It seems that there are some pretty good brewers in Michigan these days.  Great Lakes and others put out some great stuff.  What about Dark Horse, are they to be counted among these good breweries?  Since I’ve got two Stouts from this same brewery, I’m going to review them both on this one article.  Luckily, their named One and Too, respectively.  

One and Too both had some very very dark bodies and dark brown heads.  They were both certainly Stout in every since of the word.  

Both these brews had some very nice burnt grain, chocolate, and coffee notes on the nose.  They both also had some juicy, fruity qualities.  These were the common factors among the two, but now it’s time for them to depart.

The Oatmeal Stout (One) obviously had some oats on the nose which combined with very roasty qualities. One had a thick mouth-feel, which revealed how chewy this Oatmeal Stout was (I would like even more oats on flavor).  Oats are notoriously hard to mash into a brew because of their gelatinizing qualities, so making even a decent Oatmeal Stout is a challenge.  Along with the oats was a clear chocolate taste to the beer.  I also noted some caramel and marshmallow notes.  The juicy (read: slight acidity) fruity taste was almost prune-like.  I did enjoy this beer.  Probably not my favorite Oatmeal Stout but a good beer nonetheless.  

Time for Too.  If the first beer was juicy (read: acidic), this one was more.  It had less chocolate and a ton of roast, which made it have more coffee qualities.  There was also a biscuit quality to the beer that was noticeable in this Cream Stout (cream stout meaning that it was brewed with Ale yeast and aged at Lager temps).  This beer had some nice smoky qualities that made it finish long and nicely.

I think that this brewery lives up to what I expected.  The interpretation of a slightly acidic Stout was a pleasurable experience.  I’ll keep you posted because I’m planning on trying their Triple Belgian Ale.

Mike’s Rating:

Overall Satisfaction:  

Among other Stouts