Saint Arnold Divine Reserve #7
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.
3.6
191 reviews
Houston, United States
Community reviews
(Bottle) Pours brown with a small pale brown head. The aroma is oxidized with dark fruits, earth and leather alongside a light sourish hint. Nice, solid maltiness. Light wheat notes. The flavour is medium sweet, light bitter and light sour. Malty and oxidized. the mouthfeel is round and light tart with light carbonation. Malty and light sourish finish. Medium bodied.
Bottle. Poured into a tulip glass a very dark ruby copper color with a slightly less than 1 finger tan head. The aroma is very much all over the board and not as fruit forward as I thought it would be. Banana aroma is rather slight along with some dark fruit notes like raisin and plum. Medium mouthfeel with a pretty velvety feel. Starts off with some dark fruit notes with a transition to a slight chocolate roast like flavor. Lingering bitterness and alcohol notes. Hmm, not as flavorful and robust as I would have liked.
Received in trade from RickSawyer, thanks for the opportunity!
Pours a cloudy dark brown with a stingy tan head that leaves a bit of lacing on the way down. Smell is malty. I pick up some burnt sugar, molasses, melanoid, some clove, and banana too. Taste is banana and clove, some phenols, some yeast spiciness. Full carbonation, medium body, thick chewy mouthfeel. Great Weizenbock, another solid brew from my favorite Texas brewery.
Ruby brown with next to no head. Aroma of caramel, oak, toffee, alcohol, fruit, tannins and light chocolate. Taste is a bit boozy with fruit, tannins, plums, cherry, grapes, caramel and yeast. Mild sourness and a sweet finish.
Bottle, courtesy of my boss at work. (I have a cool boss.) Very dark, opaque brown with a cappucino head. Definite banana and clove on the nose, combined with milk chocolate and figs. Not as sweet on the palate; dark coffee notes lead into caramel and toffee. Think a caramel cappucino with no sugar, if you can get your head around that. Prickly, clean carbonation plays well off the mellowness of age. A pleasure to enjoy a piece of brewing history.
A: The pour is a dark brown color with that usual haze from the wheat. A couple of finger’s worth of tan head.
S: The nose offers up plenty of sweet malt, wheat, and sugar notes like caramel and toffee. There are some nice dark fruit notes, like currants and plums, but there’s also a slight acidity.
T: Sweet wheat and malt with the usual banana ester and hint of spice. I get a fair amount of toffee and hints of chocolate. Again, some dark fruit notes which are nice.
M: The body is medium with a low-to-medium level of carbonation.
D: A little something "off" about the aroma, but still enjoyable all around. I still would prefer a German brewed weizenbock, but this wasn’t bad.
Courtesy of sebletitje. Pours deep purple mahogany with loose tan head. The aroma is caramel and some roasty malts with a firm layer of rich yummy grape jam, boysenberry jam and ripe plums. Another pull brings up some chocolate too. Nice. The taste is rich dark fruity sweetness blending smoothly into dark roasted malts and chocolate candy.
A: snifter. pours a murky/cloudy mahogany color. nice hearty brown head, good retention and rather nice lacing.
S: some clove, banana, and sweet malts are present.
T: I pick up some light smoked meat flavors, but tons of green raisins, clove and some big banana. nice weizenbock flavors, some cocoa as well.
M: medium to full bodied. perfect carbonation level. sweet but not overbearing.
D: very nice brew and great style. not completely true to the style, but very close. very enjoyable and drinkable.
12 oz bottle
Unlike the last bottle age has done this one no favors at all. It has fallen and fallen hard. If you are a fan of medicinal tart beers this might be up your alley. If you like beers the way the brewer intended then drink this one with caution. Hopefully mine was just an aberration; even so I do not see this getting any better with more time.
Aroma / Appearance - Sticky lacing, light brown head, and a deep ruby body were solid and presentable. The aroma suggested some flaws but nothing glaring. A trace of cloying cough syrup battled with chocolate and flat cola for attention. At times it won. At others the original beer did its best to shine through.
Flavor / Palate - The creamy mouthfeel was excellent. Unfortunately the beer had lost the rest of its appeal at some time in the past and was now a shadow of its former self. Flat cola, bitter malts, licorice, and plain cough syrup were a disfunctional mix. The coffee grounds in the finish didn’t help either. Based on what other people have said I think it was either a bad bottle or this beer lost its edge. Either way I could not drink more than half the bottle before having to give up.
