Guinness Special Export (Belgian version)

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

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

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Pitch black colour with a huge, lasting brownish head. Very nice aroma with toasted malt and chocolate. Flavour is also good: sweet, a bit alcoholic, and ending with a long bitter finish. All in all (definately) my favourite Guinness!

Absolutly awful. This should not be sold! It soils the good name Guinness has. This is the only drink I could never finish! Why oh why Sir Arthur??

UPDATED: FEB 10, 2003 Thick, powerful, bitter, roasty, raisiny, black, delicious. everything guinness should usually be.

I know this is a beer with a rich history, but I didn’t like it, sorry people.

What hits you right away with this one is that while the appearance is very similar to the regular draught (although the head didn’t seem to last quite as long) it is a very complex stout. Bigger more complex aroma than regular draught. Significant festive character, caramel, malty sweet, chocolate, fruity and doughy yeast, plum pudding and even faint cola, aroma. Palate is wider and more dynamic, and flavours are more complex and stronger than regular draught version probably to hide higher ABV which it does well. Flavours mirror aroma nicely resulting in smoother finish and an aftertaste that is much less bitter and more alcoholic than the regular draught Overall better than the regular draught except for the major disadvantage of having to drink fewer to remain upright (could be an advantage for some). More research needed.

Aroma of chocolate cookie with a certain vinous note that stops just short of red grape juice. Exceedingly dark red-brown/black with a nice and lasting head. Flavor has more complexity than any dry stout I’ve tried so far. There’s pumpernickel, a hint of molasses, currant, a burnt, grainy aspect, some lightly roasted coffee and a slight, musty yeast flavor. Finish sees some roasted sweetness, but aftertaste and mouthfeel are indeed dry. Some alcohol present in finish and into the aftertaste as well. I really wish I could get this all the time, I’d love to explore the inky depths of a 6-pack of this.

Head is initially large, frothy, rocky, light brown, fully lasting. Body is black (but not opaque). Aroma is lightly malty (roasted grain, mild coffee, dark bread), lightly yeasty (cobwebs, dough), with light notes of licorice and alcohol. Flavor is moderately sweet, lightly bitter, lightly acidic. Finish is moderately bitter, lightly acidic. Medium to full body, creamy texture, soft carbonation, moderately alcoholic. The aroma is perhaps a bit too demure (albeit pleasant), but this is terrific in all other respects and easily the best Guinness I’ve had, including the draught I had in Dublin. Alcohol is a little overstated in the finish (hence the mouthfeel not getting a 5).

rich and earthy, black as the plague, this is the best guinness i’ve had. Much more complex than the standard, with a perfect head. a magnificent stout.

I’m not that familiar with guinness or other stouts, but i figure this one is pretty complexed. Heavy taste, bitterness, but sweet bitterness. Burnt malts indeed. You probably have to learn to drink this stuff...