Guinness Special Export Stout (John Martin - Belgium) - Guinness Ltd.

LukeK1231

New York

4.45/5  rDev +5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pured from a bottle into a O'Hara's (Carlow Brewing Co.) pint glass. No snifters on hand, because I am studying abroad in Dublin.

Color: Wonderful dark (almost black color) with a huge 3 finger nut brown head.

Aroma: This is one of the best smelling beers I have ever had. Wonderful nut and chocolate notes, with some coffee, and a slight alcohol smell in the background

Taste: The taste is wonderful and I would have this all the time over the Foreign Extra if it was more available in Ireland or when I get back to the States. Following the smell, it had a rich chocolate taste with superb caramel and nut notes as well.

Finish: The finish is a light chocolate taste.

I must say I love this beer. I wish it was a little more popular so I could have it more often. The bottle was meant for Belgium as it was written in French, Dutch, then English. (comissioned there in 1912) I cannot get enough of this, hope to find it back home.

Serving type: bottle

03-11-2011 21:51:57 | More by LukeK1231

punkindrublic50

New York

3.73/5  rDev -12%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 2.5

Take your normal Guinness and put it on steroids. Darker. Thicker. Sweeter. Then make it only availible in Belgium and (where I found it) West Germany to torment beer drinkers everywhere else, and you have Guinness Special Export.

Coloring is almost completely black, with a strong tan head. Scent is pretty much identical to taste in every way, strong but not overpowering, dark fruits, coffee, chocolate. This beer is thick and creamy, to the point that it severely hurts the drinkability. Nice to sit down with one and relax, but this is by no means an every day sipper or a drink to get drunk sort of beer.

Serving type: bottle

06-18-2008 05:18:09 | More by punkindrublic50

davidfoley

New York

4.45/5  rDev +5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Appearance - Nutty brown, caramel, ruby colour. Poor head retention. light carbonation

Smell - Citrus fruit, vanilla, moderate hops, coffee, chocolate, mint, caramel

Taste - Good balance, robust carbonation. Coffee, mild chocolate, banana, moderate hops, blackberry, & blackcurrant flavor. Aftertaste is bitter with lingering coffee flavors & carbonation still tickling the tongue.

Mouthfeel - Smooth like velvet with robust carbonation.

Drinkability - Great beer if a little heavy. Close to an imperial stout. Great taste! High alcohol and heaviness on the stomach would make this a sipper and you couldn't have too many.

Serving type: bottle

12-12-2010 21:56:31 | More by davidfoley

mmmbirra

Italy

3.98/5  rDev -6.1%
look: 4.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 4

Nice lookin beer. Pitch black with a tan head that sticks around.
Understated aroma. Nice and chocolaty, with considerable sweetness, and maybe some figs, but not too pronounced.
It's full flavored, and full-bodied. Lots of chocolate and sweetness, with a nice roasted touch to it that could be, and for me should be, a larger part of the flavor profile. A little bitterness from the roast, and probably a little more from the hops, though I wasn't able to perceive any hop flavor in this one.
Full, rich mouthfeel. Not too thin for the style, not too big, just right.
A good big stout, though I wish there was some kind of slight hop flavor there, and I'm not one who generally likes super-hopped stouts.

Serving type: bottle

04-27-2013 21:11:30 | More by mmmbirra

Argion

New York

4.7/5  rDev +10.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

I had a chance to try this beer again while in Greece. The Foreign Extra Stout has become my favorite Guinness in the US so I wanted to have another taste of this guy to see who would win out. I would say no doubt that this is my favorite Guinness stout and rates high overall on the stouts I like. Even though not classified an Imperial stout, the alcohol content is high. It lacks the bitterness of a regular Guinness; it is almost sweet. Pours a dark black colour with no head. I don't know if it is served on tap anywhere but I would like to try it if it is.

Serving type: bottle

02-02-2013 04:57:18 | More by Argion

ultrasupergenius

United Kingdom (England)

3.78/5  rDev -10.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

0.33l bottle, purchased and consumed in Brussels Belgium out of a chalice.

Deep dark/black with reddish mahogany visible at the very top edge. Not at all translucent. Thin tan head of small bubbles, quickly dissapates.

Smells of molasses, and barley.

Flavor has a residual molasses, slight bit of dark chocolate, and a bit of coffee. Hard to pin the overall flavor. Hops in a long lingering finish. More bitter than a Guinness.

Good full mouth feel, that hits the palette in waves. Seems a bit thin, especially considering the color, but not lacking.

Not a beer I would consider drinking more than one of. I suppose it would be good to fit a niche - like if I was dying for a beer but also really wanted a coffee, and it had to be at exactly the same time. Since I can't imagine when that would happen, I don't know that I would reach for it again, given the wealth of other options available.

Overall a good beer, but likely only to be purchased for visitors who can't find it in the US.

Serving type: bottle

11-17-2009 20:36:16 | More by ultrasupergenius

Cromster

California

4.5/5  rDev +6.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Purchased from Beer Temple in Brugge

Poured from a Bottle into a pint glass

Appearance - Dark black color with a thick medium brown colored head that lasted a long time.

Smell - Smells of coffee, roasted malt, chocolate and hops.

Taste - Chocolate, roasted malt, some spice and a stronger than normal amount of alcohol kick compaired to a normal Guinness. Has a heavy after taste of dark roasted malts.

Mouthfeel - Creamy mouth coating feel. I like how this one feels in my mouth. Just the right amount of carbonation for a stout. Very nice.

Drinkability - I wish all Guinness tasted like this. I would drink it more often if I could find this version here in the states.

Serving type: bottle

04-06-2008 08:20:58 | More by Cromster

biscodoll

New York

4.58/5  rDev +8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

From a bottle, poured into a pint glass.

While visiting Belgium last year, I quickly got tired of the "Belgian beer" style, where while there's so many different types of beer, there's a similar underlying flavor in most. I discovered the Guinness in a corner store, and instantly fell in love. I brought home two bottles and they've been aging for 18 months. I was starting to get worried that, despite it being an 8%, it might not last much longer, so I treated myself, wondering if I really loved this beer or was just excited to find a new flavor in the land of Belgian greats.

As it's from a 'regular' bottle, the Belgian Guinness looks like a normal beer, no cascade. Pours pitch black with a tinge of reddish, shining a light through the glass, with a 1-inch, dark tan head, which quickly dissipates to a thin lacing in under a minute.

Scent - like a rich red wine, mellow booziness with hints of dark chocolate, coffee and raspberries.

Taste is as it smells, a little boozier and maltier than the American version, less on the dry hop finish, additional hints of flavor are anise and figs. Very sparse carbonation. Mouthfeel is thinner than expected, leaving a light coating on the tongue and a faint chocolate milk memory.

It's the perfect dessert beer, conjuring up ideas of pouring it over vanilla ice cream, baking it into brownies, and yet would also compliment the best juicy steak or burger (with onions, caramelized in the beer of course), or Jasper Hill's Bayley Hazen Blue cheese or Cabot's Clothbound Aged Cheddar (the ACS best in show!). It may very well be *the* cheese pairing beer, and I believe it could win over any red wine fan.

Yea, this is definitely still in my top 10, and held up perfectly over time. Now, how to replenish my stock?!

Serving type: bottle

10-01-2006 02:11:28 | More by biscodoll