Dark Horse Brewing Tres

Well, I'd say this was a fairly successful trip to the beer store. We ended up getting a bunch of stuff that I'll have to keep myself from drinking for a very long time, and a few things for the near future. Among the more exciting finds were a bottle of Dogfish Raison D'Extra, Beer Geek Brunch Weasel, Fantome Saison, Old Numbskull, and Le Saint-Bock Enigma. We also had Ballast Point Victory at Sea Coffee Vanilla Imperial Porter on tap, which was absolutely fantastic. If I ever find a bottle of it I'm definitely getting it.

Up for tonight though, we have Dark Horse Brewing's Tres, a blueberry stout. This beer pours a thick, black color, and looks almost like motor oil coming out of the bottle. It has a 1 finger dark tan head, somewhat fluffy in appearance, that began dissipating quickly.

Immediately on opening the bottle, I noticed a scent of blueberry. This surprised me a bit since I really expected the blueberry to be completely buried in the stout. This aroma lingered underneath for a while, but gave way to some more traditional scents of roast and coffee.

The flavor has a significant roasted flavor, completely dominating the profile. A slight dull bitterness lingers in the mouth after swallowing for quite a while. I can taste the blueberry on the very tip of my tongue, but only just slightly. It does add something, but as I expected the flavor really just isn't strong enough to come through the bold stout flavors. Other than that, there's just a bit of dark, unsweetened chocolate that I noticed.

The mouthfeel of the beer is a little bit of a weak spot for it. The carbonation levels are fairly high and sharp, and actually gives it a light bodied feeling. It was a little bit off from what I expected given the dark and thick appearance of the beer. There's just a touch of warmth in the throat, probably more from the carbonation than the alcohol level since it's only 4.5% ABV.

Overall, it did taste excellent, with bold and robust flavors as well as a little subtlety from the blueberries. The carbonation was definitely a bit too high for my tastes, and maybe was a little distracting. It absolutely was worth having, and surprised me with how well the blueberries actually worked in such a dark beer.

- Adam