Brouhaha Special B

Brewed by Broue Pub Brouhaha
Style: Abt/Quadrupel
Montreal, Canada

Serve in Trappist glass

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A dark clear brown ale with a thin off white head. A nice caramel and prune aroma, alcohol. In mouth, licorice and candy sugar, light prunes. Good and rich abt. Tasted at Mondiale 2008, June 1 2008.

UPDATED: NOV 12, 2011 Deep brown pour with some light garnet highlights. The head has a bit of light tawny colour. The aroma is softly plummy and fruity with a nice light clovey spice and a little bit of light apple. There is a bit of soft cocoa. There is a little bit of molasses flavour as well as a touch of anise. There is a nice lingering peppery finish. Fairly toasted roast component.

UPDATED: AUG 31, 2008 My Bottom Line:
Truffle-covered prunes converse with chocolate before they leave the way for roastiness and bitter leafy hops in this affably malty Quadrupel.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A ring of foam circles the auburn-tinged brown.
-All flavors are well levelled.
-The dark malts and yeast converge into dates and earthy connotations.
-The body is rotund and the carbonation quite active, making for a laid back mouthfeel.
-This is quite young now, so I presume it’s going to improve and age gracefully. Looking forward to rerating it soon!

On tap at the Mondial and at Festival Bières et Saveurs.

Festival Bière et Saveur 08. Best of this new brewpub. Dark with a mocha head and lace. Good carbonation. Neutral aroma. The taste gets better,it grows on you, its a thick mouthfeel. There was a sourness characteristic that didn’t work too much against it but was a surprise to the brewmaster himself.

750 ml bottle. A lasting beige sheet settles over the very dark coffee brown pour. Dark fruits, chocolate powder and burnt toast meet in this convincing nose where raisins, prunes, dates and molasses intermingle together. Traces of bubble gum and rum remind of the very yeasty and liquorous nature. Rather candy-like fruitiness in the very sweet palate that never really bothers hinting at hops, but grows drier in the second half, evolving towards nuttiness and darker toastiness from the Special B. Surprisingly small-bubbled carbonation makes the texture silky and rounder than is usual for dark and strong Belgian inspired ales. Well well, I should not be very surprised since it’s a Belgian style, but while this is a very fresh sample (bottled Oct 2010) I find it certainly deeper than the couple of glasses I had on draught on other occasions. Thanks for the gift Marc.

UPDATED: JUL 13, 2011 2011-07-08. No notes. Enjoyed this, +1 to aroma and overall. Bottle shared by blankboy

2009-06-07. Very dark brown, with a modest beige head. Malty aroma, dusty malt highlights, surprisingly mild aroma shows little or no alcohol. (6+) Flavour is malt dominant with a sweet sugary malt core. Interesting side notes to the malt, that I can not quite place. Very light bitterness and dry malt in the finish keep it from being too sweet or cloying. (7+) Smooth average to medium bodied palate has light carbonation. (3+) Pleasant but not outstanding. My final beer of Mondial 2009! 6/4/7/3/15 - 3.4 On tap, Mondial 2009, Montreal

Mondiale 08 brewed to commemorate the fest 15th year anniversary. Pours a ruby amber with a decent beige head- slightly fading Aroma is very fruity from both the Belgian yeast and the special B malts, sharp caramel sweetness, toffee, and burnt brown sugar. Flavor is earthy toast, sharp caramel, crystal malts, fruit prunes, plum raisin, toffee, light roast and burnt notes, molasses and brown sugar. Not as out of control as I had anticipated but I don’t like Special B that much.

My bottle (750ml) shared with HogTownHarry, JoeMcPhee, jerc & mabel. Pours a deep amber-brown with an average size somewhat-lasting frothy tan head. Aroma, which starts mild but then opens up, of sweet dark malt, dark fruit, brown sugar, chocolate and more -- alcohol’s totally hidden as well. Tasty flavour of dark malt, dark fruit, brown sugar and chocolate -- again, the alcohol’s hidden to me and I appreciate that it’s not overly sweet as some Quads are (though it’s not really on style). Medium bodied. Pretty good stuff.

[2274-20090607] Sample. Malt sweet aroma has a bit of roast. Hazy, dark brown body with quick little light tan bubbles. Sweet malty roast sugar caramel flavour. Medium-full body. A bit sweet but fair, nicely wraps up the festival.
(4T @ Mondial 2009; Montreal, QC)

En fût. Verre de 12 oz directement à la brasserie. Arôme: Odeur de caramel fruité avec une pointe chocolatée. Apparence: La couleur est bourgogne. Présence d’un mince col mousseux et d’une fine dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Goût fruité avec une pointe de caramel et de chocolat. Durée moyenne de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est moyen avec une texture légèrement vineuse. Faible effervescence en bouche. Arrière goût fruité. (Rating #1855)