Guinness Special Export (Belgian version)

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

I’m not so familiar with stout, but I never liked the style. The aroma and taste are coffee and chocolate. A bit bitter with some sweetness. Well you love it are you hate it, but stout will never be my favoute style. (Bottle 33cl)

This pours an absurdly deep brown (almost, not quite, making it to black) body with a light brown (not tan) head, thick and creamy, coating the glass in lieu of mere lacing. The aroma is a rich, sweet dark malt, not much of a roast to it, with maple syrup and dark dried fruits and licorice and chocolate... very inviting. (So I drank, of course). This is extremely creamy and lush in the mouth. The flavor is actually tamed somewhat by the creaminess, yet still delivers enjoyable tastes of roasted malt, sweet caramel, prunes-dates-raisins, chocolate, anise, and a mildly acrid, bitterness like dark chocolate gone bad.
Of course this isn’t bottled for the U.S. We only get that muted, dry stout and other weak-sister products. Boo, I say.

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Jet black, opaque hue with a creamy/rocky tan head that lasts forever and leaves beautiful sheet lacing. Aroma is sweet, succulent, and bitter. Molasses and brown sugar take center stage with dark chocolate, prunes, and flowers coming shortly behind. A trace of alcohol is detectible. Heavily sweet, lightly acidic flavor becomes a moderately sweet, lightly acidic, moderately bitter (roasty) finish. Medium-full body, oily texture, lively carbonation, moderate alcohol, drying finish.

Bottled. A big black beer with a lovely coffee coloured head. The aroma is full and malty with toffee, fudge and coal. The taste is also very full with malts, caramel and coal. Not the roastiest of stouts but oh so tasty.

Black in colour with a short though long lasting brown head. Nice lacework too. Choc coated liquorice aroma, with some nice roast notes behind it. Flavour is sweet aniseeed, chocolate with a chalky roast finish. Some vineous notes there too. Medium feel, and overall felt a little one dimensional.

Bottle (bought 1996): Almost black, firm brownish head; complex nose: molasses, some roasted malts, some fruity (plums) and winy ( port) traces; complex, a bit sourish vinous taste, ending in a slightly sweetish finish, some traces of chocolate in the aftertaste; some qualities remind me of a baltic porter, some of a flemish sour ale (Liefmans). All in all an excellent example of a Stout, highly quaffable....

i didn’t care much for stout beers, but to my surprise this is better than i thought. I’ve developed more and more of a good beer taste :) caramel, butterscotch aromas, licorice, coffee and strong hops taste. alcohol is very well hidden. finish is long and bitter with some malt sweetness. nice brew!

Big thanks to Saarlander for providing me with this gem for my St. Pat’s feast! Pours black, with a tan head. Roasted malt aroma with a metallic tinge, notes of plums and wine. Creamy mouthfeel. Dry, medium bitter flavor, notes of chocolate, roasted malt, figs. A world apart from the thin, bitter concoction that they ply on the States.