Live Blogging: St. Arnold's Winter Stout

Beer Log: Right now

State: Getting ready to read up for the PE Exam, a little thirsty.

St. Arnold's Winter Stout

Deep brown color with a strong 2 finger tan head. Nose is chocolate and maybe some sugar sweetness just barely in there. Nice full body malt hitting the tongue, very smooth with low carbonation. Almost imperial-like with it's malty sweetness, but not quite. An excellent stout with a chocolate and toffee flavor hiding amongst the hard maltiness. The hops are pretty much non-existent, but that's fine. 4 Stars. Probably the highest I've given a non-Divine Reserve St. Arnold's beer. As it warms I can get more of the chocolate, and the aftertaste is more chocolatey as well. Well Done by SA.

Screw You guys, I'm getting another Beer

The Texans are up by 10 with 3 minutes to go in the game, which means Sage is gonna be throwing those interceptions hard and heavy. I'm up for another Christmas beer and this time it's St. Arnold's. The wife says I've had this one and didn't care too much for it. Well, I don't remember that, so let's try it again.

St. Arnold's Christmas
Pours Brown and clear with a nice poofy/bubbly head. It smells kind of like honey and sweet like with cinnamon and malt, eerily like the Full Sail Wassail. Very nice full body with a strong malt backbone. Very little hops to speak off, but plenty of apple pie like ingredients, like brown sugar and cinnamon. This may be a touch on the metallic side, but that's okay. This thick brew is what I would think of for a winter/Christmas beer. Very filling, high alcohol, spicy and very malty. I'm giving it a 3 star but it could rank very high on my Christmas beers. Then again, we just picked up a variety pack of Sam Adams Winter beers. Uh oh.

Texans just GOT an interception against the Browns, and now we're running the ball down to the 4 yard line. The Browns fans are leaving the stadium. Houston is the most sad sack road team in the NFL, and things are looking good. I just wish I started Tyler Thigpen on my fantasy team, KC who put up 24 points on Buffalo and still counting. I need this win to make the playoffs. But I also have Philip Rivers starting this afternoon, so hopefully it works out. He's got to show up and show out as the opposition has Trent Edward of Buffalo, who has 3 TDs on the day as the Bills put up 47 points on the Chefs. Texans down the ball, and HOUSTON WIN HOUSTON WIN HOUSTON WIN! Rock and Roll.

I'm looking forward to restarting my tailgating beers series for the Monday Night game we have in a couple weeks. It's my MNF. I did not make it to the games I thought I would this year. I gave up my tickets a couple times as I was offshore, and I gave up tickets at least once if not twice b/c the Texans are so godawful I just couldn't watch it. And the games we did go to, nobody was tailgating. But we will be out in force for Monday night. The beers will have to change from summer beers to good beers for the winter. I'm thinking of something darker like Guiness. I may even throw in sweeter lagers like Negra Modelo. Go Texans. Dammit Trent Edwards just got ANOTHER Touchdown. Philip Rivers better show is naked ass in the game this afternoon against Indy.

St. Arnold Divine Reserve 7

Funny story.

So St. Arnold has their divine reserve #7 coming out in late September. I was supposed to be offshore, and I forgot about it as my wife is probably too busy to be at the liquor store at 10AM on a workday. They delayed the release to September 30 when Hurricane Ike made its way to Houston, when I would be back on dry land.

September 30 comes and goes and I totally forget about it, as I had to take the baby to the doctor and a couple other errands. It was her wellbaby visit with all the vaccines, so I was hoping we could make it out without too much crying. She was crying when the nurse was listening to her heartbeat. Poor girl.

October 1st comes and my wife calls me up in the middle of the day, saying that I need to find Divine Reserve. I get all fired up, call up some Specs and HEB. Specs had run out within an hour, and the Wine/Beer guy at HEB was not answering the phone. I had a couple errands, and around 3:30, I went to a neat little bar (that used to be a brewpub) that had Divine Reserve #6 (a 5 Star beer). They don't have it. I order a Pyramid Apricot Ale, and quickly derate it from a 4 star to a 3 star, as the drinkability was pretty bad. The gent at the bar said that they didn't make hardly any kegs of DR7, and I won't find it on draft anywhere. I could find DR6 at a couple local pubs months after it had come out (sad). I chat up the guys about beer, my homebrew, and about Obama, and move on home.

