6.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
tap at the brewpub - Pours a medium brown color and has a mild caramel malt aroma. The flavor has some moderate hops, caramel and/or chocolate malts, and light fruit notes. This ale is bubbly on the palate and medium bodied. Pretty good.
Tried
from Draft
on 10 Apr 2007
at 18:44
7.8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
A solid sweet stout — sugary and roasty, velvet mouthfeel. Poured black with a thin, dark tan head that quickly disappeared. Nose filled with roasted malts, bitter chocolate, coffee. Flavor is sweet with a roast bitterness in the finish that lingers. Medium to full bodied. Creamy texture. Minimal carbonation. Lasting finish. Enjoyable.
Tried
on 06 Apr 2007
at 19:20
6.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 5
Texture 8
Overall 7
I like Bells Cherry Stout. And I like Atlantic Bar Harbor Blueberry Ale. I can appreciate this stout — the blueberries are there as is the roasty aroma and taste. But roasted, smoked, peaty blueberries? The combination didn’t work for me as well as it apparently does for most others. The aroma is big on blueberries. Behind it is smoke and peat. The pour is a black body below a creamy, large tan head. The flavor presents moderate sweetness and a slight bitterness. Dry finish. Medium body and a slightly sticky texture.
Tried
from Can
on 04 Apr 2007
at 21:26
7/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
12 oz bottle courtesy of MI2CA. Poured into a small tulip glass with small brown head. Again the blackest color. Aroma is soft roastiness, emphasis on soft. I get lactose but more like spoiled cider and a prune juice aspect. Mouthfeel is undercarbonated which adds to the prune juice similarity. Taste is just slightly spoiled milk, weird fruitiness (did I say prune enough), and finishes with slight coffee bitterness, which stays for the aftertaste. The hinting coffee leaves me wanting more, the undercarbonation is not too desirable and this beer is my first disappointment of the 4 stout beers (maybe my expectations were too high).
I am thinking the original rating was an off bottle. Bought this at a store in North Chicago. Poured completely black with a dark brown, large head. Still looks good. The bottom line on this beer is its all bitter malt, not a sweet stout at all. I feel like I am smelling burning stove and drinking bitter black patent husk. Too one dimensional. Alcohol well hidden.
I am thinking the original rating was an off bottle. Bought this at a store in North Chicago. Poured completely black with a dark brown, large head. Still looks good. The bottom line on this beer is its all bitter malt, not a sweet stout at all. I feel like I am smelling burning stove and drinking bitter black patent husk. Too one dimensional. Alcohol well hidden.
Tried
from Bottle
on 01 Apr 2007
at 20:34
7.9/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
12 oz bottle courtesy of MI2CA, thanks Ted. I really enjoy the DH stouts and this one pours just like the rest with the backest of black bodies and a small brown head that turns into a hairline thin lacing. Aroma is light oatmeal sweetness and some charred roastiness. The flavor is where the beer really takes off. Starts off with an oily sweetness that comes in a roastiness and finishes with a beautiful strong bitterness to offset it all. Leaves a lasting lightly roasted coffee bitter aftertaste. A slightly below average carbonation to exentuate the medium bodied beer to create a nicely hefty feel on the cheeks.
Tried
from Bottle
on 01 Apr 2007
at 18:35
7.5/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8
Bottle from ogglethorp; nose of roasty coffee and bittersweet chocolate; opaque black with only a few cinnamon colored bubbles; Nice thick body, but little carbonation; flavor of coffee, roastiness, light sweetness, and some chocolate. Excellent flavor, needs more gas!
Tried
from Bottle
on 29 Mar 2007
at 18:26
6.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Bottle, 12oz, thanks to BigErn, spasiba. Poured into a Chimay goblet, why?... because I havent used it in a while and I dont own a thistle. Pours thinnish looking with absolutely no head and just the tinniest halo lacing. Color is very dark, close to reddish, amber nearing the brown area of the spectrum. Aroma is surprisingly mellow, lots of sweet candied apple and brown sugar sweetness. Really weird in a way, it just seems to lack the hefty aroma I like in my Scotch but its still nice overall. No alcohol presence. Carbonation is slightly subdued, medium body - again I prefer a thicker Scotch. Taste is overall light with faint roastiness speckled throughout a watery malty (caramel) sweetness. Not offputting in any way but nothing really going on in there either. Again, the upside is I still feel no alcohol at all, maybe I could shoot for 6 if I had to guess. Now that I add the second half of the bottle, I get a nice yeasty sweetness as well as more of a sweet caramel kick. Still leaves my tongue wanting a bit more substance in the flavor.
