Dark Horse Brewing Co. Belgian Style Amber Ale

Belgian Style Amber Ale

 

Dark Horse Brewing Co. in Marshall, Michigan, United States 🇺🇸

  Belgian Style - Blonde / Pale / Amber Rotating Out of Production
Score
6.25
ABV: 5.5% IBU: 16 Ticks: 14
Let us introduce the "red headed step child" of our beer portfolio. This beer is commonly over looked and is a true Ninja of a beer. While the malt and hops give this beer an amazing copper color, medium body, and a smooth mouth feel, it's the yeast that sets this one apart from other amber ales. Inspired by almost everything from Belgium (beer, women, mussels) we thought it would be cool to give our Amber a little Belgian love. So we used a yeast that is ALMOST like a Belgian yeast strain. You'll notice it in the aroma but mostly in the flavor. Mild hints of light fruit and clove are present at the very end of the sip, just enough to keep you coming back for another sip.
 

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6.8
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7

Old rating from 21-11-16 - Brought in Whole Foods on my trip to NYC. Poured at home in Jersey, it's a cloudy amber colour with a white head. Aromas of fruit, bread & malt. Tastes of sweet dried fruit, coriander, caramel, bread, toffee and hints of mild spicy yeast. Medium body & medium carbonation. Finish is a sweet fruity mildly bitter end. A reasonable effort of the style

Tried from Bottle on 07 Jun 2025 at 20:18


6
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

Bottle at home. Aroma is sweetish malt, lots of caramel, mild spicy yeast, toffee, hint of dried fruits. Flavour is medium sweet and light to moderate bitter. Body is medium. Pretty simple malty Belgian style beer, drinkable but hardly exciting.

Tried from Bottle on 11 Feb 2025 at 15:34


7
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

Bottle at the Great Beer Bar, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. Poured a murky light to medium brown colour with a mostly lasting frothy white head. The aroma is toffee caramel grainy malt, light floral hop. The flavour is moderate sweet with a smooth, toffee malt, light burnt treacle, mineral, yeasty, floral woody hop bitter palate and a lingering bitter finish. Medium bodied with average carbonation and a bubbly mouthfeel.

Tried from Bottle on 01 Mar 2019 at 14:38


4.4
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 2 | Flavor - 3 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5

Bottle. Pours a clear amber color with a thick beige head and excellent retention. Great lacing. Slight yeasty aroma. Taste is dominated by Belgian yeasts followed by cloves. I'm not getting any amber / caramel flavor at all. Way too much Belgian and not enough amber ale IMHO. I'm not a fan.

Tried from Bottle on 30 Jan 2019 at 23:49


6.6
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

On keg at Brewdog Edinburgh. Appearance - deep amber to brown. Generous heaf. Nose - toffee and nuts. Brown bread. Taste - more of the same but lacking the Belgian yeast tang I would expect. I would probably have considered this an amber or brown ale without the Belgian influence. Palate - medium bodied and creamy textured. A little crunchy through the dry finish. Overall - solid, but not convinced there was a Belgian yeast thing happening.

Tried on 13 Jan 2019 at 08:21


6.1
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Keg at brewdog Edinburgh. Pours golden amber, nose is grassy, caramel, pine, taste is similar, chewy, sweet.

Tried on 11 Jan 2019 at 17:03


6.2
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Bottle from Beergium. Hazy, red brown beer with medium head. Aroma has lots of Belgium yeast. Also some dark malts, caramel and bread can be found. Taste has some spices and berries and Belgian style yeast. Still a bit disappointment, Belgians do it much better.

Tried from Bottle on 28 Oct 2017 at 12:33


6
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

Decent amber, estery and sweet but with a firm enough hop finish to keep the pint from becoming a sticky bun. Caramel and red apples mix with a biscuit undertone, drying out somewhat before mild hops and yeast round out the fade. Not my favorite, but drinkable.

Tried on 18 Jun 2017 at 14:33


6.8
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

355ml bottle. Cloudy, dark amber colour with average, frothy, half-way lasting, minimally lacing, beige to tan head. Sweet-ish, caramel malty and fruity aroma, hoppy and yeasty fruitiness, notes of yellow stone fruit, orange and mandarine. Taste is sweet caramel malty, fruity hoppy and fruity yeasty notes of orange, mandarine, apricot and peach; soft palate. Can’t see what should be specifically Belgian about this Amber Ale...

Tried from Bottle on 21 May 2017 at 10:37


6
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

12 ounce bottle from Whole Foods Ann Arbor Eisenhower, 3/28/16. Hazy medium brown, thin foamy tan head, decent retention. Aroma of yeast, caramel, canned fruit. The taste is caramel, yeast, clay, mild tropical fruit. Medium bodied, moderate carbonation. A little disjointed.

Tried from Bottle on 05 Sep 2016 at 00:19