St. Pauli Girl Special Dark - St. Pauli Brauerei C.L. Wilh. Brandt Gmbh & Co.

Groomsy

Kentucky

3.03/5  rDev 0%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Decided to give this one a whirl after trying the normal St. Pauli Girl lager. 12. oz bottle with "Best Before" date of 05/2011. Poured into a pilsner glass; review taken from shorthand notes, consumed on 04/01/2011.

Appearance: A very nice looking dark lager. The body is a deep red/burgundy with hints of brown and gold, topped by a ivory-colored head of 2 fingers, which settles down to a cap of foam and leaves some nice lacing behind on the glass. If nothing else, this looks good.

Smell: Again, not bad, but not great. The European yeast strains automatically add that familiar sulphur character to the smell, but this takes a backseat to some nondescript roasted malt and caramel backed by some standard earthy and dusty hops. The smell overall is rather faint, and the "skunky" characteristics are a little offputting for a darker lager.

Taste: Totally linear with the smell - Roasted malt followed by earthy hops on the middle of the palate, finished by some generic bread notes in the finish, combining with a slightly sour and funky yeast edge (skunk?). Goes down pretty smooth, I can see this as a solid beer for the fall season. Decent dark lager, but I've certainly had better.

Mouthfeel: A little thicker than normal St. Pauli Girl. Medium thickness of body is complimented by crisp carbonation which gives a smooth and non-drying finish. Goes down very smoothly and leaves some malt flavors lingering.

Overall: Meh. If you want a dark Euro lager, you can probably do better; but this isn't bad in and of itself. Ho-hum.

Serving type: bottle

04-02-2011 04:36:57 | More by Groomsy

Slatetank

Pennsylvania

3/5  rDev -1%

05-24-2013 00:02:07 | More by Slatetank

kvnstfrd

Missouri

2/5  rDev -34%

05-23-2013 13:37:19 | More by kvnstfrd

stella77artois

New York

4.25/5  rDev +40.3%

05-22-2013 15:01:28 | More by stella77artois

generallee

New York

3.25/5  rDev +7.3%

05-22-2013 00:04:01 | More by generallee

akocina

Minnesota

3/5  rDev -1%

05-08-2013 19:38:47 | More by akocina

ktanner99

Oklahoma

3/5  rDev -1%

05-04-2013 02:21:15 | More by ktanner99

Jamison85

Indiana

3.5/5  rDev +15.5%

04-20-2013 16:56:31 | More by Jamison85

ejimhof

Pennsylvania

2.75/5  rDev -9.2%

03-09-2013 22:38:03 | More by ejimhof

DragLine6

Texas

3.5/5  rDev +15.5%

03-09-2013 07:03:05 | More by DragLine6

allbrigs

North Carolina

4/5  rDev +32%

03-08-2013 04:40:58 | More by allbrigs

smokinyodas

Florida

3.19/5  rDev +5.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 3.25

Clear dark brown pour, fast dissipating fine white head. Lightly roasted malty aroma and sweetness flavor with a tad bit of biscuit and bitter spices from the hops. In short it's just a below Average Dunkel and probably not the best example of the class, but it's still easily drinkable. And if I was to describe this beer it would be like a watery Pilsner with lightly roasted malts.

Serving type: bottle

03-04-2013 04:55:41 | More by smokinyodas

DmanGTR

New York

3.75/5  rDev +23.8%

02-10-2013 16:54:33 | More by DmanGTR

avisong

Virginia

3/5  rDev -1%

02-04-2013 04:05:00 | More by avisong

matjack85

Illinois

3.75/5  rDev +23.8%

02-02-2013 22:23:41 | More by matjack85

UCLABrewN84

California

2.9/5  rDev -4.3%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.75

Best before 7/2012. Oops.

Pours a clear dark reddish-orange with a foamy khaki head that settles to wisps of film on top of the beer. Small streaks and dots of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of toasted malt, caramel, and bread. Taste is much the same with burnt and fruity flavors on the finish. There is a medium amount of roasty bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a lower level of carbonation with a slightly crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a slightly below average beer that is drinkable but nothing I would want to drink again.

Serving type: bottle

01-27-2013 04:14:08 | More by UCLABrewN84

fivetime

Idaho

2.5/5  rDev -17.5%

01-22-2013 05:30:17 | More by fivetime

richwalpole

2.75/5  rDev -9.2%

01-12-2013 08:13:50 | More by richwalpole

OregonGrown7

Nebraska

3.25/5  rDev +7.3%

01-06-2013 05:24:29 | More by OregonGrown7

TMoney2591

Illinois

2.73/5  rDev -9.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Served in a Lagunitas mason jar.

I was expected/hoping for a more...shall we say, ethnic?...version of the Girl on the label. Oh well... This stuff pours a clear garnet-brown topped by a finger of sandy tan foam. The nose comprises barley, very light and watered-down cola, and very-lightly-toasted biscuit. The taste brings in more of the same, with a thorough sense of sourdough-ish bread pervading the proceedings. The body is a hefty light, with a light moderate carbonation and a wet feel. Overall, a pretty limp beer, with hardly any character to its name. Thankfully, though, this means it has little in the way of true offensiveness as well, but that's a pittance of a consolation.

Serving type: bottle

01-04-2013 22:43:25 | More by TMoney2591

CRK

South Dakota

4.25/5  rDev +40.3%

01-04-2013 03:07:42 | More by CRK

soupieman

Pennsylvania

3/5  rDev -1%

01-01-2013 16:54:06 | More by soupieman

Damian74Shensky

South Carolina

3/5  rDev -1%

12-30-2012 23:55:33 | More by Damian74Shensky

metter98

New York

3.18/5  rDev +5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5

A: The beer is clear very dark ruby red in color and has a moderate amount of visible carbonation. It poured with a quarter finger high off white head that died down a bit and left some bubbles covering the surface and a collar around the edge of the glass.
S: Light to moderate aromas of sweet toasted malts are present in the nose.
T: The taste is similar to the smell and has some sweetness along with some notes of tea leaves and hints of nutty malts. No bitterness is perceptible.
M: It feels light-bodied on the palate and has a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: Although this beer came in a green bottle, it doesn't taste skunked. The beer is very easy to drink and I would have no problem drinking several of these in one sitting.

Serving type: bottle

12-29-2012 02:10:43 | More by metter98

Danflurry

Texas

3.25/5  rDev +7.3%

12-28-2012 15:32:00 | More by Danflurry