Dark Star Porter
Bluegrass Brewing Co.

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From:
Bluegrass Brewing Co.
 
Kentucky, United States
Style:
English Porter
ABV:
5.6%
Score:
79
Avg:
3.35 | pDev: 16.72%
Reviews:
26
Ratings:
31
Status:
Active
Rated:
Oct 15, 2014
Added:
Aug 28, 2008
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  1
A rich and robust blend of light, caramel, and dark malts sets the stage for BBC Dark Star Porter’s robust presence on the palate. This smooth but robust porter has complex notes of chocolate and roasted grains balanced by additions of traditional English hops, creating a delicious chocolaty and smooth ale.

35 IBU
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by jaxon53:
Photo of jaxon53
Rated by jaxon53 from Connecticut

3.25/5  rDev -3%

Jun 25, 2013
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3 by cfalovo97 from Canada (ON)

Oct 15, 2014
 
Rated: 2.5 by RBorsato from Virginia

Oct 16, 2013
Photo of Durge
Reviewed by Durge from Connecticut

3.43/5  rDev +2.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25
This obsolete brew has been "bottled up" in my fridge for at least two years so let's give it a try. Poured cold into a pint glass the color is a dark black-brown with a skimpy island of grey-tan head and little signs of lacing. The aroma brings a fairly decent heavy coffee-malt combo with dark chocolate liqueur sort of elements. Not bad. The taste brings out a much more washed out version of the aforementioned combination, resulting in more of a cardboard malt with coffee grinds at the finish, almost a bit smoky but overall weak and unexciting. The body is medium-light at best with a mildly frizzy carbonation, for a watery-fizzy feel. It's not horrible at all, but it's highly forgettable. I suppose the incubation period did it no special favors but I'm pretty confident that this wasn't the problem here. There's a reason it's an archived brew.
Feb 22, 2013
 
Rated: 3.5 by cliff1066 from Virginia

Dec 17, 2012
 
Rated: 4 by schoun from Texas

Jan 07, 2012
Photo of dreamlaugh
Reviewed by dreamlaugh from Indiana

2.34/5  rDev -30.1%
look: 2 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2
Smell- smells like hints of coffe, choclate, and pineapple.

laceing- not very lacy, average spaced splashing.

Appearance- dark brown/black with a foaming ring that follows the drink to the end of the glass.

Taste- very very slight hints of nuts, coffee, and choclate. leaving bitter aftertaste

Overall very average dark porter with not much strength in the flavor notes to be enjoyable. I feel I wasted my money.
Apr 30, 2011
Photo of dmfrench
Reviewed by dmfrench from Indiana

3.24/5  rDev -3.3%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3
Thin, weak, forgettable porter.
___

A: Dark but still clear body with ruby highlights and just a thin film of head

S: Typical porter on roasty coffee, cocoa and spice

T: Thin. Earthy hops with a light malt backdrop of general roastiness. Finish is longish, however.

M: On the thin side, but not quite watery.

O: Not exactly memorable, but no exactly bad either.
Apr 21, 2011
Photo of Morey
Reviewed by Morey from Pennsylvania

3.43/5  rDev +2.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Pours dark brown...borderline black in color. Lots of reddish hues when you hold it up to the light. One finger beige colored head has settled to a thin lace after about 5 minutes. Little in the way of head retention.

Smell is roasty and clean. Not a very big aroma.

Smooth roasted malt taste. A touch of hop bitterness in there as well.

Rather thin mouthfeel for the style. Nice low level carbonation.

I could easily drink a couple of these, but there are other beers within the style that I'd go for first.