12 oz bottle. Pours a dark woody brown with a thin lasting head. Aroma is toasty, sharp caramel notes, phenolics and esters- light fruitiness with some burnt notes, light leather and dog hair, slight apple, pear and unripe green banana. Flavor is toffee, dark crystal malt, burnt caramel, leather, plastic and spicy phenolics, slight yeasitness, and a touch of slickness in the end.
A-Body is a nearly opaque dark brown hue. Pours with a <1 finger foamy light tan head that quickly fades to a thick collar and leaves behind very little lacing in the glass. When held up to the light one can see the murkiness of this brew.
S-Nose is filled with dark fruits such as raisin and plum. A spiciness accents this and balances it out. In the background is phenols...not very strong though.
T-Flavor upfront has a slight tart fruitiness to it as the plum and raisin are highlighted. In the background is spices and bready yeast. The finish is much spicier than the initial flavor and it shows as the other flavors fade. What is left to linger is a slight fruitiness and a lot of spice.
P-Low to medium carbonation and medium weight body. Body is smooth and creamy but slightly obstructed by powdery spice.
O- This is a very good Weizenbock and an awesome extra. I am glad that I tried this and would not mind having it again. Also have Divine Reserve #5 in my fridge that I can’t wait to try!
Serving type: bottle
Reviewed on: 03-13-2009 01:03:34
think age has not done this brew any justice. some choclate and peaty flavors maybe some nut toppin type flavor. wish i had this fresh
Bottled. Cool, crisp, chocolatey and coffee aroma; hard to believe this is a weizenbock. Slightly smoky, peaty, I wager this is closer to what most would consider a scotch ale. Big, smooth body, pretty perfect, with a more estery, yeasty aroma that is more appropriate for the style. Gentle spice, some strawberry, grape. I expect more out of a weizenbock, more personality, more yeast, more dirtiness, but this is still a decent beer.
Bottle from my new friend Blake in Kerrville. Aroma is dark fruit, coffee, raisins, and yeast. Taste is darker malts, dark fruit, caramel, and a little chocolate.
In short: A fun fruity weizen bock chocolate and maraschino cherries notes. Nice brew.
How: Bottle 12oz. Consumed about 15 months after the beer release. Sent to me by CaptainCougar, thanks a lot Tom
The look: Cloudy dark purple body topped by a long-lasting small light-brown head
In long: Nose of a toasted raisin bread. Taste is full of toasted wheat, some dark fruits, some chocolate, some maraschino cherries, ripe bananas, quite a bit of cloves. The leafy spicy hops bring a sharp dry finish with only a mild bitterness. After taste has a light maraschino cherries sweetness/sourness and a thick raisin bread sensation that sucks the mouth dry. While not being really apparent the alcohol is not well hidden either. More chocolaty than what I’m used to in a weizen bock but it works here. I could have done with a little less cloves though and the carbonation could have been a little more relaxed. But overall this is nice take on the style. Number 7, the supposedly lucky number that some mathematicians theorize to be the lowest integer value higher than 6.
Beer pours dark brown with a tan head. Darker than other weizenbocks I have had. The smell is dark fruit with some booziness. The flavor is dark fruit with some spices as well as some darker malts and some smoke. You also get some of the expected banana and clove notes but they are not front and center. The alcohol that is present in the aroma is also present in the flavor. This is a boozy beer. Really different than other beers of this style, but I like it.
Bottle 12fl.oz. @ Chris O’s Night of the Gaylords.
Unclear medium to dark brown color with a small, fizzy, fair lacing, fully diminishing, off-white head. Aroma is moderate malty, roasted, caramel, chocolate, raisin and prune notes, light alcohol. Flavor is moderate to heavy sweet and bitter with a average to long duration. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft. [20091229]
Bottled. Poured hazy deeper brown with a fine cap of tan head. The aroma picked up dry-roasted and smoky chocolates with banana and cloves accenting.. deeper almost pruney notes showed with warmth.. toasty and kind of sweet overall. The flavor found tart, almost sour chocolate and coffee at the core.. darker fruits and some banana around.. toffee and caramel joined the tart darker malts and a hit of clove on the finish. Medium-bodied with low carbonation on the palate.. the tartness didn’t work all that well.. residual sugars at the finish masked the boozage. OK, but not great.
( 12oz bottle thanks to bhops aka travis) Pours clear dark brown with nice ring of bubbles on top and nice lacing. Nose of extremely ripe bananas, sweet chocolate, light caramel and alcohol. Taste of rotten banana, chocolate roastiness, and raisins. Finish is really quite nice, thick, well carbonated, and creamy but maybe slightly watery. There seem to be some off flavors I can’t quite put my finger on here too.
Also thanks to ericandersnavy for the background of this picture.