I have HEB's number in my phone (the one about 10 miles north of where I was). I call and get the Wine/Beer guy as I am driving home. He says he has DR7 for sale, I tell him I'm on the way and hang up. You want to talk about DRIVING. I had 1o miles of city driving to the upper northwest Houston metro area, and cops were EVERYWHERE. I'm going 55-60 in a 45 zone. I am yelling at people in front of me, "GET OUT THE WAY B!TCH". Visions of tasers dance in my head, but I found my Drowning Pool CD to fire me up and let it ride.

I finally make it HEB, which seemed to take 5 hours. I walk with purpose through the parking lot, breeze past the cheese and bread areas, and make it to Wine/Beer. Plenty of good stuff, but the St Arnolds section had no DR7. The wine/beer guy is not there, and I find someone who looks like a manager. We both look around, and there is nothing there. He says he'll get with the manufacturer tomorrow to get the beer there. I thank him, but apparently he is not aware of the power of St Arnolds Divine Reserve. It is an underground Holiday in Houston, TX when a DR comes out. Normally it sells out within an hour. People are a stone's throw away from performing sexual favors for a 6 pack.

One last sweep through the wine section, and I see it, 4 SIX PACKS OF DIVINE RESERVE #7. Oh hell yeah. No fancy display, no anything. Just four six packs sitting next to a couple bottles of Pinot. I start to pick up 3 of the 6 packs. I figure that there is bound to be some poor sap out there in the same boat I am, and he could be on the way to find a 6 pack. I consider that a community service. I should get a tax break. As I pick up the three 6 packs, an older sistah asks me, "are you old enough to buying that beer". WOMAN, I AIN'T TRYING TO HEAR THAT! I didn't say that, but I thought it. She quickly said she was joking, and I smiled, and made a B-line for the register.

Finally, I OWN a Divine Reserve beer. A beer that (without some pictures of the brewer in a hot tub with the governor's wife while snorting an eightball of coke off her bosom) St. Arn will never brew again. The DR #6 was one of the best beer I'd ever had. And now, St. Arn has delivered once again...

Saint Arnold's Divine Reserve #7
A Weizenbock. The only time I had one of those was in Austin, and it was not up to snuff. Just plain boring. St Arn did a homebrew competition in Weizenbocks, and let the winner brew one batch of the stuff and sell it. Cost me 15 bucks a 6 pack. They could have charged 30.

Pours thick, dark brown color, very cloudy in a weizen glass. Good brown head on it that is very strong. It smells of strong roasted malt, chocolate, and coffee grounds. I think there was some element of wheat beer smells (banana, estery), but it is simply overpowered by the bock smells. Taste, oh yeah, strong malt, very thick, with a slight hop on the aftertaste. VERY VERY drinkable, low carbonation, tailor made for guys like me. Excellent mouthfeel, which comes from the wheat, but not very bready. It just fills up your mouth completely and very smooth (nullus). Definetly not a session beer, though there are no traces of alcohol. To further characterize that malt, I would say it is almost maple syrupy, maybe a little fruity. But this beer as excellent balance. This is a beer that I think helps define why we do what we do. I am sitting here watching this boring debate, and all of an hour after drinking it down, I am craving it big time. But smartly I only chilled 2 of them (one for the wife). We will cellar some of it, and break it out on special occasions. 5 Stars, all day long.

Oktober in August

It's still busting 100 degrees feel in Houston, but the boys at St. Arnolds have put out their Oktoberfest. I think they actually have their Christmas Ale out as well. I'll hit that one later on when the weather dips below 80. But I grabbed the Harvest Moon as well, one of the Blue Moons I really enjoy.


August 18, 2008
Harvest Moon
Yes I found my beer log book, it was in my laptop case. Smells of cinnamon, light caramel, light pumpkin. It's coppergold color with a strong tinged white head. Tastes of pumpkin but a little watery/metallic near the back that went away after the first sip. Light caramel and medium carbonation come through on the next slug. Lightly hopped. If someone told me it had honey in there, I would not be surprised. There's a kind of nutmeginess lingering on my tongue as well. It could be b/c this is the first Fall beer I've had this season and I was really feenin for some fall beer, but I'm giving this one 4 stars baby!