Morey's Bottom Line: Not a bad beer by any means. It's a touch watery, but it actually taste pretty good. Would gladly drink again, but I wouldn't go out of my way to purchase it.
Mar 24, 2011
Photo of WoodBrew
Reviewed by WoodBrew from Ohio

3.94/5  rDev +17.6%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
It has been a long and somewhat chilly day. I have ben putting some intense hours in at work and I just got two kids to bed and working on spelling with the last one...and I just needed a beer that has some body to it. So I chose the Dark Star Porter from BBC. The color is dark dark amber almost opaque. the head is very thin almost non-exsistent....there is some lacing...but not much. The aroma is powered by roast with hints of coffee and malt. The smell gives way to a very good and creamy tasting porter. The mouthfeel is decent and I could drink the crap out of this tasty libation. Enjoy!
Mar 11, 2011
Photo of Shrews629
Reviewed by Shrews629 from Kentucky

3.22/5  rDev -3.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Appearance - Very dark brownish/black with ruby showing when held to the light. A tan head that was virtually non-existant. Left only a trace of lacing on the glass.

Smell - Subdued coffee notes and only small amounts of chocolate. Some roasted and toasty malts are present, but again, they seem to be rather light on the nose. Just a small, minute hint of some dark fruit.

Taste - Like the smell in a lot of ways. Coffee and chocolate with some toastiness, however they are, once more, rather tame. It's not bad, but just not enough "oomph" for me. As it warmed, the dark fruits came throug a bit more and it got a bit chalky.

Mouthfeel - Medium mouthfeel that was smooth and crisp on the palate. Mostly dry, but I would have liked for it to be a bit dryer. Left a little on the palate, but it wasn't as good as some others I've had. As it warmed it became more thin.

Drinkability - This is another Porter that I think would be great for introducing someone to the style. It's not overpowering. It has all the flavors, but they are just toned down. It's easily drinkable and it's sessionable. It's just ok for me. I wouldn't turn it down, but it's mostly average.
Jan 18, 2011
Photo of witster18
Reviewed by witster18 from Tennessee

1.51/5  rDev -54.9%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 1 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 1
purchased at Taco Mac in Chatt Tn.

It's bad...

wow... that's the first truly spoiled beer I've had in a long, long time. I've had some that were just not that fresh, but it's been a while since I've had a 'turned' beer.

couldn't drink another beer all-night. The first time I've asked for my money back on a beer... they obliged after realizing it was indeed spoiled. The real issue I have is that this is a HIGH VOLUME establishment where the beer turnover is very quick... that concerns me.

probably not a fair review as I'm POSITIVE this was a 'bad' beer. BUt, you serve it to me, you get the negative review... needless to say I won't revisit unless I'm at the brewery, tell them about the experience, and get one for free.

maybe I'll give them that chance if I'm in Ky... but after an experience like this - you don't ever buy it in the bottle again.
Dec 11, 2010
Photo of beer2day
Reviewed by beer2day from North Carolina

3.6/5  rDev +7.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Dark chocolate brown pour. Fluffy, rich dark cream head. Decent retention and nice lace.

Chocolate, understated coffee and roast malt define the nose. More cocoa than anything else.

Fairly thin flavorless hit. Roasted malt kicks in way towards the back. Definite tart flavor in the finish, like dark coffee. Nice lingering flavors in the finish, but just not enough intensity.

Light body, even for a porter.

Drinkable, but really just need one.
Sep 09, 2010
Photo of kbutler1
Reviewed by kbutler1 from Minnesota

2.55/5  rDev -23.9%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2 | overall: 2
Bottle. Pours a very dark brown color not unlike rootbeer. A HUGE fluffy tan head that is way bigger than it should be is produced from a normal pour, kind of odd. Dark roasted malt aroma along with a leather smell. Slight coffee notes. Way to light of a mouthfeel. Makes it almost hard to drink. The taste is dark malt and coffee notes and dark chocolate. Very slight hops presence at the end. The taste actually isn't too bad once you get passed the carb. Again, the carbonation on this is way too much and makes it hard to enjoy this beer at all.
I'm sorry, this beer is just not put together well.
Aug 27, 2010
Photo of biggred1
Reviewed by biggred1 from Indiana

3.33/5  rDev -0.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Dark coffee colored with a whipped mocha milkshake head that melts slowly, leaving crusty rings of lace on the glass. Roasty coffee and fudge with a twinge of anise in the aroma. Charred malty flavors with a tea like bitterness, kind of one note. A little bit on the thin side for the style. Nothing really off with the flavors but nothing really on either.
Aug 13, 2010
Photo of Wisconsinality
Reviewed by Wisconsinality from Wisconsin

3.12/5  rDev -6.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
12oz bottle poured into standard pint.

