Chicagoist's Beer Of The Week: Dark Horse's Plead The 5th

By Jason Baldacci in Food on Mar 27, 2015 4:05PM

This week we're taking a look at a highly sought after stout from Michigan.

Plead the 5th is an Imperial Stout from Dark Horse Brewing Co. of Marshall, Michigan. It pours an almost pitch black color in the glass, with frothy, mocha-colored foam on top. We pick up prominent aromas of fresh roasted coffee, bitter cacao nib and a hint of char.

On the palate those dark, heavily roasted malts burst to life even more than they did on the nose, with flavors of coffee and semi-sweet chocolate taking the lead but leaving enough room for hints of raisins and caramelized blueberries. The body isn't as full as you might expect it to be, which makes the beer deceptively easy to drink, but it does come with a pleasantly creamy mouthfeel. At 11% alcohol content, Plead the 5th is definitely a doozy but certainly not a chore to enjoy.

Every winter Dark Horse releases a series of five stouts for the holiday season, some of which we have reviewed here before. We're fans of this brewery as it is but if we see one of their stouts on draft, we usually don't even need to look at the rest of the tap handles to decide what to order. Each of these beers are very well done, not to mention uniquely different from each other and we'd be willing to bet that there's something in this series for any beer drinker, even the ones who claim they don't like the dark stuff.

Plead the 5th is available on draft and in 12oz bottles, check beermenus.com to see where you can still pick some up this weekend.