Very dark brown in the glass with a thin tan head. Fruity aromas are present on the nose. The palate is really interesting. Flavors start out with very clear fruit notes which then fade into a chocolate, roasted malt finish. There has been an interesting progression in the flavors of this beer from when it was first released until now.
A Mes rate. Bottle at Chris O’s Night of the Gaylords.
Amber brown topped with a thin beige film. Lots of fruity malt and caramel. Rather syrupy all round. Strange oaty breakfast cereal note about it. Not aging well to be honest, this bottle was quite oxidised and starting to get some cardboard sneaking in.
Bottle at Chriso Gaylord tasting 09. Thanks to Reakt for this one, cheers Ang. Deep chestnut colour. Syrupy sweet. It’s like a syrupy ESB. Empty on finish. Tastes a bit aged. It’s not great
Bottled@Chriso Gaylord Tasting. Deep amber colour, small head. Aroma is wheat, alcohol, dry fruits and some slight notes of alcohol as well. Flavour is wheat, plum, mild acidic notes as well as some chocolate and mild alcoholic notes as well.
courtesy of lowgear
pours dark ruby/brown off-white head
aroma is malty, getting a lot of dark fruits/berries; currants, raisins
flavor, lots of dark fruits, brown sugar, malty, hints of chocolate. Palate was sweet and fruity.
The whole beer starts strong but seems to fall short, making it a roller coaster of a try. At times, very enjoyable flavors coming out nicely and then it mellows out.
Easy sipper, couldn’t really tell it was a 8.4% abv.
Thanks to Bhops for another new beer experience. Alcohol figures prominently in the nose followed by some sweet fruity notes. Alcohol is way forward in the taste here with some bitter roasted flavors quickly covered by a distinct banana flavors. The alcohol never goes away and the palate is a bit rough and thin for that. I’m not quite sure what to make of this beer, but, at this stage in its life I’m not sure it would be invited back to the party. There are enough different things happening here that there might be some potential: maybe in a couple of years? I’ll probably never know.
12 oz bottle-Trade w/blutt59-Mahogany pour w/a slight head. Sweet malt aroma. Flavors of candied sugar, dark fruit, bananas, & a little chocolate. Solid Weizen, smooth & easy to drink, alcohol was well hidden, did really perk up as it warmed. Long sweet finish, thanks Bob!
Served from a 12 oz bottle courtesy of a bonus from JW77. The appearance is a chocolate brown toned cider. There is a small medium brown head. The aromas are heavy with the caramel malts and faint hints of chocolate. The flavors are more of the caramel malts with a strong addition of candy sugar, and hints of bakers chocolate. The palate is very flat. A decent beer perhaps a little gone.
bottle. murky brown. nose of spiced alcohol-coated soil and unsweetened cookie crumbles. dusty, earthy, mildly metallic, small amount of oxidation. some semblance of dog food and cracklin’ oat bran cereal. thick, chewy, viscous approach, but turns acidic and metallic across the middle, obviously suffering from oxidation and some sort of infection (cap taint?) that gives it the distinct flavor and texture of isovaleric acid. finishes with a sweetened chestnut character. passable.
bottle: pours very very dark brown near black but some highlights show up when help to the light. thick off white head that just sits flat and stays. very nice aroma good estery and phenolic yeast. that is slight spice and a little banana, some sweeter malts blend in and a very very small chocolate note. Flavor is a bit odd for style nothing is really blending well together for some reason. Plenty of spiciness that is oddly paired with chocolatey malts. not much of the banana comes through that was in the nose. not a bad beer, and can be drank but the flavors do not seem to go together in this and dont play well with each other. would like to see what this does with even more time, but not sure if it will meld.
Very dark brown liquid with ruby highlights. One-finger coffee colored head with good retention and decent lacing. Pretty nice looking brew.
Big chocolate malts in the nose. Hints of bananas mixed with dark fruits. Caramel mixing with roasted coffee beans. Wheat and toasted nuts. Hints of mild clove presence.
Big, dark roasted chocolate malts come out first. A touch of caramel/brown sugar sweetness. Subtle dark fruit notes mix with hints of bananas and cloves. Touch of coffee flavor mingling within the big wheat profile. Finishes with a light alcohol warmth.
Feels creamy smooth, like liquid velvet. This is how I like my beers to feel. Yet, it somehow retains a sharpness each time it hits your tongue. This is not so welcome. Without this sharpness, this would probably score close to perfect, for mouthfeel.
Overall, this is an excellent brew. Made for drinking repeated bottles. The 7.5% ABV is fairly well-hidden, just a slight warming sensation, on the finish. I like this.