A- Pours a dark brown but lets a fair amount of light through. Barely any carbonation and no lacing.

S- Robust toasted malts and some dark chocolate. Some faint hops and maybe a little bit of caramel.

T- The malt is a little more tame than in the nose. Some more dark chocolate and some ground coffee.

M- Medium bodied that is a little on the watery side. Not much carbonation and feels just a little flat.

D- A good smell but the taste falls flat. Felt a little flat but the bottle had no dating code so it could have been past it's prime. I wouldn't seek this one out.
Jul 25, 2010
Photo of Nicadeamis
Reviewed by Nicadeamis from Kentucky

3.95/5  rDev +17.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
Beautiful mohogany color when held to a bright light. Soft off tan head, with great lacing. Tastes of chocolate roasty raisins. Very complex. A truely robust porter with maltiness to spare. Classic example in my opinion.

I highly recommend grabbing a 6er if you see one.
Mar 22, 2010
Photo of cnjohn19
Reviewed by cnjohn19 from North Carolina

3.52/5  rDev +5.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
enjoyed with gus and byers at bbc in st. matthews...my second selection of the evening (after a disappointing response from the bar tender they did not have the bourbon smoked porter)...

maybe my let down influenced me, but overall not too impressed by this one...presented a dark almost black-brown color with a non-existent cream colored head...

smells not too complex...mostly stale malts, sweet licorice, and almost fruity...

a thick and balanced porter but overall kind of boring...nothing really stands out, but you will get some malty domination and little to nothing else...

the nice thing here is this thick beer is drinkable for a porter...maybe i just got a bad brew, which is possible, but maybe next time...props on the sweet brew name and to one of my fave local breweries...
Jan 04, 2010
Photo of JohnQVegas
Reviewed by JohnQVegas from Tennessee

3.71/5  rDev +10.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Bottle into pint glass.

Pours dark ruby brown, moving towards black at the thickest part of the glass. Big, dense, rocky head that takes forever and ever to settle down and leaves some big, chunky lacing.

Nose is has some coarse roasted grain, quite a bit of chocolate, a little soapy which is odd, but all in all pretty promising.

Taste is a mixed bag. Roasted grains, dark (but not too dark) chocolate, and coffee grounds all make an appearance, but there are some weird things going on too - soapy at times, and the graininess comes off a bit coarse and raw as well. Finish is long, roasty, raw. All in all pretty nice, but not perfect. Not quite a 4, but close enough.

Mouthfeel is medium-light bodied, with a slightly coarse carbonation. Between a 3 and a 3.5, not the best part of the beer.

Drinkability is pretty good - finish is a little raw, and the mouthfeel as well, but a pretty good beer over all.
Dec 12, 2009
Photo of ThaBobfather
Reviewed by ThaBobfather from Ohio

3.53/5  rDev +5.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Pours a bubbly, translucent hazelnut creamer color with some copper twinges and a rimming of thin/medium head.
Smell is malted well with some barley and grain, with some small rind or spice.
Taste had some good malt presence, that turns a bit bitter on the end with some grains present.
Finishes wet with a small lingering of bittered malt taste.
Drinks ok, the body is fairly thin, but there are some hang-ups in the taste.
Aug 29, 2009
Dark Star Porter from Bluegrass Brewing Co.
Beer rating: 79 out of 100 with 31 ratings