Hill Country Beer Club
Divine Reserve Vintage Extravaganza Part 1
April 12, 2019
Santa's House
17:00:00
Remember to bring $8 for the meeting. All beers will be provided.
| Brewer | Beer | Vintage | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Prohibition Brewery | Devil’s Harvest Breakfast IPA | 2019 | 89 |
| Avondale | Vanillaphant Porter Ale with Vaniila | 2019 | 87 |
| Avondale | Spring Street | 2019 | 87 |
| Fairhope Brewery | Causeway IPA | 2019 | 89 |
| Saint Arnold Brewing Company | Divine Reserve #7 | 2008 | 88 |
| Saint Arnold Brewing Company | Divine Reserve #11 | 2011 | 91 |
| Avondale | Miss Fancy’s Tripel | 2019 | 86 |
| Saint Arnold Brewing Company | Divine Reserve #2 | 2006 | 88 |
| Saint Arnold Brewing Company | Divine Reserve #8 | 2009 | 90 |
| Saint Arnold Brewing Company | Divine Reserve #4 | 2006 | 88 |
| Saint Arnold Brewing Company | Divine Reserve #12 | 2012 | 90 |
| Saint Arnold Brewing Company | Divine Reserve #14 | 2014 | 91 |
| Saint Arnold Brewing Company | Divine Reserve #6 | 2008 | 91 |
| Saint Arnold Brewing Company | Divine Reserve #10 | 2010 | 91 |
| Saint Arnold Brewing Company | Divine Reserve #13 | 2013 | 90 |
| Saint Arnold Brewing Company | Divine Reserve #9 | 2009 | 86 |
Who Offered: NOSS, RON, RONRICO
Who Drank: CHEETO, DAVO, FATBOY, LARA, NOSS, PRIMETIME, RONRICO, SANTA, WESTEXANS
Summary
|
89
|
Southern Prohibition BreweryDevil’s Harvest Breakfast IPAIPA | 4.9% ABV | Unknown IBUOffered By: RONRICO |
|
87
|
AvondaleVanillaphant Porter Ale with VaniilaPoter | 6.2% ABV | Unknown IBUOffered By: RON |
|
87
|
AvondaleSpring StreetSaison | 7.2% ABV | Unknown IBUOffered By: RONRICO |
|
89
|
Fairhope BreweryCauseway IPAIPA | 8.2% ABV | Unknown IBUOffered By: RONRICO |
|
88
|
Saint Arnold Brewing CompanyDivine Reserve #7Weizenbock | 8.4% ABV | Unknown IBUOffered By: NOSS |
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.
Member Notes:
"Little watery, can taste the chocolate on the back end." - fatboy
|
91
|
Saint Arnold Brewing CompanyDivine Reserve #11Double IPA | 8.9% ABV | Unknown IBUOffered By: NOSS |
The color is deep amber with a light, creamy head. The nose starts off with a touch of citrus but then turns decidedly into peaches. The taste starts off with creamy malt resulting from the pale 2 row and caramel malts and Saint Arnold yeast. The hop bitter starts low then builds to a crescendo, but always maintains a balance even in its big finish. The hop flavor continues to be peaches, an interesting manifestation of the Columbus, Simcoe and Centennial hops. This is the first Divine Reserve that we have filtered. This decision was made to make the hop flavors brighter, plus it would have been a bottling nightmare with all the hop bits in it. This beer is best enjoyed at 45° or even a little warmer. Though the recipe and style indicate this beer to be enjoyed fresh, we expect this beer to develop interestingly over the years.
|
86
|
AvondaleMiss Fancy’s TripelBelgian-Style Tripel | 9.2% ABV | 20 IBUOffered By: RONRICO |
|
88
|
Saint Arnold Brewing CompanyDivine Reserve #2Abbey American Quadruppel | 9.3% ABV | Unknown IBUOffered By: NOSS |
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.
Member Notes:
"Lost most of the carbonation, aged nicely " - fatboy
|
90
|
Saint Arnold Brewing CompanyDivine Reserve #8Scotch Ale | 9.3% ABV | Unknown IBUOffered By: NOSS |
This is a bold, malty, smoky Scotch Ale. It pours a deep amber brown. It was quite cloudy at the time of bottling, but will clarify as it ages. The nose is full of smoky toffee notes. The taste opens with sweet malt and spice, then the alcohol comes up with a light residual sweetness on the finish. A balanced smoky flavor is in this beer from start to finish, although it never is the dominant character. It was brewed with 2-Row, Biscuit, Dark Crystal, Amber, Peated, Caramunich and Wheat malt. It is hopped early with Hallertau Tradition and late with Hallertau Hersbrucker. We fermented DR8 with a traditional Scotch Ale yeast. It is unfiltered. Enjoy at 45°F or warmer. This beer was inspired by Phillip Kaufman’s winning entry in the 2009 Big Batch Brew Bash.
|
88
|
Saint Arnold Brewing CompanyDivine Reserve #4Wee Heavy | 9.5% ABV | Unknown IBUOffered By: NOSS |
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.
