Plead the 5th (Dark Horse Brewing)

    This beer seemed to be all my customers wanted to buy for the first two months of my NoVa experience. This imperial stout is the finale of the winter stout series only usurped by it's barrel aged brother. Cherry picking customers want this and only this. It's bad business for the brewery and wholesalers when customers don't support the core items (crooked tree, boffo brown, etc.). When making an imperial or double beer, the ingredients are often doubled and the pricing has to be reasonable not leaving much margin for the brewery. The full margin of the core beers are what generate the profits that allow breweries to craft beers of this grain bill.

    I have had every beer in this series, and the fore smoked stout was equally as impressive as the prior stouts. I am still trying to put in words the experience of a good smoked stout. The traditional way of making a smoked beer is to layer the grain in between moss, then cooking at a medium temperature. The moss and smoke gives the beer a real earthy bitter twinge, sort of a similar experience of hops, acidic. The plead the 5th came in and went out quickly. Some people at work didn't even know that we had it or knew anything about it. I gave a bottle away to a friend of mine at work, and love to share exciting treats like this. I drank one, which was very alcoholic in taste, and fuzzy on the tongue. I plan on aging the last two. Dark Horse is exactly that but I predict if they keep making solid beers like this they will be a force to be reckon with very soon. Follow them at http://www.darkhorsebrewery.com/