Heileman's Special Export
Pabst Brewing Company

Pours a brilliant, pale gold in color -- a bit darker than your average American Pale Lager. Fairly good retention (and fairly good lacing) on the barely off-white head. First impression is it's at least average for the style.

Carbonation looks normal in the glass -- streams of very small and uniform-sized bubbles. It's worth noting up front that I typically drink this one straight from the can at my favorite local dive, even though they often offer me a shaker pint. ; )

If this were an perfectly average American Pale Lager I'd think there wouldn't be much of anything going on in the aroma department. But in this beer there's at least a nice character of pale, base malt (shades of a good Helles?) in addition to a clean (and neutral) lager / yeast character. Not much in the way of hops of course, aside from a light grassy character and the barely-discernible twang of citrus zest. But to that end it's much as I've come to expect from Euro imports in the same style.

On that note, some think of the Export / Dortmunder Export style in particular as little more than a stronger Munich-style Helles, but that's never been my impression. I've always considered Exports to have less malt subtlety than is typical of a good Helles, along with being stronger and more bitter / dry. To that end Dortmunder Export was the pale European style which would always left me wanting a Pils rather than another one of the same.

Oh well, on to the palate.

Semi-sweet on the first sip, with a bit of hops half-way through (some of that lemon rind character from the nose) and overall a really well-balanced impression, leaning toward dry finish and even some biscuit malt notes! Carbonation is as expected --lighter-- but not without some effect across the tongue and upper palate.

The bitterness (which I especially prize in a Pils) is rather light in this one, but there's just enough.

Although the recipe has changed a lot over the years, I know that the brewery (Pabst generous hosts at Miller, mostly) have always tried to keep the various "heritage" recipes in the Pabst portfolio fairly distinct, and this one has always been a fairly decent American approximation of an Export -- even while being packaged (30 packs!) for the "Price"-driven buyer.

I keep coming back to the base malt, and even knowing that there's a corn adjunct in here, I can't knock that so much as I can marvel at the rather good drinkability and balance, along with an actual grain/grainy character to the malt.

The mouthfeel is good, and as with the Light version, it is fuller / richer than I expect from the style. Likewise, this is a very, very clean beer with no off-flavors.

It's still pretty good for what it is, and better than average for a American Pale / Adjunct Lager.

Served in a Dave's Brewfarm "imperial pint" glass : )
Best-by date: NOV0716 (bottom of can)

This was a premier beer until the recipe changed and Heileman folded in the 1990’s. The super premium competing with Michalob, Andecker, and Augsburger. It was better than all of them according to my tastes. Because it has returned home to La Crosse I was hopeful, but am sadly disappointed.

Appearance: Pale yellow and clear. Pours with a two finger foam head that dissipates fairly quickly.

Aroma: Light malt sits just above baseline, with a little sweetness and a slightly sharper edge. Fairly simple overall.

Taste: Sweeter than ideal and not especially clean. The profile stays fairly basic, but there is a sharper finish that reads almost like a hop bite. It comes across like it is trying to gesture toward a Euro pale lager profile, though the sweeter finish and lingering taste keep it from feeling especially refined.

Mouthfeel: Thin and crisp, with moderate carbonation.

Overall: Pretty straightforward beer, though it sits in an awkward lane. It feels like a cheap regional lager trying to bring in a little more character than the standard legacy macro, but not quite pulling it together in a convincing way. Drinkable enough, but a bit mismatched in what it seems to be aiming for. Not bad, just not especially coherent.

 

 

 

 

Aaah the old green death. Used to come in 16oz suitcases. Go to for a long night if session beers. Could be better but it's not that cheap
Anymore in Minnesota. Better than bud Michelob or Miller lite. Cheers.