Member Notes:
"Still has a pete Moss falvor " - fatboy
|
90
|
Saint Arnold Brewing CompanyDivine Reserve #12Old Ale | 10% ABV | Unknown IBUOffered By: NOSS |
This beer was inspired by David Rogers’ winning entry in the 2011 Big Batch Brew Bash homebrew competition. The color is orangy amber with a light, creamy head. The nose has rich malt notes and a little alcohol that combines with a spicy hop note to create a complex bouquet. The taste has a spicy, malty beginning that smoothes out into a creamy middle and a warming finish. While this beer is enjoyable now, it is designed to be aged and will shine after a year or more in the bottle. This will allow sherry flavors to develop as the alcohol oxidizes. It is also important to allow this beer to warm up so that all of the flavors emerge and round out the high alcohol level. We did not filter this beer. When pouring we recommend decanting it, carefully pouring the first 10 or 11 ounces without allowing the sediment to enter the glass. If you want, you can pour the bottom of the bottle into a separate glass, but you will discover that the decanted beer is a little brighter in flavor. This beer is best enjoyed at 50°F to 55°F.
|
91
|
Saint Arnold Brewing CompanyDivine Reserve #14Belgian Strong Golden Ale | 10% ABV | Unknown IBUOffered By: NOSS |
The goal of this beer was to make a Belgian/American hybrid using west coast American hops and rye to emulate the fruit and spices often found in Belgian beers. The beer pours a bright golden color. The nose is a mixture of phenolics from the Belgian wit yeast and light citrus from the American hops with a touch of graininess. Rye adds sweetness and complexity to the pilsner and aromatic malts. The spice of the rye is somewhat subdued at lower temperatures but becomes more apparent as the beer warms. Cascade and centennial hops were used for both flavor and aroma, adding floral and citrus notes to play off the strengths of the yeast. Belgian candi sugar was added during fermentation to bump up the alcohol while allowing the beer to avoid finishing too sweet. The dry finish hides the 10% alcohol nicely and makes you want to take another sip. This beer is best enjoyed at 50°F to 55°F.
|
91
|
Saint Arnold Brewing CompanyDivine Reserve #6American Barleywine | 10% ABV | Unknown IBUOffered By: NOSS |
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.
|
91
|
Saint Arnold Brewing CompanyDivine Reserve #10English Barleywine | 11% ABV | Unknown IBUOffered By: NOSS |
Important: let this beer warm to at least 55° before enjoying. With most Divine Reserves, we mention that they should age well. With this one, we are recommending aging it. It should age for 5 to 10 years. This is best done cold. DR10 is a big, strong, spicy barleywine with malt and alcohol dominating and a pleasant hop finish. The aroma has malt and spice from the alcohol. It was brewed with 6 different malts plus brown sugar. Columbus hops were used for bittering and it was finished with US Goldings. It had a very high level of attenuation for this style of beer which is why the aging is so important.
|
90
|
Saint Arnold Brewing CompanyDivine Reserve #13Belgian Quadrupel | 11% ABV | Unknown IBUOffered By: NOSS |
Brewer Stephen Rawlings' Description: For this Quad, the goal was to go as big as possible while still being as drinkable as any other beer you might pull off the shelf. The aroma is distinctly Belgian and has a hint of fruit. As with most Belgian beers, the hops are primarily used for bitterness and provide little to no flavor or aroma. We kept the malt bill relatively simple to allow each malt to come through in its own way without getting all muddled together. The caramel and chocolate malts, in particular, work well together and you can taste each of them in the beer. We also added a large amount of Belgian Extra Dark Candi Syrup during fermentation, which darkened the color, imparted dark fruit-like flavors, and boosted the alcohol. Despite its high strength though, the alcohol only comes out as a warmth on the back end but is not over powering. The aftertaste is slightly sweet but also has a dryness that makes you want more. This beer is best enjoyed at 50°F to 55°F.
|
86
|
Saint Arnold Brewing CompanyDivine Reserve #9Imperial Pumpkin Stout | 11% ABV | Unknown IBUOffered By: NOSS |
Important: let this beer warm to at least 50° before enjoying. This beer is black with some ruby highlights. The nose is full of pumpkin pie spices and some alcohol. There are notes of nutmeg, caraway and vanilla. The taste starts with chocolate malt with a hint of spice and rolls into a warm spicy alcohol taste which has the effect of creating the balance that usually comes from the hop bitter. There is some hop bitter on the finish, but not much. Overall, this beer finishes relatively dry for such a big beer. As it warms, the spices move forward in the taste and the chocolate moves to the finish. The pumpkin provides a pleasant undertone and a nice mouthfeel. The spices will probably fade some over time; they mellowed considerably while still in the fermenter.
Member Notes:
"Held up, still taste like it did 10 years go" - fatboy