Dark Horse Reserve Special Black Ale

Dark Horse Reserve Special Black Ale

Our Reserve Special Black Bier is a full bodied ale. Each batch is brewed with heavy roasted and chocolate malts to give this beer its unique flavors of coffee and chocolate. The color of this beer is black, and when pured into a glass it will have a deep brown head of foam.
3.8
1234 reviews
Marshall, United States

Community reviews

3.8 Black, beige head. Bitter, toasted malt in the smell and taste along with dark chocolate, coffee . Nothing that different but a great porter all the same.
4.1 Keg at BrewDog Lothian Road. Black body with a medium tan head. Good lacing. Aroma of nuts and cocoa. Flavour of rusted metal and dark chocolate. Medium body with a smooth texture. Soft fizz. An indulgent treat.
3.9 Aroma of rich dark chocolate roasty malt with hints dried fruit, faint vanilla, and a twinge of smokiness. Black in color with a creamy head. Bitterness from both the malt & the hops, but the dark malt roast dominates. Beer is medium bodied with a very high level of creamyness in texture. Soft carbonation.
3.3 Bottle. Pours black with brown head. Roasted malt and chocolate aroma. Roasted malt flavor with dark chocolate. Some coffee, more dark chocolate and strong bitterness in the long finish.
3.8 black with a tan head; roasted malt aroma with chocolate notes; lots of roasted malt character with bitter chocolate notes; fairly bitter; dark bread notes
4.0 12oz bottle @ Casa Mia. Pours black with mahogany edges and a creamy light brown head. Loads of dark malt and semi-sweet chocolate, roasted coffee aromas and flavors. Full bodied with a smooth, creamy finish and lingering roasted coffee and bakers chocolate flavors that go on forever. Outstanding.
3.7 Bottle to glass,poured black with very little light brown head.Very burnt malty aroma, with molasses,and chocolate. Good medium body with average carbonation. Flavor of unsweetened chocolate.A very good beer!
3.2 Dark appearance with a tan head. Chocolat, malt and coffee aroma. Tadte of coffee and chocolate.
3.6 Tap at the source. Pours black, tan head. Very roasty malt, coffee, chocolate.. Roasty malt, chocolate, coffee. Super roasty. Coffee bitterness finish. Solid.
3.4 Tap at brewery in Marshall during glbtq. Black with small tan head. Roasty nose. Taste is strong roasted malt with some finishing bitterness. Medium thin body. Feels like a hybrid between a black ale and a porter.
3.7 Very nice and smooth porter, drinks easily and hits the taste buttons right away, not a surprise it has a high rating, it has everything a good porter should have.
2.6 12floz bottle (BOD/BBD?: 11.30.2016) that I bought as part of a mix-six for $9. Appears in my pint glass nearly black in color with a small amount of light brown head. Roasted malts are strong with dark chocolate, licorice, and touches of smoke. This leads to sharp bitter roast flavor and chalky heavy body. I find it too be overloaded in one way, so it won’t make my seek after porter list.
4.0 Bottle from Voldby. Pours pitch black with a brown head. Aroma and taste is roasted malts, coffee, chocolate, dark fruits, licorice. Full body. Soft carbonation. Oily texture. Bitter roasted finish.
3.4 Black color with a fine beige head. Ok lacing. Ok intensity in the aroma. Medium body and fizzy carbonation level (as usual for barrel aged beer). Easy to drink. Ok balance between sweetness and bitterness. Semi dry ending. Wood/oak, chocolate, roast and coffee in the flavor. Nice easy drinkable stout with a fine character. Just a bit to thin mouth feeling. [Bottle from a trade with Sigmund]
4.1 Bottle from Saveur biere. Pours black with tan foam head. Aroma is dark chocolate, Berry, coffee, cherry with piney hop background. Flavour is a creamy dark bittering chocolate. Coffee bean aftertaste. Viscous bitter hop finish. Delicious.
4.2 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
4.0 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.
3.7 Very dark, black even, with a 1 inch brown-tan thick, creamy-looking head that recedes gradually, leaving lacing slipping down the glass. Smoaky, roasted malt aroma with hints of sweet raisins. Moderate mouth feel. Initial taste hit is somewhat sweet, but it transitions quickly to a lightly roasted flavor. The initial flavor has a character I can’t quite pin down... almost minty, but not really - maybe it is the wood others mention. The balance is provided with mild to somewhat more than mild bittering in the finish. Don’t be mislead by the name; this is a porter/stout in all but name. Decent.
4.1 Bottle. Pours pitch black with no head whatsoever. Burnt coffee, toasted malts, dark cocoa, roasted rye, molasses, burnt rubber, smoky notes. Full mouthfeel. There is some hops going on. Extremely good.
3.8 Bottle at home. Taste of dark rye bread in toaster, coffee and bitter orange peels. Some hints of bubblegum.
3.8 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.
3.7 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!
3.8 Szép fekete szín, habja alig van, szénsav sem sok. Étcsokoládés, pörkölt malátás, közepesen keserű. A háttérben gyümölcsös aromák húzódnak meg. Nagyon selymes. Kandalló mellett a legjobb ital.
3.6 Backlog, ocena przepisana z untappd, w ramach uzupełniania profilu na ratebeer. Mega fajne połączenie żywicznych chmieli i wyraźnej paloności.
3.5 Barwa czarna, z brunatnymi przebłyskami. Aromat mało intensywny, głównie popiołowa paloność, nuty melasy i trawiastego chmielu. W smaku pełne, z wyraźną palonością nutami kawy. Czekolada gorzka w tle, słodkie kakao. Finisz wytrawny, lekko wysuszający i popielniczkowy.
3.9 Bottle from tavour. Burst of roasty cold pressed coffee and coco nibs. Can’t quite place this as a porter but I’ll go along with it l. Nice hops interplayed with this. Quite unique.
4.1 33cl. Bottle. Pours black with tan head. Aroma chocolate, coffee, caramel, licorice, some fruit. Taste chocolate caramel sweets, roasty coffee bitters. Mouthfeel full, thick. Great brew.
4.0 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.
4.1 Noire dense, petit collet dense de fines bulles. Aromes puissants, chocolat noir, caramel, cafe, liqueur Plutot mince mais les malt rotis tapissent genereusement le palais pour une finale longue amere et un peu seche.
3.5 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.