Specjal Jasny Pelny
Zywiec Breweries PLC (Heineken)

this review is for wygraj specjal. bread toast

 

Gdańsk 23/7 2019. 50 cl can from Netto in Międzyzdroje. Black and orange can with a couple of Gold medals from back in ancient times. Coat of arms with the Polish flag with a couple of crosses.

Pours clear, pale yellow with a lot of bubbles. Small white head. Bubbly. Settles as thin, flimsy layer of foam unable to cover the surface of the beer. No Lacing.

Aroma is not very distinct or intense. Lightly sweet and with a light sourish streak. Hints of something salty.

Medium strong carbonation. Thin, watery, lightly tingling texture.

Flavor is lightly sweet followed by a moderate bitterness with a little saltiness. Aftertaste is thin, a little salty and so short that I hardly noticed it.


A bit strange that the Brewery calls a beer with nothing to distinguish it for “Specjal”. By all means - it is refreshing and inoffensive. But so is water.

Mine is 5.6%, though seems to be the same! Generally I'm not a fan of Zywiec brewed beers but let's give this a fair go. Apparently it's made by Elblagu brewery under the control of Zywiec, and this entry seems to be the same beer.

Failry pale, smooth head. Rather weak aroma of frothy very light hops and Polish mocne style malt.

Hops are fairly distinct and unique. But the malt taste is a little heavy. There isn't much in the way of aftertaste or complexity in the mouthfeel. And the slightly skunky mocne maltiness in the aroma kind of dominates the taste also. Dominant flavours aside from the mocne malt taste include honey, prunes, a little lemon peel. It's a good balance between sweet and bitter. Yes the overall flavour is very minimal, and it's a bit too heavy...definitely not a fan. Similar to Zywiec, there is nothing really wrong with this, it's just a little heavy and boring. And kind of like a mocne without the extra alcohol content.

 

Pours clear, gold in color with one inch head. Taste is mild cereal, grain, and pilsner malt. Light bodied, moderate carbonation and sweet. Makes for an above average Polish lager.

 

Bottle 500 mL to wine glass
Appearance: Golden amber clear, medium off white foam that disappears quickly, small foam lingers
Aroma: scent of malt not a lot
Taste: low bitterness, not a lot of taste, long finish
Palate: lively carbonation
Overall: Fair beer, but not to repeat look for
Drank: 8/24/2016

Nice taste of grains in the beginning. Followed by a hint to the higher alcohol content. Not fully convincing in total.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Golden yellow appearance with good lacing and a layer of foam that stays to the end.

Nutty and sweet aroma. A distinctive Polish lager smell that I've grown to like.

It tastes nutty and grainy and sweet with enough hop bitterness to be considered well balanced.

Carbonation is moderate and mouthfeel is mineral water fizziness... think San Pellegrino.

Drinkabilty is very high and paired with spicy food this is hard to beat. A really nice, subtly flavoursome mass produced lager from central Europe that stands happily alongside craft ales as a great choice. Particularly good with food.... any food.. and ridiculously cheap at £1 per 500ml.

This is a beer is a good example of why lager is the world's most loved beer and way better than big brand US or Western European market leading lagers. Buy it if you see it.

My mark out of one hundred would be 78.

 

Served in a pint glass.

Appearance: Clear gold color with light bubbles on the body. Head which is white,not so thick coming up to maybe 1/4" off the body.

Smell: In reality it smells really good, roasted hops but little light to the nostrils.

Taste: Hops and slightly creamy leaning more towards like your marzen beer.

Mouth: This beer has a somewhat sharp texture and flavor the grasps your tongue, medium carbonation that may seem a little light but still very good.

Overall: This isn't the best beer but it does the job, full of flavor and ahead of the game compared to other Euro Pale Lagers. I would buy it again but wouldn't try to sell it as the best beer on earth. Drink up, Salud!

Euro Pale Lager with "Malt Liquor" on the label.

Deep saturated orange gold, bright clarity. Thin layer of white foam recedes to a floating island veil of skim in the center, with a ring of foam around the edge. A few random flecks of lace, but nothing substantial. Retention isn't much for longevity, by the end of the glass there's no suds at all.

Initial grassy hay aroma fades and becomes sweet and floral. Subdued, but some malt sweetness manifests as honeyed biscuit.

Flavors are crisp, lightly malty, honey aftertaste with some muted floral notes again. Dry hay and some field grass, dry pilsner malt, very clean with a dry floral aftertaste. Actually pretty nice, simple and understated, thankfully not an old bottle, no off flavors at all. Light airy feel, again its a clean lager that's crisp and finishes dry. Light to medium bodied, the flavor lends a bit of substance to it. Best paired with warm weather outdoor activities.

Label text:
"Specjal Malt Liquor" 6.0% abv "Product of Grupo Zywiec" "Imported by Amtec International of NY Corp., Brooklyn NY"

Black 500ml tin, slightly out of date when reviewed on one of my 'Lager tasting evenings'.

Good rich golden yellow colour, the thin white head soon became a thin white collar and produced no lacing.

Almost no aroma, some hay esters maybe.

Typical Polish lager, the 6% ABV sat well within the beer and as a refreshing thirst quencher it was fine, I wouldn't have it all night though.

This is a standard Euro lager to be honest, no outstanding points, but nothing bad either.