Saint Arnold Divine Reserve #5

Formerly brewed at Saint Arnold Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Houston, Texas USA

Shared by bhensonb. Pours almost black with a dark tan head and a smoky coffee and chocolate aroma. The flavor is mostly chocolate with a warming alcohol trail. It’s warm and tasty. Thanks Bill.

Bottle from ericandersnavy. Thanks a whole bunch for a really superb ale. Pours black with a dark tan head. Aromas of smoke and smooth burnt malt. Full bodied with creamy carbonation. Lots of smoke and chocolate. Maybe a hint of coffee. Reallly flavorful.

(bottle at RSRIZZO’s winter gathering on 1/13/10, provided by BeerandBlues2). Black color. Small tan head. Sweet molasses/worcheshire aroma. Sweet molasses flavor. Avg duration. Very smooth finish. Slick texture. Soft carbonation. Spare lacing.

( 12oz bottle thanks to mar) Pours black with dark tan oily bubbles and red light around the edges. Nose of brown sugar, graham crackers, yeast, biscuit, very complex. Taste is syrupy, smoky caramel, biscuits, sweet coffee and viscous creamy mouthfeel. Nice lightly bitter finish. Age has done this beer some great favors.

Pours a standard espresso black color with a fizzy head. Nose is heavy on coffee grounds and roasted barley. Taste is pretty ok, a little thin, nice RIS flavors, coffee, hints of dark fruits.

This pours black. This is how it should be with a RIS, so it’s starting out well. It produces a minimal head of dark brown foam. With 10.00%abv though, this is understandable. The lacing is in tiny spots and mildly sticky. The liquid leaves a slightly oily film on the glass and the lacing is sliding it. This has a huge, malty nose, with a touch of sweetness and a lot of roastiness. There are mild hints of dark cherries. Much to my surprise, I’m getting a good level of vanilla here, also. A very light hint of licorice. This is definitely heavy on the big, dark, roasty flavor, but it’s not in a palate destroying way. It’s actually smooth and quite nice. There are notes of rich, dark chocolates. There is a sweetness of dark cherries that is very nice. The vanilla notes are not as big as they were in the nose, but are still here. This is a big, bold, beer that manages to maintain a wonderfully drinkable balance. This one is full-bodied and viscous. It has a mild level of carbonation. This presents itself as very smooth and nicely creamy. Almost like velvet. Wonderful. The high abv is well-hidden. If I didn’t know, I’d guess it to be in 6.5% to 7.5% range. Combine this with the wonderful flavor and balance and this is a very drinkable and enjoyable brew. I wish I had a warehouse of this stuff.

This is my favorite of the St. Arnold’s Divine Reserve beers that I have been lucky enough to try. I love imperial stouts and this one is no exception. Great beer.

Bottle at home ... Thanks to Bu11zeye for this one ... deep black .. thin tan lacing ... smokey charcoaly roast malt nose ... Again a little smokey ... some chocolate ...some coffee ... but its the definitly got a odd deep smokeyness ... some warming alcohol ... little spice ... building coffee ... some raisins ... quite nice once i got over the unexpected smoke tones