Guinness Special Export (Belgian version)

Brewed by St. James’s Gate (Diageo)
Style: Foreign Stout
Dublin, Ireland

33 cL bottle. Pours dark brown with a diminishing white head. Slight butterish aroma, light roasted. Flavour is smooth roasted malt flavour. Slight butterish again. Has a decent bitterness towards the finish. Ends bitter and with a mild roasted note. Nice and dry roasted.

Deep brown coloured body (about 80% opaque) with a super large tan head and ruby highlights when held up to the light - this is the way a non-draught version of the beer should look like! Aroma of roasted malt, roasted rice, caramel, toffee, hazlenuts, peanuts and even a bit of milk chocolate. Full-bodied; Super strong roasted malt flavours with chocolate and coffee most noticeable. Some bittering caramel comes through at the very end - but mostly malty flavours dominate, coupled with some nuts. Aftertaste shows some really bitter metal and nuts with the obligatory yeast, malt and coffee tastes. Overall, a good special version of the beer - not amazing (like Singapore), but still not as bad (as say China). I sampled this 33 cL bottle purchased from a small corner store in Bruxelles, Belgium on 01-January-2008.

(Bottle, Anthony Martin version) Pours an opaque black body with a thick dense tan head. Aroma of sweet malt, toastiness, and some licorice. Flavor of sweet black and roasted malts with a creamy mouthfeel and somewhat bitter finish.

Pours black with medium off white head. Aroma is roasted with chocolate and liquerice. Malty flavor with roasted notes and chocolate. Finishes bitter with warming alcohol. Far better than the plain Guinness.

Em comparação com a Guinness Draft "comum", essa versão belga possui mais sabor e aroma de café e chocolate, bem como é mais alcoólica e carbonatada.

33cL bottle, courtesy of ygtbsm94. Thanks, Brad! Pours a clear, very dark brownish-black color; huge, textured khaki-colored head with excellent retention and lacing; a beautiful pour. Generous, nougat and milk chocolate aroma, with a pleasant, almost funky / overripe fruit Belgian character lurking underneath. Medium-to-full mouthfeel: plenty of bitter chocolate and acidic citrus and yeast upfront; dense cocoa powder (almost feels a bit gritty, even, in a tasteful way), with doughy malts and robust esters coming through; medium, doughy and bready finish. An excellent example of a Belgian-style stout.

Garrafa comprada em Bruges (BEL) e tomada em Bruxelas (BEL). Características similares às da Guinness tradicional, só que mais alcoólica, mais carbonatada e com um sabor mais intenso e evidente.

Bottiglia da 33cl comprata da Squillari senza troppe aspettative, sia per il produttore sia per l’importatore; la verso ed è scurissima con schiuma beige pieno mica chiara pure éla. Aroma non molto pronunciato ma gradevole con una punta d’alcool che invece è perfettamente occultato nel sapore, pieno caffè e nocciola con qualche nota anche di frutti rossi tutto sommato abbastanza dolce e carezzevole. Corpo per niente acquoso; molto molto molto meglio delle aspettative.