Dark Horse Brewery is a brewery and tap room in Marshall, Michigan, USA. Dark Horse brews a variety of beers and beer styles, including the Crooked Tree India Pale Ale, Amber Ale, Raspberry Ale, Sapient Trip Ale, Boffo Brown Beer, and Black Bier. Several seasonal and experimental brews are also produced. Dark Horse puts out a significant amount of beer for their tank size but are still able to hand-fold and stock every six-pack produced. The brewery has won several medals at various brewing competitions.
History
Dark Horse Brewery began as a restaurant owned by Bill Morse. Aaron Morse, son of Bill Morse and current owner, suggested a redesign of the restaurant into a brewpub. The brewpub opened on 826 West Michigan Avenue in Marshall, Michigan and was later moved to its current location on South Kalamazoo Road in 2000, after Aaron Morse turned his brewpub license into a microbrewery license in 1998. In 2010, Dark Horse added a general store across the parking lot from the taproom that sells Dark Horse merchandise and home brewing supplies. In early November 2010, a fire claimed the building. An arson investigation began, and firefighters recognized abnormal fire behavior. The taproom was broken into the same night. Reconstruction of the building began later that month. Starting July 29, 2014, a reality show following the DH crew premiered on The History Channel called Dark Horse Nation. Six episodes were aired in pairs on Tuesdays for three weeks; eight weeks later, the remaining six episodes aired in a marathon on Saturday, September 27. In 2019, $12,018 in unpaid property taxes and $1.5 million in unmet mortgage payments led Dark Horse to merge with Roak Brewing Co. of Royal Oak, Michigan.
Taproom
Dark Horse Brewery's Taproom is located on South Kalamazoo Road in Marshall, Michigan. The brewery and taproom are located on property owned by Aaron Morse's father, proprietor of a convenience store adjacent to the taproom. The taproom is open Monday through Thursday: 11 am to 11 pm, Friday and Saturday: 11 am to 12 am and Sunday: 12 pm to 10 pm. Seating capacity in the taproom itself is limited to a few dozen. Unique features of the taproom include 3200+ mugs that fill the ceiling and walls owned by its mug club members. Members must purchase their membership with one, non-recurring fee. The members keep their mugs in a designated spot within the pub and are able to drink beer directly from their mug. Dark Horse employees claim that the mugs of mug club members are larger than the pint glasses by which beer is served to non-members, and thus, mug club members receive a higher value for their purchases. Only the owner of the mug is able to drink from his mug and members are required to verify their ownership with a recognized form of identification. Mug club members at Dark Horse have a punched-card system where every sixth mug is 50 cents. The taproom also offers a variety of food, with the cuisine centered around typical barfood items which can be produced in their pizza ovens. Menu items besides pizza include : pretzels and beer mustard, nachos, bruschetta, cheese bread, salads, soups, and sandwiches. The Dark Horse taproom also will not play music by AC/DC or Def Leppard under any circumstances.
Awards
The craft beer-rating website RateBeer ranked Dark Horse 29th in its 2013 list of Best Brewers in the World. More than 13,000 breweries were involved in the contest.
