Especial Mars
Contreras in Gavere, East Flanders, Belgium 🇧🇪
Farmhouse - Bière de Mars Spring|
Score
6.52
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In the past most breweries used to brew a 'March beer', a special beer that was brewed during spring. Brewery Contreras is one of the few breweries that still maintains this tradition. Brewed since 1898.
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8.8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 10
Overall 9
Am I truly the first one to rate this? Oh ye cruel gods! Foxy-brown, hazy, yeast in suspension. Very thick head, nearly gushing. Nose of apples, lactic acid, ironoxide, horsey. Taste is yeasty, ironoxide, lactic acid, lemony & barnyard aroma’s. Sample a bit aged (2 yrs.), hence some oxidized, ’biscuit’ tones. Extremely refreshing, medium bodied. "Martzen" is a stronger, bottle-conditioned version ot the year-round ’Tonneke’. Brewed with the March water, which, according to the brewer, is ’in bloom’.One of Belgium most complex, most underrated, and least-known classics. One of my absolute all-time favourites. One of Belgium’s big losses to come in the near future. DRINK THIS! Incidentally this brewery has also one of Belgiums’ best artisanal pilseners. Re rating Above was for the predecessor; known as "Maartse" or "Märzen". More than just the name and the ABV changed. The following is for the Mars Especial, which is no longer a Flemish brown, but another Belgian ale. Colour: Golden -amber beer; thick, dissipating head. 4/5 Nose: with ambrée and crystal malts, cookies. 7/10 Taste is very young, like concentrated vegetable matter, as from insect secretion. Rather moderate acidity with faint lactic touch. 7/10 Medium bodied at best. Slight burning sensation 3/5 regrettably much less distinctive than the original. But no doubt produced following more "learned" and "Eu-approved" methods. O tempora, o mores. 14/20
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Jun 2003
at 12:37