Saint Arnold Divine Reserve #9 - Saint Arnold Brewing Company

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BA SCORE
88
very good
-
158 Ratings

rAvg: 3.95
pDev: 15.95%
Reviews: 116
Hads: 42

Ratings Help

Brewed by:
Saint Arnold Brewing Company

Texas, United States

Style | ABV
American Double / Imperial Stout | 11.00% ABV

Availability: Limited (brewed once). bottle (114), on-tap (2).

Notes:
This beer is retired; no longer brewed.

Note from the brewery "Important: let this beer warm to at least 50° before enjoying".

View: Beers (26) | Events (0)

Reviews

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Reviews by JosephLondon:

JosephLondon

Texas

4.08/5 rDev +3.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

I don't feel like reviewing, but I want this on record to compare in a year.

The appearance is great except for the lack of lace. The nose is unbelievable! The best I have ever smelt. There's whipped cream, pumpkin pie, graham cracker crust and vanilla. The taste has such potential except the spice still needs to mellow some. I had this beer the day it hit the shelf and there has already been magnificent improvement in the 2 short months. The mouthfeel is full-bodied but a little thin for my liking. I won't be drinking another tonight do to my wanting to age the rest more and the fact I don't want another.

This will be one great tasting stout in a year-guaranteed.

Serving type: bottle

01-17-2010 07:10:32 | More by JosephLondon

More User Reviews:

ajzy

Wisconsin

4.5/5 rDev +13.9%

06-01-2013 11:57:10 | More by ajzy

csfcmitchell

Texas

4.5/5 rDev +13.9%

05-22-2013 17:13:51 | More by csfcmitchell

HeadyTheElder

Louisiana

4.75/5 rDev +20.3%

05-19-2013 15:43:25 | More by HeadyTheElder

SmellsofMahagony

Texas

3.5/5 rDev -11.4%

05-15-2013 02:16:12 | More by SmellsofMahagony

ThreeFishes

Florida

3.75/5 rDev -5.1%

05-12-2013 22:16:24 | More by ThreeFishes

lowgear

California

4.25/5 rDev +7.6%

05-05-2013 01:00:30 | More by lowgear

CDCNAM

Louisiana

5/5 rDev +26.6%

04-17-2013 03:03:31 | More by CDCNAM

bulldogg915

Wyoming

4.75/5 rDev +20.3%

04-03-2013 16:13:52 | More by bulldogg915

orangesol

Pennsylvania

3.75/5 rDev -5.1%

03-14-2013 00:50:47 | More by orangesol

MisterGrizz

Texas

4.25/5 rDev +7.6%

02-13-2013 17:35:11 | More by MisterGrizz

jlindros

Massachusetts

4.21/5 rDev +6.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Thanks to TexasStout for this one. I have a big vertical lined up to have someday, but for now I have extras of this one so might as well crack one, now that it's a few years old.

Ug screw cap, minus points! Although it did give me a little message, "hops and kisses" so I can't stay mad at it. And they did date it, 11/12/09, drinking as it warms a little from cellar temp so should be above 50deg as Saint Arnold requested.

Pours a smaller but dark colored fizzy almost 1/2 finger head that fades fairly quickly, typical for this high abv and interesting for a 3+ year old beer, no lacing of course, a thick looking syrupy beer with nice legs on the glass, and all but pitch black color, and light yeast floaties.

Nose is... strange actually... it has fruity aromas, straight up banana, and some starchy tropical fruits specifically a few I've had in Brazil but I don't know the name, light herbs and spices but the root beer like style herbs or sassafras, and tons of sweet style baking spices, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc. Finally in there is some dark malts, a faint black malt darkness, more Belgian style carafa and other Belgo like stout aromas, nutty earthy root like, with a little tingly booze, and a light velvety chocolate aroma with cacao nibs.

