So it snuck up on me a little bit this time, but Saint Arnold came out with their 11th installment of their Divine Reserve Series. These beers typically are from a homebrew competition winner and are brewed only one time. The beer style is always extreme and as anyone in Houston can tell you, the ish sells out in NO TIME. This time around I finally am on twitter with a hashtag setup for #DR11. I easily slip out of my office around 10:15 to hit the Randall's at Town and Country to snap up my two 6 packs. Extremely easy score. WINNING. However we were not done there. The wife and I decided to hit up Petrol Station for the beer on tap and on cask. Already dudes have been drinking this beer all day, but it is always nice for a big beer release with all the beer nerds over at Petrol Station. You gotta love Petrol, it has this patchwork quilt of clientele of beer geeks, white collar engineers, some townies, and Gothic looking roller derby women. Anyway onward to the beer. Beer Log: Two days ago State: Fired up for the DR11, already had an Real Ale Lost Gold IPA and Avery IPA as a warmup. Saint Arnold Divine Reserve 11 (on draft) This one is a dippa, or Double IPA. Reminiscent of the first DR I ever had which was an American Barley Wine. This puppy has an excellent copper color, very clear, with a light tan head. The nose has a ton of grapefruit, citrus, and pine needle thing going on. The taste is just awesome. It seems to get better the more you drink it. Lots of citrus and pine going on. It's a little cloying, but gets right back off the tongue just as fast, leaving a balanced malt-hop aftertaste. The malt is heavy caramel, not much roast or choco at all. It's very full flavored without any hint of the 9% ABV. This DIPA is graciously tipped toward the hops. So good I'm actually back on an IPA kick. I've been slamming Maibocks and Weisse beers the last month or so. Got to go all the way to the 5 out of 5 stars for this one. The drinkability is what tears it for me. So many other DIPAs fill you up or are just glorified barleywine. Nothing wrong with that, but this one drinks so well and easy, you could have a ton of it. Matter of fact, since SA said that this beer is NOT meant to be aged, I'm getting another one right now. Saint Arnold Divine Reserve 11 (Cask) So they had this son of a gun on cask at PS as well. For comparison, take everything I just posted and take it down a notch in the hoppiness and the overall strength. It seemed mellow everything out just right. On top of that the carbonation laid down quite a bit more for a much smoother more English feel to it, though the hops were still certainly American. My tastes right now are for the higher carbo of a draft beer, so I'll knock this down to a 4 star. Great overall as usual, but I'd rather have this beer via keg stand. Divine Reserve 6 Review Divine Reserve 7 Review Divine Reserve 8 Review I actually had DR2 at a Camp Beer a few months ago... SA DR2 Cloudy amber with sweet malt, caramel and plum nose. A little cold right now on the taste, but as it warms up I get a nice brown sugar and caramel flavor. This one did not have much carbonation left, but still warranted a 4 star. I actually have some DR10 in the cellar, and I need to blog it up. By the way, if you have any DR7 left, drink it now. It ages terribly. Too bad though. Moving on... Next up I have a series of blogposts about my trip to St. Louis (WINNING) and I think I still have to wrap up Indianapolis and San Francisco. Next travel will take me to Mexico and then Mobile BAMA. This summer it looks like Chicago and maybe my home town of Charlotte Carolina if I can swing it. Holla.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Saint Arnold Divine Reserve 11: Winning
So it snuck up on me a little bit this time, but Saint Arnold came out with their 11th installment of their Divine Reserve Series. These beers typically are from a homebrew competition winner and are brewed only one time. The beer style is always extreme and as anyone in Houston can tell you, the ish sells out in NO TIME. This time around I finally am on twitter with a hashtag setup for #DR11. I easily slip out of my office around 10:15 to hit the Randall's at Town and Country to snap up my two 6 packs. Extremely easy score. WINNING. However we were not done there. The wife and I decided to hit up Petrol Station for the beer on tap and on cask. Already dudes have been drinking this beer all day, but it is always nice for a big beer release with all the beer nerds over at Petrol Station. You gotta love Petrol, it has this patchwork quilt of clientele of beer geeks, white collar engineers, some townies, and Gothic looking roller derby women. Anyway onward to the beer. Beer Log: Two days ago State: Fired up for the DR11, already had an Real Ale Lost Gold IPA and Avery IPA as a warmup. Saint Arnold Divine Reserve 11 (on draft) This one is a dippa, or Double IPA. Reminiscent of the first DR I ever had which was an American Barley Wine. This puppy has an excellent copper color, very clear, with a light tan head. The nose has a ton of grapefruit, citrus, and pine needle thing going on. The taste is just awesome. It seems to get better the more you drink it. Lots of citrus and pine going on. It's a little cloying, but gets right back off the tongue just as fast, leaving a balanced malt-hop aftertaste. The malt is heavy caramel, not much roast or choco at all. It's very full flavored without any hint of the 9% ABV. This DIPA is graciously tipped toward the hops. So good I'm actually back on an IPA kick. I've been slamming Maibocks and Weisse beers the last month or so. Got to go all the way to the 5 out of 5 stars for this one. The drinkability is what tears it for me. So many other DIPAs fill you up or are just glorified barleywine. Nothing wrong with that, but this one drinks so well and easy, you could have a ton of it. Matter of fact, since SA said that this beer is NOT meant to be aged, I'm getting another one right now. Saint Arnold Divine Reserve 11 (Cask) So they had this son of a gun on cask at PS as well. For comparison, take everything I just posted and take it down a notch in the hoppiness and the overall strength. It seemed mellow everything out just right. On top of that the carbonation laid down quite a bit more for a much smoother more English feel to it, though the hops were still certainly American. My tastes right now are for the higher carbo of a draft beer, so I'll knock this down to a 4 star. Great overall as usual, but I'd rather have this beer via keg stand. Divine Reserve 6 Review Divine Reserve 7 Review Divine Reserve 8 Review I actually had DR2 at a Camp Beer a few months ago... SA DR2 Cloudy amber with sweet malt, caramel and plum nose. A little cold right now on the taste, but as it warms up I get a nice brown sugar and caramel flavor. This one did not have much carbonation left, but still warranted a 4 star. I actually have some DR10 in the cellar, and I need to blog it up. By the way, if you have any DR7 left, drink it now. It ages terribly. Too bad though. Moving on... Next up I have a series of blogposts about my trip to St. Louis (WINNING) and I think I still have to wrap up Indianapolis and San Francisco. Next travel will take me to Mexico and then Mobile BAMA. This summer it looks like Chicago and maybe my home town of Charlotte Carolina if I can swing it. Holla.
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