Petrus Speciale

Brewed by Bavik-De Brabandere
Style: Belgian Ale
Harelbeke, Belgium

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

Pours cloudy amber color with off white head. Sweet malty aroma with a hint of mustiness. Flavor is malty and earthy with some caramel and dough. Medium body with soft carbonation.

Petrus Speciale Ale is a cloudly, light brown beer with a lumpy ecru head that has great retention and lacing. It has a fruity, estery aroma that’s sweet, with notes of dried fruit (raisins) and malt. It is medium bodied, flat and metallic, but reasonably smooth. It’s not bounding with flavor. It has decent bitterness and not the sweetness that I anticipated. It’s slightly fruity, but it’s mostly malt in the taste. The finish is astringent. I think this bottle was around for a while, hence the $1.98.

Pours a dark a lightly hazy reddish-amber color with a small but lasting, beige tinted head of foam. Sheety bands of lacing mark the glass initially, falling apart slowly. The nose is mostly sweet up front, caramel showing strong, with following notes of sourdough bread, musty funk, and hints of vegetal, vinegary tomato. The flavor isn’t quite as off-putting, with the caramel and dough notes sufficiently taming the weird, "dirty" must. Still, there’s an odd tomato or celery note buried within that is hard to shake. The palate is without major flaw, medium bodied and relatively balanced. This one is drinkable, but proves a little to weird for my liking.

330 ml bottle from Belgium Beers, Antwerp. A good-looking, lightly tanned foamy head resting on a deep gold to pale amber colored body. A fresh, floral and sweetish citrus frutiy aroma up front. A faint whiff of toffee and yeast. Taste has a fine malty crispness, fruit tones and some mild spices beneath. Spritzy mouthfeel. Suitable light body. Short, but crisp finish. A nice thirst quencher.

(bottle - 330 ml) Murky brown pour with a thin white head. Surprising considering that it overflowed when I opened it. Aroma is earthy and slightly sour with some sweet and smooth malts. Flavor is mildly sweet with some strong earthy hints mixed with some light sour notes and a bitter, metallic finish. A bit thin and the flavor doesn’t last very long.

bottle, den blå ged ordrup, denmark. orange thick white head. not much aroma. hard to get anything. flavor is mild sweet, fiant malty, hops, slight bitterness.

Pours a soft peachy amber with a two finger sticky off white head. The nose is earthy, herbal, mildly sweet, hints of fruit, mildly yeasty, . The flavor is earthy, sweet, crisp, corn, some hop flavor. Reasonable and drinkable. The budweiser of Belgium.

Pale amber colour with thin receding head. Texture is rather thin and watery. Carbonation quite low. A fresh flavour, sharp at first and becoming hoppy and bitter towards the end.