Special Brew
Carlsberg Danmark A/S

Special BrewSpecial Brew
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From:
Carlsberg Danmark A/S
 
Denmark
Style:
European Strong Lager
Ranked #50
ABV:
9%
Score:
64
Ranked #28,359
Avg:
2.5 | pDev: 30%
Reviews:
27
Ratings:
51
Status:
Active
Rated:
Sep 28, 2023
Added:
Jun 15, 2002
Wants:
  2
Gots:
  7
No description / notes.
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Ratings by hunteraw:
Photo of hunteraw
Reviewed by hunteraw from China

1.75/5  rDev -30%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 1.5
Purchased at Taste in Kowloon Tong. Quite possibly the worst beer I've ever had.

Appearance is just as you'd expect: pale, clear, and yellow. Some head, not much retention though thanks to an 8.6% alcohol content. Aroma is surprisingly light, considering the assault on the senses that follows: light alcohol, malt. Tastes like someone took Bud Light and dropped in a shot of 151: horrible boozy aftertaste and finish. I found myself wincing after every sip. Mouthfeel is more or less what you'd expect in the style: light and fizzy. Really horrible, will actively avoid. Surprised it's not worse-reviewed on BA.
Jul 02, 2007
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 1.06 by Timmo__

Sep 28, 2023
 
Rated: 1.43 by ScrantanDave from England

Sep 28, 2023
Photo of Sigmund
Reviewed by Sigmund from Norway

2.53/5  rDev +1.2%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5
February 2002: This beer seems to be made with no other purpose than producing as much alcohol as possible, and still call it a lager. Stick to Elephant Beer instead - it's strong enough.
Mar 19, 2023
Photo of James94
Reviewed by James94 from England

3.8/5  rDev +52%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
L: Clear golden yellow colour, good head
S: Generic lager
T: Generic lager with a dark fruits and strongly alcohol finish to it
F: Full-bodied, light carbonation

O: 4
Mar 19, 2023
 
Rated: 2.35 by misteil from Ireland

Aug 12, 2021
 
Rated: 2.54 by JonnoWillsteed from England

Jul 25, 2019
 
Rated: 3.2 by BeerForMuscle from New Jersey

Apr 20, 2019
 
Rated: 2 by Howlader from Canada (AB)

Mar 10, 2018
Photo of patre_tim
Reviewed by patre_tim from Thailand

3.04/5  rDev +21.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2 | overall: 3
Straw gold with tonnes of carbonation, topped with 3 fingers of off white head.

Malt, grains, biscuit, a little alcohol.

Malty, grainy, sweet, strong alcohol presence and burn in the throat.

Syrupy body, lots of soda like carbonation.

Got in Penang, drinking it here tonight in Malaysia. Really a better rep for this kind of brew than many. Maintains a malty quality on the nose, and somewhat on the taste. 8.18.2016
Aug 18, 2016
Photo of Andrewharemza
Reviewed by Andrewharemza from Australia

3.27/5  rDev +30.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
From can, pours a clear golden colour with a good white fluffy head that disapates to a thin layer. Aroma malt, sweet, caramel. Taste sweet, malt, caramel, warming in the belly.
Jul 24, 2016
 
Rated: 3.3 by Phoodcritic from Michigan

Feb 12, 2016
 
Rated: 2.43 by spycow from Illinois

Aug 23, 2015
Photo of TheHangover4
Reviewed by TheHangover4 from Scotland

1.99/5  rDev -20.4%
look: 4 | smell: 1.25 | taste: 2 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 2.5
I awoke face down, somewhere. Struggling to breathe and feeling uncomfortably restricted by my own mass pressing down on my lungs, I panicked and started wriggling around trying to turn around but the movement was making me feel quite ill. Eventually I managed to flip on to my back.

I attempted to open my eyes but the blazing afternoon sun bored in to them like a terrible laser. They'd have to stay closed for now.

I panicked once again as I suddenly realised that I couldn't feel my face. In fact, I couldn't feel anything at all. I would have laughed when I noticed that this was due to the fact that my hands were stuck in my trouser pockets but was too ill to fully appreciate the humour.

I had no idea where I was or what was happening. My tongue felt like a sanding block in my mouth. A sanding block which had been sanding dried sewage off of the inside of an old metal pipe, perhaps; the taste was absolutely foul.

My racing heart was working double time as my body tried to come to terms with whatever had happened to me.

At last I managed to tilt my head to the side and, as my eyelids unstuck, my pupils slowly came to life. I caught a glimpse of several empty cans.

As the blurred image started to come in to focus I made out the words "Carlsberg : Special Brew".

"Ahhhh, that explains it", I thought to myself. At that moment I knew everything would be okay and I started to slowly drift back off to sleep.

"I must remember to pick up more later" was my final thought before full unconsciousness took hold.

I still hadn't worked out where I was.
May 29, 2015
 
Rated: 2.92 by UniversitateaDeBere from Romania

Jan 30, 2015
Photo of the-undercover-builder
Reviewed by the-undercover-builder from England

5/5  rDev +100%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
The first few cans slipped down beautifully.
The next half dozen were like ambrosia to a demigod.
I awoke several hours later, nestled in a bed of full bin bags, enjoying the company of sea gulls with my beard stuck fast to my overcoat.
A superb afternoon in all respects.
Jan 29, 2015
 
Rated: 2.84 by samparkique4 from England

Jan 26, 2015
Photo of EmperorBevis
Reviewed by EmperorBevis from England

3.05/5  rDev +22%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25
Bottled
Bought to drink to my mother who always loved this
and it is a guilty pleasure classic
theres a malty & syrupy taste that okay isn't great but stops it being flavourless
Nov 27, 2014
Photo of captaincoffee
Reviewed by captaincoffee from Virginia

2.45/5  rDev -2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 2.25 | feel: 2.25 | overall: 2.25
This one left me confused. Okay...we're talking Carlsberg here...so expectations weren't too high. Maybe a bit off topic, but if I ever do get to meet one of the Danish royal family, I will have to ask them what they were thinking "by appointment to the Royal Danish Court." If I was King, I would appoint a freaking great beer. Just sayin.
Okay, deep straw/yellow pour with good sized white head. Decent retention.
Smell was...well I thought it smelled like Carlsberg actually. Maybe that shouldn't have surprised me, but it did. Some spice and alcohol. I was secretly hoping I would be pleasantly suprised by a Belgian triple-like flavor.
I did get the alcohol, but not much there to balance out the malty sweetness. Not a very good beer. Funny, they probably could have used a little sugar to dry this beer out and some spices and had a below average, but drinkable, Belgian-like beer.
Pretty much reminded me of US malt liquor.
Aug 31, 2014
 
Rated: 2 by beer_bottle from Colorado

Jul 19, 2014
Special Brew from Carlsberg Danmark A/S
Beer rating: 64 out of 100 with 51 ratings