Saint Arnold Divine Reserve #4

Formerly brewed at Saint Arnold Brewing Company
Style: Scotch Ale
Houston, Texas USA

12oz bottle. Pours dark brown with virtually no head, light brown and fizzy. Smells super dark and fruity. Tastes of super sweet dark fruit and dark chocolate, lots of alcohol in there as well. Thick mouthfeel, coats the mouth. Decent carbonation.

Fresh bottle enjoyed March 2007. Clear mahogany color with a wispy tan head. Good smoky, peat, malty aroma. Full bodied and smooth . Great taste is of sweet caramel with musty moldy earth and peat flavors. has a bitter sweet alcohol taste to finish. Lots to taste here, loved that smoke aroma. 3217

Maybe the best of the DR’s. Dark brown chunky pour with no head. Spicy, raisiny, malty nose. Cloying, malty, sweet, alcoholic taste with hints of taffy, coffee and chocolate. Excellent beer.

12 oz. bottle courtesy of Zinister. Pour is deep brown with some slight burgundy highlights. Nice khaki head. Aroma of sweet caramel maltiness. Very much a scotch nose. Taste is mostly the sweet caramel, with some mild peat smoky earthiness, and a nice hop bite / brightness to the finish. The after taste has a little bit of a dry sour cardboard to it - maybe a touch oxidized? Took away a bit from the taste. At any rate, I really have enjoyed the beers from Saint Arnold, keep ’em coming Mike!

12 oz bottle from ucusty - thanks David! Dark, dark mahogany with a fizzy brown head that disappears with a quickness. Pungent aroma hits my nose as soon as I’m finished pouring - smoky peaty malt, sweet and mildly woody, some whiskey and raisin. Smells wonderful! Medium body, more lively than expected. Flavor is just as complex as the nose - sweet malt, smoky peat, a bit of semisweet chocolate, lightly smoky. Finish is lightly dry, the peaty smokiness really shines, as does the semisweet chocolate note. An absolute delight!

thanks to chef201atc for the bottle. ruby amber color with some off white lacings. thick roasted malts and some vanilla notes. very thick on the palate with lots of malts, scotch and smoke flavor. another impressive reserve from st. arnold.

Sampled November 2007
A somewhat vigorous pour produces an almost three-finger thick, lightly browned, tan colored head that sits atop an opaque, deeply blackened, concentrated amber colored brew. The beer does show a concentrated, deep, dark, though brilliantly clear, ruby color when held up to the light. Aromas of peat are definitely the most noticeable part of the aroma; salty, smoky with a richly caramelized woodiness. Behind the peat is a solid, more traditional, dark malt character that smells like darkly browned biscuits, brown malt, concentrated caramel and slightly burnt soda crackers. The aroma is pretty nice, but there is a bit too much peat character here; I wish that the underlying malt character played a bigger role.

Concentrated malt notes add a deeply caramelized sweetness up front, the finish though is dried out by salty peat smoke, though even this can never quite shake the rich caramelized malt character. The smoky phenolics add a certain sharpness to the finish as does a touch of underlying hop bitterness. This definitely has a creamy heft to it, which in combination with the rich flavors make this a definite sipping brew; I wouldn’t call this syrup-like in any way, but it certainly has enough weight to it to be hearty. The finish has a certain chalky, lightly roasted grain husk, sort of tannic character that tends to linger on for some time. Lots of toasted grain flavors cling to the palate from beginning to end though; browned soda crackers, roasted biscuit malt notes and touches of breakfast roast coffee join flavors of smoky caramel, lightly buttery toffee, and something that is a bit like a non-descript fruitiness.

The aroma is a touch too focused on the peat notes, but the flavor is deliciously complex in its mix of malt & peat smoke notes. While decidedly non-traditional, I really am enjoying the intense, yet not quite overwhelming peat character of this brew. Having said that, I think that this would be better, more integrated, and even more complex if the peat character was substantially reduced.

12oz bottle acquired in trade with bu11zeye (thanks!). Poured a medium to deeper mahogany color with an averaged sized off white head. Aromas of earthiness, peat, chocolate, and some dark fruits. Tastes of caramel, dark fruits, and lighter earthiness. Alcohol well hidden.