Saint Arnold Divine Reserve #1

Commercial Description:
Our Divine Reserve is a series of single batch beers, each brewed with a completely different recipe. The batches are identified by the number on the neck label. There is no particular theme to the beers, although it can be assumed that most all of them will be big. Many will benefit from being aged. Reserve No. 1: Barleywine Cases Made: 327 Date Brewed: August 18, 2005 Date Bottled: October 17, 2005 Original Gravity: 1.099 Final Gravity: 1.027 Alcohol: 9.3% ABV This big, barleywine was brewed with pale Maris Otter malt as a base. This was supplemented with Munich and Chocolate malts which gave the beer a very chocolatey flavor in the fermenter although it rounded out considerably by the time it was bottled. It was heavily hopped in both the kettle (with Northern Brewer and Cascades) and in the fermenter (with Saaz). When tasted in the fermenter, the hops were very aggressive but after two months of aging, they mellowed. The beer was fermented at 72 F with our Saint Arnold yeast giving the beer a full, creamy mouthfeel with pleasant fruit. This batch was unfiltered which, combined with the high protein Maris Otter malt, makes for a very hazy beer. The first few cases were packaged without an in-line hop filter which resulted in some hop particulate in those bottles. After about 30 cases (and the bottling line being gummed up), we put the hop filter in-line. This filter is very loose and only removes hop bits. While this beer is ready to be enjoyed immediately, it should develop well in the bottle over time.