-
Stop lurking! Log in to search, post in our forums, review beers, see fewer ads, and more. — Todd, Founder of BeerAdvocate
Dark Matter
Hoyne Brewing Co.
- From:
- Hoyne Brewing Co.
- British Columbia, Canada
- Style:
- American Brown Ale
Ranked #129 - ABV:
- 5.3%
- Score:
- 87
Ranked #17,693 - Avg:
- 3.85 | pDev: 9.61%
- Reviews:
- 32
- Ratings:
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Dec 11, 2023
- Added:
- Mar 26, 2012
- Wants:
- 5
- Gots:
- 37
Deep inside the Hadron Collider physicists hurtle sub-atomic particles with lightning speed on a collision course with each other. They do so in the pursuit of pure science, in the hope of one day being able to unlock the mystery of the elusive unseen fabric upon which our universe is embroidered: Dark Matter.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by zduerr:
More User Ratings:
Reviewed by NeilSilber1 from California
3.85/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
3.85/5 rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Pours coffee colored dark brown with khaki foamy head from tall pint can to glass. Bready notes of warm toast, sweet milk and spice. Decent brown ale at 5.3% ABV, reminiscent of Coke.
Jul 15, 2023Reviewed by snaotheus from Washington
3.79/5 rDev -1.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
3.79/5 rDev -1.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
2022-11-24
16oz can served in a big snifter. Dated AUG102022. In-laws brought it back from Victoria a couple months ago.
Pours basically black with a small head (I would have thought it was a schwartzbier if BA didn't tell me it was a brown ale). Smell is roasty, coffee, chocolatey.
Taste is similar, with a bit of a grainy sweetness. Tons of roast, maybe some anise, comes across with a substantial amount of a dark roast coffee.
Mouthfeel is medium to light. Overall, it's pretty good and pretty interesting, doesn't really fall into the brown ale category for me, but doesn't clearly fall into other categories either.
Nov 25, 202216oz can served in a big snifter. Dated AUG102022. In-laws brought it back from Victoria a couple months ago.
Pours basically black with a small head (I would have thought it was a schwartzbier if BA didn't tell me it was a brown ale). Smell is roasty, coffee, chocolatey.
Taste is similar, with a bit of a grainy sweetness. Tons of roast, maybe some anise, comes across with a substantial amount of a dark roast coffee.
Mouthfeel is medium to light. Overall, it's pretty good and pretty interesting, doesn't really fall into the brown ale category for me, but doesn't clearly fall into other categories either.
Reviewed by smcolw from Massachusetts
3.95/5 rDev +2.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
3.95/5 rDev +2.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Deep garnet brown color where light shines through the center of the glass. Little head and no lacing.
The smell is similar to a dry stout with plenty of burnt black patent malt. No chalk.
This is like a brown ale/dry stout blend. The body is neutral with a slightly elevated carbonation. The flavor continues the burnt malt aspect but without the bite. There’s no chocolate not coffee notes. Quite refreshing.
Nov 19, 2022The smell is similar to a dry stout with plenty of burnt black patent malt. No chalk.
This is like a brown ale/dry stout blend. The body is neutral with a slightly elevated carbonation. The flavor continues the burnt malt aspect but without the bite. There’s no chocolate not coffee notes. Quite refreshing.
Rated by Sammy from Canada (ON)
3.8/5 rDev -1.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
3.8/5 rDev -1.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
On tap at Swans. Chocolate malt and base carries.good drinkability.
Aug 24, 2022Reviewed by TheHammer from Canada (ON)
3.88/5 rDev +0.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
3.88/5 rDev +0.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
From notes of my trip out West
Appearance: One finger of head that laced while it lasted, which was not long. The body is an opaque dark brown.
Smell: Straw grain with toffee malt and a hint of dark chocolate in the background. Needed a bit of warming to achieve good potency, but was there was it happened, really brought out the chocolate.
Taste: Toffee malt starts us off that builds up to meet and overcome a bitter walnut note before slight earth and dark chocolate take over and round things out.
Mouthfeel: The aftertaste is most of the ending of the beer as the chocolate earth and a slight tap of the toffee linger behind, the carbonation is ok but have noted I wish it was creamier. The transitioning was very well done.
Drinkability: On the heavier end of medium body, and the lower carbonation lets it settle down well. I noted this as a fast sipper, and that it drinks like a very light porter, which is probably a bit of a downside here. As heavy the beer is, I'd expect a bit more flavor behind it. Still, was great with the sandwich I had in Surrey.
Final Thoughts: I noted this would be a great fall offering to get you ready for winter stouts. Not quite heavy enough but on it's way towards that end. It could use a bit more of a malty backbone to it, but it still gets the job done quite some interesting chocolate and nut notes. Would recommend when you are out that way.
Apr 18, 2022Appearance: One finger of head that laced while it lasted, which was not long. The body is an opaque dark brown.
Smell: Straw grain with toffee malt and a hint of dark chocolate in the background. Needed a bit of warming to achieve good potency, but was there was it happened, really brought out the chocolate.
