Divine Reserve

Our Divine Reserve is a series of single batch beers, each brewed with a completely different recipe. The batches are identified by the number on the neck label. There is no particular theme to the beers, although it can be assumed that most all of them will be big. Many will benefit from being aged under refrigeration, not at room temperature.

Since we brew such small batches, and the releases are closely watched by our loyal fans, the Divine Reserve sells out quickly! Sign up for the Saint Arnold Newsletter to be alerted to future releases.

Description:

This is a dark, slightly chocolatey weizenbock with an undercurrent of bananas and cloves. There is a slight spiciness from the hops and a balanced malt that hides the strength of the beer. It was brewed with Dark Wheat, Light Wheat, Chocolate Wheat, Pilsner, Munich, Special B and Chocolate malts and Northern Brewer hops. We used a traditional Bavarian hefeweizen yeast which gives the beer its distinctive clove and banana character. It is unfiltered. Enjoy at 45°F or warmer. We are curious to see how this beer will age.

Description:

This is a big, malty, hoppy barleywine. Yet with all of the intense flavors, they meld together to create a well-balanced big beer. The nose has a strong resiny hop note. The taste starts with a combination of the malty sweetness and spicy hops with both flavors magnified by the high alcohol level. The spiciness carries through the middle and finishes with a satisfyingly dry bitter. It was brewed with 2 row pale, Caramunich and Special B malts with brown sugar added in the kettle and hopped with 225 lbs of Columbus hops including 44 lbs that were dry hopped. We used our Saint Arnold yeast strain which gives a rich, creamy mouthfeel to the brew. It is unfiltered and will clarify with aging. Enjoy at 45°F or warmer. This beer will age well.

Description:

This Divine Reserve was inspired by the winning entry of the 2007 Big Batch Brew Bash homebrew competition, brewed by Mike Heniff, a highly decorated local Houston homebrewer.

Russian Imperial Stouts are very big and very black and this one is no exception. DR5 has a rich malty body full of coffee and chocolate flavors and a spiciness derived from the combination hops and high alcohol. It was brewed with a variety of malts including 2 row pale, crystal, chocolate and roasted barley. It was hopped with Nugget, Willamette and Centennial. We used an American ale yeast to ferment it. It is unfiltered.

Enjoy at 45°F or warmer with some dark chocolate or a bowl of vanilla ice cream.

Description:

This is a Wee Heavy that one of our brewers has been working on for a couple of years and the final results are well worth the wait.

The color is deep ruby on its way to black with bright clarity (especially considering it is unfiltered) and a thick, tan head. It has a nose of Irish coffee with hints of peat. The body is sweet and creamy--not thin, not heavy. Almost refreshing, if a beer this big can be described as such.

Caramel malt, smoke, coffee and orange come in and out of focus several times as the beer moves across the palate, then it finishes with a light spiciness. We again used our St. Arnold yeast which added a nice layer of complexity to this already multifaceted beer. Enjoy at 45°F or warmer.

Description:

This Double IPA was inspired by David Majoras’ winning entry in the 2006 Big Batch Brew Bash which is held at Saint Arnold’s every year and is the largest single-style home brewing competition in the world. 

The grain bill for this beer is Maris Otter, Wheat, Caravienne, Carapils and Dark Crystal.  In the kettle, honey and molasses were added to beef up the starting gravity while also making sure that the finished beer was not too heavy. 

Then the hops.  This beer is really all about the hops.  The kettle hops include Chinook, Centennial and Ahtenum.  Then the beer was dryhopped with lots of Cascades.  The result is a very hoppy, bitter beer, yet the bitter is still pleasant and round, not harsh, which is good because the bitter will last in your mouth for over a minute.  If you say “Hallelujah!” after tasting this beer, you may officially call yourself a hophead.  We used our house Saint Arnold yeast which gives the beer a little creaminess and aged the beer for just over 2 months.  It was packaged unfiltered.

David's Double IPA recipe was entered into the Great American Beer Festival 2006 Pro-Am Competition.

Description:

This big beer goes beyond existing styles.  It is best described as an Abbey American quadruppel.  It was brewed with a combination of Maris Otter, Munich, Victory and Special B malts.  This beer is also the first time we have used an adjunct, in this case brown sugar, in the brewkettle.  It is hopped with Perle, Liberty and Saaz, going for a pleasant, balancing but not overly aggressive bitter. We then split the wort from the kettle into 2 fermenters, pitching one with an American Ale yeast and the other with a Belgian Trappist yeast.  Near the end of fermentation, the tanks were combined to finish out.  The beer was conditioned for 12 weeks and then packaged unfiltered.

This beer has a nose of malt, fruit and spice with a light touch of hops.  The taste is a combination of malt with a warming alcoholic feel, lots of fruit, light clove and spice and a very pleasant hop bitter.  While this beer is ready to be enjoyed immediately, it should develop well in the bottle over time.

So good, it has driven some to rhyme...
Read "Ode to Divine Reserve #2"

Description:

This big, barleywine was brewed with pale Maris Otter malt as a base. This was supplemented with Munich and Chocolate malts which gave the beer a very chocolatey flavor in the fermenter although it rounded out considerably by the time it was bottled.

It was heavily hopped in both the kettle (with Northern Brewer and Cascades) and in the fermenter (with Saaz). When tasted in the fermenter, the hops were very aggressive but after two months of aging, they mellowed.

The beer was fermented at 72 F with our Saint Arnold yeast giving the beer a full, creamy mouthfeel with pleasant fruit. This batch was unfiltered which, combined with the high protein Maris Otter malt, makes for a very hazy beer.

The first few cases were packaged without an in-line hop filter which resulted in some hop particulate in those bottles. After about 30 cases (and the bottling line being gummed up), we put the hop filter in-line. This filter is very loose and only removes hop bits. While this beer is ready to be enjoyed immediately, it should develop well in the bottle over time.

Read Brock's One-Year Update of Divine Reserve #1.