Reviewed by Ron DeGregorio

Hello, everyone! I hope you are thawing out of this crazy winter weather we have been having across the nation, and enjoying yourselves some NFL playoffs and great craft beer. As you can see above, we are unveiling a new facet to the Brew Review Crew; video reviews! We love watching other great reviewers on YouTube, so it just seemed natural for us to progress to this medium. We know it is a work in progress, but we will have some fun learning to become the next great video reviewers!

In addition to our video reviews, Cory and I will still be writing review pieces to go along with the videos. We enjoy writing about our favorite hobby, and hopefully you enjoy our musings!

Today, I”ll be talking about Dark Horse Brewing Company’s Tres Blueberry Stout. If you are a frequent reader of our site, you’ll know that I love stouts. I also love fruit beers, especially blueberries, so this is bound to be a wonderful experience for me.

Tres Blueberry Stout is one of five stouts that Dark Horse includes in their “Holiday Stout Series”.

I love breweries that put out a special series of anything. I am a collector of many things, and collecting a set of beers just seems fun. I’d love to put them all in a row and try them all, back to back!

Here is what Dark Horse has to say about their “Tres Blueberry Stout”: “Number Three – A full bodied stout made with all malted barley and blueberry. Flavors of chocolate, roast malt and light blueberry make up the palate with lots of fruity blueberry aroma.”

Let’s see what I thought about the Blueberry Stout!

APPEARANCE:

Tres Blueberry Stout is jet black. It is thick and viscous just as a good American stout should be. On the fringes of the glass you have just a hint of dark brown/copper tones breaking through. The head is classically vanilla colored, but surprisingly not very thick, and did not last very long. The beer does not lace the glass very much, but it is a very attractive stout.

AROMA:

Contrary to many other fruit beers, especially blueberry ales, this beer does not have an overwhelming blueberry aroma. In some blueberry beers, there is almost an artificial “blueberry” smell. If you’ve ever eaten fresh blueberries, the aroma is not as defined as some of these beers would have you believe. Tres Blueberry Stout has just a hint of blueberry aroma tucked in a very roasty, chocolate noted stout. It is just a slight compliment to the stout aromas you would expect. Smells quite lovely.

TASTE:

Prior to tasting this beer, I was unsure what to expect. I was anticipating an overwhelming syrupy blueberry taste, like saturated blueberry waffles or pancakes. This is not at all what I got. The blueberry taste is very subdued in this beer, only arriving on the backend of the taste. What you mostly taste is classic stout flavors; chocolate, roasted malt flavors, and a nice smokiness to the flavor profile. As you swallow the beer, the slight tartness of the blueberry makes itself apparent. There is a lasting hint of blueberry that reminds me of a sweet treat that has blueberries in it, perhaps a muffin or ice-cream! The mouthfeel is lovely as well; not cloying, but coating, as a stout should be. The beer is very tasty and is very well balanced between the stout profile and the blueberry action.

CONCLUSION:

Overall, I would give Dark Horse Brewing Company’s Tres Blueberry Stout a 93, or an A-. Cory was in agreement with me, giving the beer a 92-93 as well. It is a very well done American stout. At 7.5% ABV, the beer does not burn going down, and is balanced enough that you could probably have 2 or 3 before calling it a night. While it is very good, it is nothing to write home about. I’d surely recommend the beer to friends looking for a different spin on a stout, but it’s nothing mind-blowing. Don’t let that discourage you from picking up a six pack of this; it’s delicious!

Thanks again everyone for another read of our reviews, and please leave us feedback on our new video feature! What else would you like to see or hear from us? Drop us a line!

Cheers!