Bauskas Tumšais Specialais

Brewed by SIA Bauskas Alus
Style: Dunkel
Bauskas rajons, Imantas, Latvia

Serve in Dimpled mug, Lager glass, Stein

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Bottled. Same as with many Latvian beer, it differs from cold to warm, but doesn’t get bad. Once cold alcohol, amlts and fruits maily in aroma. Once it gets warm, aroma is sweet plummy, alcoholic and fruity. Flavour while fridge cold was sweet alcohol, cookies and malts. While getting warmer it’s more plums, raisins and candy. Aftertatse quite sweet, but reminds of several seeds mixed. Palate all the way through is kind of sticky, but not unpleasantly. Beer style hard to tell, quite dunkelish when cold, but onc eit gets warm, you really can’t tell... Not a bad beer at all though. Let it be dunkel until someone wise rates it .)

Bottle, from an ethnic food store in Grimsby. Red brown, thin shortlived off white head and low condition. Pleasant sweet caramel, roasted nuts and bread in the nose, mostly sweet in the mouth with burnt toffee and caramel dominant although there is some background bitterness. Some roasted coffee bean dryness emerges in the finish but still sweet caramel has the upper hand.

On tap in Riga at the Ķiploku Krogs (2010-05-25). Clear copper colour with a decent beige head. Sweet and malty aroma with caramel. A bit to sweet for my taste, but it went well with the garlic.

Intense aroma of honey on wholemeal bread. Tastes strongly of toffee, with lots of caramel malt coming through - good caramelisation. Slightly minerally, ionic in nature, which works well with the other flavours. Good carbonation, which provides a nice mouthfeel.

Coppery red, tan head, some lacing. Nose is mainly stale bread, yeast, vague roastiness and some... pea soup with smoked pork. However, the weird combination is not at all unpleasant. Taste is more straightforward - malt, sugary sweetness, nuts, some hints at roastiness. Smooth, somewhat watery mouthfeel. Overall - it’s pretty good.

Bottle from Place Luxembourg festival, Brussels. Dark caramel body with no head. Nose of caramel, sugar. Taste quite light, malts and plenty of caramel and sweets again. Thin. Enjoyable, albeit slightly too sweet.

On keg in Riga. Pours a reddish hazel colour with a fair yellowish head. Aroma of caramel and biscuity malt. Similar flavours. A little sweet with tea, yeast and light grassy flavours also. Thin and fizzy with a foamy mouth-feel. Heavily carbonated with a moderate CO2 prickle and a caramel linger.

In much the same taste as Bauska Senču but with greater and more maltiness. Sweet and sour aroma and flavor of caramel malt, hops and burnt sugar. May have its good points but I do not like it!

Bottled. Clear mahogany colour, mid-sized head. Sweet and caramelly with medium body and rounded mouthfeel. MIld resiny bitterness. In possession of a fair amount of character, but a bit heavy on caramel and sweetness.

För att vara ett lettiskt öl bjuder Bauskas Tumsais på fler nyanser än vad ett tvärsnitt av landets dryckeskultur förmår täcka. Det är inget som får en att hoppa jämfota och hjula fram genom livet, men den lyckas i alla fall stimulera med mer än bara sin alkoholprocent.

From a 500ml bottle on 23/7/2010. The aroma is dried fruit and rye bread. Taste wise, the dominant flavours are caramel and sweet apple. The carbonation is very subdued. This a quite a nice drop but perhaps could do with a shade more bitterness at the end.