Taste is just as unique, there are some dark malts, molasses, faint black malts and Belgian like malts again, etc. Then tons of chocolate, cocoa nibs right out, creamy velvety expensive Belgian chocolate flavors. Then into the spices again, plenty of them but not holiday spices. Again the sassafras like and sweet baking spices are a-plenty, nutmeg, faint cinnamon that even gets a little spicy, cardamom, maybe faint allspice, etc. With them is the brown sugar, molasses, very faint figs and nuts, etc, and a very light fruity flavor with those figs, but luckily no banana. The spices and herbs really take over the main flavor, but the velvety smooth chocolate and cocoa flavors are nice too. Booze cuts in slightly, but is muted for the most part as it gets overtaken by the malts, but does get slightly tingly and eventually gets hot. Finish is drier but a little sticky syrupy, long lingering velvety chocolate, little caramel and cocoa, as well as the baking spices, and surprisingly the booze fades out fairly quick.

Mouth is med to fuller bodied, smooth and velvety chocolate feel, lighter but decent carb, a bit of warming tingly booze.

Overall pretty good, not sure if the 3 years helped if it was too much on the spices before, or the booze, or the dark malts etc, but this is quite nice. A good velvety chocolate, baking spices galore, etc, quite a nice beer, glad I have a couple more.

Serving type: bottle

02-10-2013 03:24:25 | More by jlindros

t0rin0

California

4/5 rDev +1.3%

12-27-2012 01:34:03 | More by t0rin0

FosterJM

California

4.1/5 rDev +3.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

1575th Review on BA
Bottle to Snifter
12oz

Thanks to Lowgear for the IP trade to finally review this one.

App- A nice looking stout. Was more of a brown color with speckles of black. A good rich and deep center. A small 1/2 finger of off tan bubbles that faded quickly and left a little bit of a pond layer. A couple bubbles on edges with a couple dots of cling.

Smell- Really after 3 years this still smells like a fall day of baking in the kitchen. Has a rich pumpkin and spice note on the nose. Bakers chocolate with a little bit of a earthy bitter note to it as well.

Taste- The taste is just a bit flat due to age I think. Its still a very flavorful stout with a good bit of layers behind it but turning a bit grainular vs. silky smooth. The malts in this create the smoothness but the spice and pumpkin are a little off. Still balanced and doesnt overpower but nutmeg does come into play heavily.

Mouth- A fairly silky and smooth stout like I mentioned in the taste. A lighter medium and a fairly medium carbonation. The residual nutmeg is a bit heavy but the pumpkin and chocolate flavors balance nicely. A bit grainy but still good.

Drink- It was hard to track one of these down, but glad I did. Its october now, so drinking pumpkin beers is fine by me. This was good and flavorful. A very good night cap.

Serving type: bottle

10-19-2012 15:58:24 | More by FosterJM

Prestonlegal

Texas

4/5 rDev +1.3%

09-28-2012 21:01:13 | More by Prestonlegal

melissajtai

Texas

4/5 rDev +1.3%

09-23-2012 21:52:29 | More by melissajtai

whoneeds8

Texas

4.75/5 rDev +20.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

"I Barley Made It"

Poured into a New Belgium glass black with a one finger tan head that disappated quickly. No lacing. The smell has a strong scent of pumpkin. The taste is awesome. It's like a chocolate pumpkin pie. There is a strong alcohol presence, which is expected. But considering the time of year, it warms you up nicely. With the combination of pumpkin and alchol warmth, this is the perfect winter beer. Too bad it won't be back next year.

Re-Reviewed 9/12/2012

Poured into tulip glass black as oil, but carbonation almost gone. The scent is still strong of spices and pumpkin. The taste has mellowed quite a bit. The chocolate pumpkin pie I described before definatly is not the case anymore. The pumpkin is still there, and the spices are still there, but the malts that once gave this a chocolate flavor are definatly not as strong. The alcohol burn is also lower which makes the mouthfeel a little better, and the lower carbonation hasn't affected the mouthfeel at all.

Overall, she's aging well.

Serving type: bottle

09-13-2012 00:10:00 | More by whoneeds8