Chicagoist's Beer of the Week: Dark Horse's 'Tres Blueberry Stout'

By Jason Baldacci in Food on Jan 11, 2013 9:45PM

This time of year, Dark Horse Brewing Co out of Marshall, MI releases a series of five stouts: One Oatmeal Stout; Too Cream Stout; Tres Blueberry Stout; Fore Smoked Stout; and Plead the Fifth Imperial Stout. While all five are wonderful beers, and worth seeking out in their own right, the one that the nerds go nuts for is the one that's smack dab in the middle.

Tres Blueberry Stout pours into the glass with a nice tan, espresso-like head. The notes of fresh blueberries on the nose coupled with the heavily roasted grains almost makes us think of blueberry pie. It's full-bodied and creamy on the palate, with the blueberries flying high above the surface and taking center stage. There are a lot of complimentary flavors underneath the surface though. There's a nice caramelization in the malt, with an earthy bitterness from the hops used to balance things out. We also get a hint of smoke, with a touch of rye bread and a little spicy citrus. At one point, we thought we might even taste a little graham cracker, but we might have been reaching there with thoughts of blueberry pie. While the brewery's website says the alcohol content is "not available," we'd be willing to bet it's somewhere in the arena of 8 percent. Either way, it's an astoundingly delicious beer, especially if you share our love of the blueberry.

What we really love about Tres Blueberry Stout is the way that Dark Horse makes the blueberries the star of the show without smacking you across the face with them. Don't get us wrong, the blueberries are very prevalent in this beer, but the beer itself is also complex enough to stand up to the dominant flavor it pushes forth. There's a foundation around the blueberry that balances the tartness, and one of the most impressive parts of a beer like this are the ones that you don't taste. To make a full-bodied beer like Tres that's loaded with blueberries, the brewery has to add a lot of hops to make the beer balanced, but not so much that you taste a lot of bitterness, since it wouldn't compliment the other flavors in this case. Balance is the key word there, and it's much easier said than done. We've all tasted beers at some point that we didn't care for, and in a lot of those instances, there's a lack of balance for a certain flavor that your palate doesn't find pleasing. To craft a beer around one specific flavor and keep it complex enough to stand on its own is a delicate feat, and Dark Horse could teach a master's course on the subject with their Tres Blueberry Stout.

Try the Tres Blueberry Stout on tap this week at the Boiler Room in Logan Square, or at Three Aces down on Taylor Street.