground bitter. Over medium body, soft carbonation. Slick feel. Nice roasty bitter sweet finish.
Tried
from Bottle
on 07 Feb 2017
at 14:34
7.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle shared thanks to sjogro. Almost black with light brown head. Licorice, dark chocolate, sweet malts, light ash, some dusty nuts, cardboard, blackberries. Medium sweet and bitter. A bit over medium bodied with slick oily thick feel and soft carbonation. Nice!
Tried
from Bottle
on 07 Feb 2017
at 14:34
8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 8
Pici, gyorsan eltűnő hab, vöröses árnyalatú fekete szín. Illata pörkölt malátás, fekete csokis, halvány aszalt gyümölcsösséggel. Pörkölt malátás, csokis ízvilág, finoman belesimuló aszalt gyümölcsös aromákkal, hosszú, pörkölt malátás lecsengéssel. Közepes keserűjét a pörkölés adja. Közepesen testes, enyhén szénsavas. Nagyon jó egyensúllyal rendelkező, nagyon finom sör.
Tried
on 30 Nov 2016
at 12:00
7.8/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Roast and dark chocolate with some caramel. Black pour with good head and lacing. Bittersweet finish. Nice drink. Tap at Fathead’s.
Tried
from Draft
on 14 Nov 2016
at 08:53
7/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 10
Overall 4
On tap @ IBF Pub Edition 2016, Milano. Il gusto al naso rintraccia liquirizia, orzo tostato e caffè. Il cappello dal colore marrone castagno è di schiuma compatta, cremosa, aderente ed ha una buona tenuta. La grandezza delle bollicine è medio-fine. Al piano inferiore il colore è scuro impenetrabile. Il corpo è strutturato non pesante. La struttura è di spessore. L’amaro è medio. L’intensità gustativa è elevata e la persistenza gustativa è buona. Il gusto è piacevole. Le sensazioni boccali finali sono lunghe. Il finale è lungo, secco, pulito e complesso. Il retrogusto è intenso. L’aroma in bocca riporta sentori di miele, biscotto, agrumi, caffè e liquirizia.
Tried
from Draft
on 11 Nov 2016
at 07:47
7.5/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8
Bottle from City Swiggers, Manhattan, New York, USA. A black coloured pour with a medium beige head on top. Roasty, malty, chocolate aroma. Tastes roasty, malty, chocolate, some coffee, slightly sweet with a bitter finish. Nice porter from Dark Horse.
Tried
from Bottle
on 05 Nov 2016
at 07:05
7.5/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8
Bottle, 355 ml from Beergium. Shared with JFK10000 and Miro. Pours black, medium beige head. Hoppy, roasted malts, coffee, chocolate. Sweetish. Finishes dry bitter. Medium bodied.
Tried
from Bottle
on 10 Oct 2016
at 11:59
Tried
on 02 Sep 2016
at 19:29