St. Arnold's Oktoberfest
Ah the local ish. Copper color with a fizzy head. It's got a malty and bubble gum like smell. A touch of cinnamon. It has a malty taste with a velvety finish. Med-light body with low carbonation. Remind me of a dopplebock. Very good stuff. 3 Stars

FYI, I have had a few more of the Harvest Moons since this review and I'm moving it down to 3 Stars. It was just the shock of a new style of brew I hadn't had in ages. I'm thinking about maybe having maybe getting a Coors Light or something before I review a new beer. Sometimes I'll find myself just fired up to have a beer at all, especially if its been a while.

Beering on Weight Watchers: Lost 6 pounds

How about that!

I've started the weight watchers, and I lost 6 pounds in the first week, going from 242 lbs to 236 lbs. Granted I work out a lot, so I get more points to eat more, but I've lost the poundage while drinking beers like Stone IPA, St. Arnolds Oktoberfest, the Harvest Moon, and Stone's Arrogant Bastard. I even fell off the wagon and blew my weekly points in one night at the Flying Saucer doing a tour of IPAs which pretty much knocked me out of the harsh hops game for a while, I'll explain later. 6 pounds is a bit fast, so I'll make sure I don't over due it start losing muscle mass and bones. Just trying to lose the fat.

So it looks like the system works, and you can have some beer nearly every night and lose fat. You won't be getting drunk as much (assuming you are drinking bigger beers instead of Mich Ultra), but it's all good anyway. My stomach does not have that persistent pudge and I don't have to suck it in when women walk by. I'm only a couple more pounds away from having a flat stomach and wearing my extra-medium Affliction shirts again. Brothas are rocking the extra-medium gear these days. Anyway, I can't find my beer book or I'd outline my recent tastings. Just wanted to brag. Holla.

Spezial and Divine

Well it's good to be home, and it looks like we have two new beers for your arse. We bought a Six Pack of Shiner Spezial Leicht and at long last we drove 25 miles one way for St Arnold's Divine Reserve #6.


June 12, 2008
Shiner Spezial Leicht (btl to plastic cup)
We picked up this six pack and met some friends in Galveston, TX. I'm starving out on the beach with a salty taste in my mouth. It was straw colored and smell vegetal, like a lager, with a white head. We drank it ice cold (like the bottle says) and it tastes of low breads and low noticeable hops. It's definitely a light beer with little to no aftertaste. It finishes quickly, yet has high carbonation and moderate drinkability. Not my favorite, but it serves its purpose.


June 13, 2008
Divine Reserve #6 an American Barley Wine (btl to pilsner glass)
Now that we got that out the way, we commenced the journey to find DR. This beer is a small batch of beer who's recipe is brewed by the St. Arnold's Brewing Company, yet comes from the winner of a homebrewing contest. We tried to get DR #5 a few days ago (a Russian Imperial Stout) only to find out that this sh*t sells out within HOURS of its release. So we are nervous as heck and find all the various beer bars that may have it. We settle on the Flying Saucer, though that means we'll need to drive all the way downtown to get it. Small price to pay even with these gas prices. The wife and I did not even eat before getting this beer or even wait for the waitress. We sat outside, got a beer from the bar. Bad move on the food.

The smell is of flowery hops, some grapefruit and spicyness in there. It's got a thick tan head, and pours orange at first with auburn color as it fills the glass. The first thing we notice is the bold full body. Lots of hops and great thick maltiness to balance. Velvety finish with medium carbonation. It was a little warm as well PERFECT. It is beers like these are the reason brothas start beer tasting in the first place. It's smooth and creamy. The more I drink it, the more malt and hops come out. We don't sip it but drink it a little fast, and both of us get kinda tipsy as the 9.4% ABV starts to take affect. Awesome wow beer. My only problem is that I think it's too hopped up to be a Barley wine, more like a Double IPA or Imperial IPA to me. But whatever, I ain't a beer judge. St. Arnold's hit this one out the park. It's no wonder I'll probably never taste it again.