Saint Arnold Divine Reserve #2

Pours orange with no head. Oxidation present in aroma and flavor, although not unpleasant. Sweet, alcohol well integrated with a bit of rum, and very sweet finish.

Slightly hazy amber with small white head. Fruity, yeasty aromas with some spice. Sweet tasting, yet with a dried fruit and malt edge to it. Definetely has a prescence and sticks to your palate. Long, somewhat dry finish with lots of alcohol at the end. Reminiscent of a good bourbon.

12oz bottle, thanks to CaptainCougar for sending me this! Dark orange-amber with a smaller sized white head. The aroma right away shows the age of this beer; it has a definite oxidized and dull character, but still has a pleasant fruitiness highlighting rhubarb of all things. The flavor is solidly malty with brown sugar, light yeast, and light fruitiness. Full bodied and a little flat on the tongue, but with some mellow carbonation. Just a bit dull overall from the age, but still a nice beer. I’m thinking that pure Belgian yeast fermentation and more aggressive bottle-conditioning might have helped this hold up longer.

note that this rating is being posted a good 3 years after i drank it....Walt sent some of these up to me when they were released...this beer was getting huge numbers at the time and I was excited to have it, and the excitement was replaced by disbelief shortly after we opened the bottle...the nose was pretty weak, lacking the figs and caramel that i was looking to find...body was thin looking and light rust colored, flavor was yeasty and grassy which again i thought out of place for a quad. overall, this beer was a huge letdown.

Pours brownish orange into the glass with bright orange highlights. Very minimal head, but the number of years in the bottle could have had something to do with this. Aroma is burnt sugar, dark fruits with a hint of a mint-like essence. I agree with some that the flavor seems more akin to a barley wine with a heavy emphasis on sweet malt. I would have really liked to try this one fresh, but am glad I had the chance to try it at all.

Bottle courtesy of SamGamgee. Pours a light brownish orange, obviously too light for a proper quad, with a thin off-white head. Aroma is boozy with lots of caramel, figs, and oranges. Flavor is more like a barleywine, with the emphasis on huge sweet caramel and only lesser notes of raisins and figs. Some vanilla sweetness and alcohol burn. All that age hasn’t really smoothed this out to an easily drinkable level. 9.3% isn’t even that high but you can sure feel it. Mouthfeel is rich and fulfilling.

(12oz bottle) Pours cloudy orange. Nose is spicy yeast, dark dried fruits, and alcohol. This beer is way carbonated and mildly oxidized. The bitter hops and spicy fruity taste are pretty unbalanced for the style, but I was glad to have it. Not sure age did well for this one. It looks and smells great, but the flavor doesn’t quite deliver as I’d hoped.

12 oz. bottle. Dark copper color with smallish head. Aromas of dark fruit and dark malts. Flavor fell off a touch with some oxidation, but still pretty tasty.