Saint Arnold Divine Reserve #6

Formerly brewed at Saint Arnold Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Houston, Texas USA

Another great beer from mmm///beer, thanks man. Pours a dark ruby color with a nice thick light brown/tan colored head with lots of lacing. The aroma is quite vinous, lots of sweet hops and strong alcohol notes. The aroma also has a strong malt and fruity aspect. The flavor is very nice; initially quite fruity followed by the dominant flavor of citrus and bitter hops. The bitterness combines with a strong alcohol presence in the finish to taste a bit harsh and soapy. A nice mouthfeel; creamy and full, but also easygoing. A nice Barley Wine for sure. A bit hot, but perhaps if I could have waited a few months...but alas I enjoyed it anyway.

12oz bottle thanks to MaltOMeal. Pours orange/runy color with a small white head. The tiniest amount of white bubbles stays throughout the entire beer. Aroma is strong caramel, maltiness, some piney hops, a slight vanilla-malt flavor, munich malt-like. This smells like a somewhat aged English-style barleywine with the intense caramel maltiness but it still has a healthy dose of piney hops to give it the best of both worlds. Taste is pretty bitter, citrusy and piney with intense maltiness. The alcohol is pretty tame thankfully. Sweet finish though I would say it is fairly dry for a barley wine, not dry mind you but certainly not as sweet as a normal English style Barley Wine of this age. Fairly long sweet finish. Grainy mouthfeel, not sticky and no cloying aspects. This is pretty good. Would like to be able to try this in the future once it has been aged longer.

bottle courtesy of The Beer Sommelier. pours a deep red with a one finger off white head. nice piney hop aromas... with a bit of malt. big, thick and chewy body. big hop profile on the tongue... smooth and malty on the sides. fairly well balanced overall. long bitter finish. very nice.

Bottle courtesy of Bu11zeye: Poured a deep amber/copper color ale with a good size off-white head with great retention and some good lacing. Aroma of green grassy hops is dominating with some distinctive notes of sweet malt. Taste is also a mix between some dominating green grassy hops with some distinctive notes of sweet barley malt. Great carbonation with full body and no apparent alcohol. I get what they are trying to do here but I don’t like my barley wine to be dominated by C-hops.

Bottle from secret santa. Thanks!; Hazy brown/red body, slight off-white head with nice lacing. Nose is a piney and minty hoppy hit with nice enough caramel, some spicy notes and alcohol. I can’t put my finter on it, but its reminding me of velamints (do they still make those?) Flavor is minty, a bit of chocolate, caramel, toffee, pine, honey. Too much alcohol kills the otherwise nice finish.

A big thanks to thickfreakness for the bottles of this bad boy! Nice looking brown/red with a medium off white head. Aroma is thick with piney/floral hops, caramel, brown sugar, raisins...Flavor is a sticky hoppy/sugary ball of goodness with lots of pine, spicy floral, and slightly citrusy hops. Loads of sugar and dark fruit here. Sticky and full feel that I enjoy. Its really good now, but I have a feeling I’ll like it much more in a few years.

Pours clear copper with nice firm off white head. The aroma is cherry hard candy, hotness to the nose (and eyes), raisins, prunes and more alcohol heat. The taste is nice with a mixture of crystal malts, roasted malts and cherry hard candy to start. Later the flavor wells up with copious amounts of raisins, sweet malts and pine hops. Very nice and could use a few years of age to really round things out.

Glad I finally got a chance to try this one. Fruity aroma with some raisin but dominated by some red fruit as well. Alcohol is well hidden and there is a surprisingly hoppy finish. Cloudy deep red color. Medium bodied and a little lighter than your typical bw. Blurs the line between BW and DIPA.