t Smisje Speciaal

Brewed by Brouwerij De Regenboog
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Assebroek-Brugge, Belgium

bottle. pours cloudy tan with white head. nose is very bready with nuts and pumpkin. flavor is full, bready, and nutty with hints of pumpkin and caramel. really interesting stuff and nothing like U.S. pumpkin beers...it’s good! i think they didn’t over spice it with cinnamon and cloves. mouth feel is full. carbonation is a tad fizzy. alcohol is well hidden.

The pour reveals a cloudy light orange color with a thin bubbly white head that leaves nice lacing on the glass. The aroma is very interesting, a nice blend of spices, pumpkin and yeast. The flavor is very enjoyable also, bubble-gummy yeast, spices and pumpkin, the spices and pumpkin are well dosed, not too much, just enough too provide a good taste and keep some balance. The body is medium with an oily texture and moderate carbonation. I had this beer for a while but wasn’t too eager to try it but I am pleasantly surprise, I like it a lot.

I first had this on tap in January on tap at the Gingerman in NY. It was called Speciale and after a month or so of trying to figure out what beer it was I finally found out (with the help of the brewer on BBB) that this was in fact a re-label. Except at the time the beer was a beautiful, delicious, estery banana, bubblegum, and sweet Belgian yeasty monster. I loved it so much but never rated it. This rating is for a 33cl bottle from Glouglouburp, 2006 vintage, which is remarkably different..

Poured into my new Rodenbach Grand Cru smaller sized tulip glass (I am using it for everything right now). Pours with a thick medium head that turns into a surface covering lacing. Color is dark muted golden, slight orange-ish. It’s full of light yet just thick enough to not allow visibility through the beer. Aroma is strong and starts off with an earthy, thick, moist forest/milky lactose sweetness, seems yeasty to me. Light banana esters behind that. Its sweet, original and strong, what’s not to like. Taste is Belgian yeasty sweet with strong sweet pond cake, a grainy aspect, and a light herbal-ness. Finishes with light white bread sweetness and a hint of bitterness, and just slightly dry. A medium body beer that’s remarkably drinkable for the sweetness present and the alcohol content (which by the way is barely felt). Oh, btw, where is the pumpkin? I do get a slightly starch-ish feeling in the beer, is that it?

Tap @ Publick House, Brookline, MA, in the Monk’s Cell. Pours a nice golden blonde color with a prominent white head. Aroma is of fruit and alcohol largely. Taste is sweet up front, with fruit and sugar notes balanced by clove and spice notes toward the end. Another interesting brew from these guys.

darker blond coloured body with a smal white head verry strange fruity alcoholic aroma a sweet fruity taste and a strange smoked herby finich

Bottle at Københavnske øldage 07. Dark golden colour with no head. Aroma is honey, spices, alcohol. Flavour is honey, alcohol, heather, spices, hop.

Bottle at Københavnske Øldage. Except for lots of microfloaties, the beer is clear. The color is golden, and it poured without head. Honey, some spices, heather and too much alcohol in the aroma. Honey, sugar, heather and alcohol in the flavor. Medium to full body. A bit sticky and warming mouthfeel. Honey-sweet finish. Even though I think the alcohol is too dominant, I like it. It’s not world class, but it’s likeable. (070511)

(Bottle 25 cl) Slightly hazy, warm, amber golden with an off-white head. Spicy pumpkin aroma. Very full-bodied, sweet and sugary caramel notes - again with a spicy edge from the pumpkins. Unfortunately also a fusty edge. Warming alcohol in the finish. Rustic but very unclean. 160507