Taste: Toffee malt starts us off that builds up to meet and overcome a bitter walnut note before slight earth and dark chocolate take over and round things out.
Mouthfeel: The aftertaste is most of the ending of the beer as the chocolate earth and a slight tap of the toffee linger behind, the carbonation is ok but have noted I wish it was creamier. The transitioning was very well done.
Drinkability: On the heavier end of medium body, and the lower carbonation lets it settle down well. I noted this as a fast sipper, and that it drinks like a very light porter, which is probably a bit of a downside here. As heavy the beer is, I'd expect a bit more flavor behind it. Still, was great with the sandwich I had in Surrey.
Final Thoughts: I noted this would be a great fall offering to get you ready for winter stouts. Not quite heavy enough but on it's way towards that end. It could use a bit more of a malty backbone to it, but it still gets the job done quite some interesting chocolate and nut notes. Would recommend when you are out that way.
Reviewed by altstadt from Canada (BC)
3.06/5 rDev -20.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
3.06/5 rDev -20.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Clear, very dark red-brown color. Almost black. Poured a short head that collapsed to a patchy skiff in half a minute. Too dark to see the carbonation level. Left no lacing.
Mild sweet dark roasted malt smell with just a hint of something I can't identify. Swirling the glass kicked up a mild barnyard for a few seconds.
Stronger dark roasted malt flavor. Rather sweet. A light layer of barnyard. Mild bitters kick in when it warms up. The aftertaste is mostly the sweet malt fading down with a light bitter.
Moderate tongue tingling as it grows to a medium bubbled foam. Medium body.
The high residual sugar level makes this taste more like a coke than an ale. I'm assuming that the recipe has changed over the years, since my notes from a few years ago recorded that this used to be very bitter with a very thin taste. No mention of the sweetness level.
Mar 30, 2021Mild sweet dark roasted malt smell with just a hint of something I can't identify. Swirling the glass kicked up a mild barnyard for a few seconds.
Stronger dark roasted malt flavor. Rather sweet. A light layer of barnyard. Mild bitters kick in when it warms up. The aftertaste is mostly the sweet malt fading down with a light bitter.
Moderate tongue tingling as it grows to a medium bubbled foam. Medium body.
The high residual sugar level makes this taste more like a coke than an ale. I'm assuming that the recipe has changed over the years, since my notes from a few years ago recorded that this used to be very bitter with a very thin taste. No mention of the sweetness level.
Reviewed by ludachris from Canada (ON)
4.16/5 rDev +8.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
4.16/5 rDev +8.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Distant smoke, toasted bread crust and blackberry jam are packed neatly into its chestnut brown body. Its softness translates to its taste where some additional malt complexity shows up in chocolate wafer, graham cracker, and worty dextrin.
The general descriptor of clean lives in aroma, taste, and feel. Peering a bit deeper is where I get the joy of this beer - its chew, its stick, its decadence.
It's got character without flaunting it. It can be crushed or contemplated. I prefer both.
Jan 29, 2021The general descriptor of clean lives in aroma, taste, and feel. Peering a bit deeper is where I get the joy of this beer - its chew, its stick, its decadence.
It's got character without flaunting it. It can be crushed or contemplated. I prefer both.
Reviewed by Tom_Thumb from Canada (BC)
4.45/5 rDev +15.6%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.75
4.45/5 rDev +15.6%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.75
This dark beer is an excellent choice if you’re interested in trying a beer with flavour. Hoyne has a winner with this beer. I just wish it was available on tap in more establishments.
Mar 21, 2020Reviewed by Bluerabbitbell from Pennsylvania
3.92/5 rDev +1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
3.92/5 rDev +1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
Brixx wood fired pizza in Hendersonville, TN. Color is a deep copper color. Initial thoughts.... Nice and hoppy. Not much depth to flavor. All overall enjoyable beer.
Feb 21, 2020Reviewed by LiquidAmber from Washington
3.77/5 rDev -2.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.77/5 rDev -2.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a dark, slightly orange red with a thin, off-white head that dissipates to sparse patches with slight lacing. Aroma of moderately toasted dark grainy malt, a little cocoa and nuts. Flavor follows with toasted dark malt with a light char, coffee, cocoa and a mild nuttiness. Flavor drops off a bit into a lightly charry and grainy malt finish with coffee notes. Medium bodied with light creaminess and sharp carbonation. This brown ale hits all the expected flavors of the style, a bit subdued and lightly lingering. I liked the malt quite a bit, but would have liked a bit more robustness in flavor and body. A satisfactory, but unremarkable brown ale.
Sep 24, 2019
Dark Matter from Hoyne Brewing Co.
Beer rating:
87 out of
100 with
116 ratings
We love reviews (150 characters or more)! Check out: How to Review a Beer. You don't need to get fancy. Drop some thoughts on the beer's attributes (look, smell, taste, feel) plus your overall impression. Something that backs up your rating and helps others. Thanks!