Recently Dark Horse Brewing Company has had a few of their line become available around the cities. I've had their Crooked Tree IPA and put it up there with some of the best I've had. So impressed with this perfect IPA, I was excited to come across their stout series. They have released a series of seasonal stouts, each one a little different. Last year I had "Four" which was a smoked stout. I actually thought it was very bad, and was hesitant to try this series again. But I came across a bottle of "Tres" their blueberry stout, and was too curious to pass it up. I'm certainly glad I did. Then on a trip to a liquor store I don't go to often, I found single bottles of the first two in the series, "One" Oatmeal Stout, and "Too" Cream Stout. All very impressive. I'll go in numerical order."One" Oatmeal Stout- This pours motor oil black with a thin, khaki head. It has wonderful roasty, caramely aromas, as well as some slight biscuit. Right away you notice the perfect mouthfeel for an oatmeal stout, slick and smooth with a chocolate milk consistency. Wonderful chocolate flavors at first, followed by some nice bitterness and roastiness, with a nice lingering dry finish. The most drinkable of the three, a spot on oatmeal stout. A perfect balance of roasty flavors and sweetness. Perfect.
"Too" Cream Stout- This pours thick and motor oil black as well, with a thin khaki head. Wonderful roasty, and chocolatey aromas in this one as well, with some toffee and espresso as well. Smooth and flavorful right away with some great sweet chocolate flavors and some bitterness in the finish. It has a lingering bitter chocolate finish and a little bit of dryness, but not as much as the oatmeal stout. Just an outstanding stout! Creamy, chocolatey, smooth and extremely drinkable. Hard to determine which one is better, if you're in the mood for a sweeter stout, this is the way to go.
"Tres" Blueberry Stout- Definitely the most intriguing of the bunch. I was curious to see how they balance the blueberry. The answer...perfectly. This too pours jet black with a thin tan head, but lighter than the other two and a slight blue tint to it. Wonderful roasty aromas at first with some blueberry aromas as well. Nothing overwhelming in the blueberry aroma, just faint enough to know it's there. Great smooth, creamy mouthfeel like the others. A very roasty backbone, with less chocolate than the others, and more chalkiness that is present right before the blueberry comes through. Nice winey-blueberry sweetness that works perfectly on top of the roasty flavors. It's sweet, but not overwhelming at all, a perfect balance between a typical stout and some fruitness. I think it's really easy to overdo or under shoot fruit beers, and this one doesn't come close to either. It's so well balanced that it enhances the beer without overwhelming the flavors. It also is present enough to make you know it's there without having to look at the label and say "oh...blueberry, is that the weird flavor I'm picking up?" For someone who likes to experiment with traditional beers and add interesting twists, this beer is a great bar to aim for. Exceptional.
I need to try the other Dark Horse beers that become available, because including the Crooked Tree and these three, they set the bar high!
I plan on doing a trio of Double IPA reviews soon, as well as an update on Irie 2.1, a review of my most recent El Muerto and some other thoughts.
Salud!
Bearded Brewer
3 comments:
Do you know if they used really blueberry juice or extract in the blueberry stout?
I brewed up a blueberry a couple years ago using fresh blueberries. I used about 6 lbs. of crushed blueberries and barely got a faint hint of it to come through in the beer. I think using that much blueberry also made the beer a little too "juicy." It almost had a medicinal quality to it.
Because blueberry isn't as overpowering as something like raspberry, I know a lot of commercial brewers use extract to get that flavor without messing up the body of the beer. I was just curious how Dark Horse achieved that balance.
Brian,
Not sure what they use. I'd be interested in finding out. My fear in using fresh blueberries would be a turn out you had.
Ted @ Tedbrews sent me a really interesting blueberry beer. I'd have to check his recipe again, and it wasn't a stout, but he certainly had no shortage of blueberry presence. The Dark Horse Stout is awesome however they did it!
I live close to Marshall and have asked the brewers about many of their beers and they do use Michugan grown fresh blueberries! Possibly the best fruit beer ever for its unbelievable stouttyness with slight blueberries, mmmmmm cant wait for the season and/or the 4 elf party hehhe
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