7.5/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 7
Bottle: Dark black pour with a smaller tanned head. Aroma of roast, malt, and coffee. Taste is roasty, dark fruits, some bittersweetness, and hints of smoke. Even a bitterness in the tail, and kind of dry right in the end. Thanks IndianaRed.
Tried
from Bottle
on 21 Feb 2007
at 10:25
7.6/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 10
Overall 7.5
Bottle Pours pitch black with a small tan head. Deep roasted aroma with some slightly sour notes. Flavor is slightly burnt malts, dakr purble grapes and black currants. Very smooth slick feel, very soft carbonation and a long bitter, smokey, slightly acidic trailor. Thanks drewbeerme for this one
Tried
from Bottle
on 21 Feb 2007
at 01:07
7.2/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Bottle from Ughsmash (thanks!) - oily, black bodied pour, with a short-lived brown head - moderately sweet aroma, with notes of cream/milk, espresso, loads of grain - very grainy throughout the flavor - creamy sweetness tempered by a heavy roasted malt presence, complimented by bitterness coming late - medium-bodied and quite well-balanced - the alcohol is hidden well, but starts to become apparent in the finish - the mouthfeel isn’t as creamy as I would like, but this is rather enjoyable.
Tried
from Bottle
on 18 Feb 2007
at 20:05
7.4/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
12 oz bottle from Ughsmash (thanks, Jason!) - very viscous, opaque pour, with only a little light getting in around the edges of the top of the glass - no head to speak of - I hesitate to call the aroma smokey - it’s more like the roasted qualities of the stout are simply amplified - some dark fruit (black cherry, plum), port and black coffee in the aroma as well - the body is actually rather light, considering how thick the pour seemed - semi-sweet, with a baker’s chocolate quality - moderate bitterness - some sweet stout flavors that are nearly overpowered by smoke, wood, tobacco and leather - it all comes together nicely near the end though, leaving a lingering dry, smokey flavor - I only wish this had more body to it.
Tried
from Bottle
on 16 Feb 2007
at 20:08
6.8/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Bottled. An unclear orange beer with a lazing orange head. It has a strong hop aroma with notes of citrus and grapefruit - and almost a herbal note. The flavor is dry and herbal with notes of grass and alfa acids. A bit too dry for me.
Tried
from Bottle
on 04 Feb 2007
at 12:13
8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
2003-2004 bottle (don’t remember exactly) from Styles, drunk on 1/24/07
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Tried
from Bottle
on 01 Feb 2007
at 16:57
6.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 7
Bottled. Okay, what’s with the crude drawing of the donkey from "Hee Haw" on the label. Anyway. Pours Pretty stoutish black, with a thin tan head. Big smell and taste of coffee, toasted carob, hint of licorice. I think there’s a pretty good-sized charge of hops here, and some of it may be American C&C. Somewhat of a Kingsford briquette aftertaste and quite a lot of bitterness. Perhaps this harshness might be covering up harshness from alcohol, but I definitely taste that, too.
Tried
from Bottle
on 31 Jan 2007
at 21:58
7.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle from Dark Horse. Sweet & fruity smell while pouring. Starts out light, but darkens in my snifter to a darker pils color with a Bell’s-like crowd of floaties. Refreshing sourness, more Berliner than brett, touch of white wine driness. An excellent drink. Don’t know that it’d stand well next to a real Trappist Ale, but this is something I could drink every day.
Tried
from Bottle
on 29 Jan 2007
at 21:08
7.9/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Murky orange-amber color with a thin bone white head. Spotty lacing throughout the glass. Citrusy hops aroma balanced well with malt. Medium-bodied and nicely bitter with hops and citrus flavors, along with floral touches here and there. There is a decent amount of malt balancing the flavor out as well. The finish is moderately bitter and lasting. Very solid all around.
Tried
on 24 Jan 2007
at 21:30
6.4/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
bottle - Pours amber (duh) with very little head. It smells of malts and lots of yeast. The caramel malt and yeast flavors are accented by some mild hops. There are seriously a lot of yeast flavors there for an amber ale. Medium bodied and easy drinking, this beer is fairly good, though I’ve had better from this brewery.
Tried
from Bottle
on 21 Jan 2007
at 01:09