12 oz bottle into the Sam Adams perfect pint glass.
Body is a ugly, clouded, Dubbel-like affair with very little discernible head, retention or lace.
Nose has quite a lot of sweet peat, and then this is followed-up a LOT in the taste. Unfortunately the combination of light smoke (good), peat (also good) with an overwhelming sweetness gives a syrupy, difficult to drink cough medicine effect. The alcohol is also prominent and the combination gets way too much very quickly.
Even with this level of age the beer still seems ridiculously hot and gives a nasty burn on the way down. It’s still a bit solvent like even after this time.
I just don’t get a beer like this. By all means give the peat and smoke notes as big features, but why then bother with alcohol up near double digits? It just doesn’t work well as a combination, and the kitchen sink approach here lets the beer down. What’s wrong with a bit of balance or restraint?
Saint Arnold Divine Reserve #8


05/21/2010
Brewery:
Saint Arnold Brewing Company
Saint Arnold Brewing Company
Style:
Scotch Ale / Wee Heavy
Scotch Ale / Wee Heavy
Format:
bottle
bottle
ABV: 9.3 %
Appearance: 2.5
Taste: 2.5
Mouthfeel: 3
Smell: 3
Overall: 2
Total: 2.55
Series Name:
Year:
0 Comments