It has been over 2 decades since I saw Special Export until this weekend acquisition in Chicago for the all-around value price of $3.99 for a sixer of 12 oz cans. Falls right into place with other US adjunct lagers. Not much of a nose, but the faintest hint of old world grassy hops. Thin body with minimal white head atop pale yellow color. Goes down easy without any complaint, but without any fanfare. Seems a note more bitter (in a Euro lager fashion) on the finish than label-mate Old Style, but I did not try them concurrently. If only OHLQ would allow this 'export' into this state.

Remember the tall boys from the ‘91 World Series? Good stuff when one was in college @ just scraping by.

 

16 oz can into a pokal.
L: SRM 2.5 Pours clear light yellow caramel color with a sudsy eggshell white thin head, VG steady carbonation bubbles, head recedes to thick skin & edge foam, no lacing.
S: Caramelized malts, grains, lightly metallic, a hint of pastry dough.
T: Lightly sweet grains, caramel malts, a very distant vinous hop notes, a bready note in the finish. Not much aftertaste.
F: Gently brisk then smooth & clean with a medium-light bodied feel and a med-fast lightly drying soft finish.
O: A very clean tasting and easy drinking AAL. It is gently sweet overall and has a slight hop bite. Very slight. It has a fairly ordinary, easy finish. It's okay in its style.

From a 16oz can:

Appearance: Clear yellow, good head.

Smell: Bready, hay.

Taste: Mild sweetness, slight corn taste, mild bread, somewhat dry finish. Not bad at all.

Picked up a 6er since I was curious. Special Export hangs with a tough crowd, amongst the malt liquors and cheapo lagers, so I thought it might be pretty crappy. Upon tasting, I was pleasantly surprised, it is a sold lager with decent flavors and no flaws. Tried it alongside a PBR, PBR is a little hoppier but otherwise pretty similar.

Deep gold color, "clean beer" smell, lots of bubbles. Taste has lemon, corn, grain, and grass. Why have I spent so much on Heineken when Special Export is half the price? I wish I could get pint cans but hey a 30 pack of 12s will do!

 

 

Poured into a small 25 cent tap glass, darker gold, maybe its the room Im in? Lotta carbonation to start, little lace clinging to the glass. This was a spur of the moment 4th of July buy from a 30pk of cans. Not cheap as Hamms, and more than PBR. This was a big seller in Wis in the early 90's with the "Special EX" promotionals.
Sweet aroma, and sweet, heavy mouthfeel. I like it. If I remember the light version wasn't much different than the regular. Lots of carbonation on the tongue that fades quick, and turns heavy, and sugary. Might not be the greatest session beer, but we went through most of em sitting in deep ice on the 4th. As it warms the sweetness doesnt become overwhelming, maybe just adds a grassy, dry flavour. Not the beer I want to contemplate too much about, but interesting enough to keep the old stories flowing amongst the fellas drinking it. I dont know if I'll ever go for the full 30 again, but its nice reminiscing. My buddy who went to UW LaCrosse said he enjoyed Spec Export dark back in the late 70s...."you can travel the world over, and never find a better beer" I always liked their slogan. Might not believe it, but its a fine working class brew to chew on.

Had a fling with this one several years ago. Had a more interesting flavor than mist in the group, sweet and kinda bitter at the same time. Haven't seen it around in a while.

A beer from my youth, hard to find where I live, not what it once was. Back in the day this was Heilmann's answer to Michelob from A B and Andeker from Pabst. This is not that beer it has been cheapened over the years and is only a shadow of it's former self. Still, it is a better than average cheap beer with a unique flavor profile.

Drank from a 12 ounce can.

Look - The can is attractive enough. The green catches the eye, and the sailing ship makes you feel like you're going on a journey.

Smell - Very sweet grains pummel your nostrils. Toffee and candy corn notes if I had to put a name to the sweetness.

Taste - The sweetness greets you at the door but quickly gets out of the way for some dry sour/bitter earthy flavor. Nothing mind-boggling, but it's a pleasant development and more interesting than a lot of other beers in its price range.

Feel - Medium body with light carbonation makes for a pleasant and cozy drink.

Overall - For a cheap beer, this is a nice sipper. I can definitely get behind this beer.