Saint Arnold Divine Reserve #3

Formerly brewed at Saint Arnold Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Houston, Texas USA

Hazy burnt orange/amber, small white head. A little bit of time on this bottle. Nose of sweet caramel malt, candied pecans, past ripe fruit, bitter resinous hops, taffy candy. Flavor of sweet and toasty caramel malt, old malt, bitter resinous hops, past ripe fruit, nougat, subtle cocoa powder towards the finish. Medium/full body, balanced, easy to drink considering. Tasty barleywine at this point. From notes.

bottle thanks to bleeng. Finally! I’m curios because I have seen some decent ratings on this even though it is way past it’s prime, just based on age. Ok, let’s see what you have left. Pours a cloudy, mud color with thin bubbles around the edge instead of head. The nose is of overripe fruit and even medicinal. Taste is of overripe fruit and medicine. Obviously, this is way past it’s prime and isn’t even like the beer intended. Mouthfeel is resinous and bitter with some carbonation. This came across very much like a hoppy barleywine in texture and taste. still decent tasting.

(12oz bottle) Pours orange with good carbonation and head. Nose is mostly just caramel but it smells really nice. The taste is quite dry and bitter, finishes very bitter as well with hops and grapefruit oils on the palette. Some sweetness here but it’s also out of balance.

Clouded orange. Hoppy nose with sweet notes. Caramel with sugar is apparent. Big bodied that isn’t overly hopped. Dry on the finish but isn’t too bitter. May have aged past it’s prime but this is still rather tasty!

12oz bottle courtesy of KAggie97 poured into a snifter. This one pours a bright hazy orange that looks almost brown in the glass with no light. The head is small and white but does hang on as a collar for quite a while and leaves spotty lacing. My initial reaction to the aroma is that this has to be an American barleywine. There are some hops up front, citrus mainly, but the big sweet malt presence is the dominant component with toffee and even some honey-coated fruits. Nice and sweet with the faintest hint of oxidation in the nose, but not distracting at all. The taste is not quite as fulfilling as the aroma. There is still a surprising level of citrus hops up front with lemons and oranges coming through with some underlying earthy tones. The malt base is present but not nearly as robust as I was expecting. It’s almost more bready than caramel and I definitely don’t get nearly as much of the sweet fruits. The finish has a hop bitterness that’s slightly abrasive. The taste leans much more toward a DIPA than the aroma. The mouthfeel is slick and low on carbonation with a lingering sticky bitterness from the remaining hops. It might be a tad thin if I’m being nitpicky. Overall, this beer has held up very well given the age though I am intrigued by the differences in the nose and taste. I prefer the robust sweetness of the nose as the hop profile is present but hasn’t held up quite well enough to carry the taste as a hoppy DIPA. I am confident I would have enjoyed the taste more when fresh. Still a very tasty brew.

Bottle 35,5 cl. Courtesy of bu11zeye. Pours an opaque and hazy amber golden with a yellowish head. Aroma of hops and overripe fruit. Quite full-bodied with notes of licorice and overripe fruit - somewhat oxidized. Rather hoppy finish. Resembles a hoppy Barley Wine most. Happy 10k yespr! 090609

Bottled - yespr’s number 10,000 rating - congratulations, friend. An unclear amber beer with a lazing beige head. The aroma has notes of sweet malt adn over ripe fruits. The flavor is sweet with notes of malt and hops as well as lighter notes of over ripe fruits, leading to a dry and fruity finish. Thanks Papsoe for sharing.

RB #10K: 12 fl oz bottle, courtesy of Papsoe (trade with bullzeye). Shared with Henrik and Jens - thanks guys, thanks! Pours hazy orange with a fast gone and initially white head. Dry wooden hops aroma with a light peachy touch. Wooden and fruity base flavour lending towards a hoppy US barley wine in fruity flavour and texture. Smooth, bitter and fruity flavoured. Smooth fruity flavoured finish with a light bitterness too. Lasting wooden touch into the far finish. Nice one.