5 years later and my original rating is still pretty accurate. I like that my taste has not changed for this style and I guess I congratulate Dark Horse for consistency.
5 years later and my original rating is still pretty accurate. I like that my taste has not changed for this style and I guess I congratulate Dark Horse for consistency.
Tried
from Bottle
on 23 Mar 2007
at 20:34
7.6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 9
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 8.5
12 oz bottle thanks to BigErn, thanks a lot Sean. A bit of sludge on the inside of the mouth, nice. As I pop the cap I can smell blueberry, I like. Poured completely black with zero clarity throughout the pour. No head and just a tad of brown lacing. Aroma is moderate with light stout roastiness, light coffee, and a sweet berry aroma that comes in at the end. Taste is a bit empty at the start but the light roastiness kicks in near the end with a perfect sweet blueberry aftertaste. Low bitterness and average carbonation. Downsides: a bit thin and not enough initial flavor. The blueberry is just how I would want it but I would like a fuller stronger stout in general, still very good though.
Tried
from Bottle
on 19 Mar 2007
at 21:06
7/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Bottle from Styles, consumed on 3/2/07
The yeast/sediment is plastered to the bottom, and even while pouring all of the liquid, even the last few drops, the beer is still a clear amber-ruby with an off-white head that is large, yet fades to cover, with light lacing.
Really yeasty nose. Lots of phenols and esters. Tons of cinnamon, allspice, clove, nutmeg. That sort of thing. With black cherries and a strong cherry-vanilla maltiness. Light acidity and some breadiness are on the end, but the black pepper, vibrant cherry and vanilla really make it soft and lovely. I just looked at the commercial description and I couldnt agree more. Medium-high strength of aroma, with no alcohol apparency.
Dark cherries and light balsamic vinegar in the flavor keep things acidic and very dry, despite the strong caramel and toffee sweetness. Light alcohol warmth and lots of white and black pepper keep things very dry on the end. But the unfiltered body is extremely soft and sumptuous. Too much breadiness, ultimately, but I love the fruitiness and almost Abbey Dubbel-like maltiness/esters. Never would call this a scotch ale, but that’s ok. Peppery phenolics and light alcohol on the finish, with lots of cherry. Crazy stuff. As an addendum, about 20 minutes later, the phenolic and alcoholic quality are really dominating right now....not so great.
The yeast/sediment is plastered to the bottom, and even while pouring all of the liquid, even the last few drops, the beer is still a clear amber-ruby with an off-white head that is large, yet fades to cover, with light lacing.
Really yeasty nose. Lots of phenols and esters. Tons of cinnamon, allspice, clove, nutmeg. That sort of thing. With black cherries and a strong cherry-vanilla maltiness. Light acidity and some breadiness are on the end, but the black pepper, vibrant cherry and vanilla really make it soft and lovely. I just looked at the commercial description and I couldnt agree more. Medium-high strength of aroma, with no alcohol apparency.
Dark cherries and light balsamic vinegar in the flavor keep things acidic and very dry, despite the strong caramel and toffee sweetness. Light alcohol warmth and lots of white and black pepper keep things very dry on the end. But the unfiltered body is extremely soft and sumptuous. Too much breadiness, ultimately, but I love the fruitiness and almost Abbey Dubbel-like maltiness/esters. Never would call this a scotch ale, but that’s ok. Peppery phenolics and light alcohol on the finish, with lots of cherry. Crazy stuff. As an addendum, about 20 minutes later, the phenolic and alcoholic quality are really dominating right now....not so great.
Tried
from Bottle
on 02 Mar 2007
at 23:25
6.9/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Sampled at the 2nd annual Michigan Winter Beer Festival, Lansing. Murky orange-brown body, thin buff head. Reminded me a lot of their Boffo Brown Ale, which was also featured at the fest. Bitter, roasty body with chocolate and toast, a touch nutty, with light tannins imparted by elderberries. This was a packed booth all day, as their stouts are really starting to gain much deserved accolades.
Tried
on 25 Feb 2007
at 16:36