Friday, August 28, 2009

Saint Arnold Divine Reserve 6

Thinking about the imminent arrival of the newest edition to Saint Arnold's Divine Reserve series made me thirsty. What better way to quench my thirst than to see how a DR was aging. Divine 6 is a barleywine. I've posted on this beer twice before. The original post was on June 12th so yes this beer is slightly over a year old. When I tried it a second time in October of last year it had aged pretty well, but how would it do now? I was eager to find out. As with everything I've cellared I am using my wine fridge keeping it at slightly cool temperatures of 55-60 deg F.
The Beer: As a refresher this one weighs in at 10%. It pours a cloudy chestnut brown with a dense good sized taupe colored head. The nose still shows that those hops are still strong, but there is a rich maltiness with hints of caramel, vanilla, butterscotch, figs, and raisins. The mouthfeel is chewy, hops are still strongly present, but the other malty and dark fruit flavors have become stronger as well. There's an earthyness to the beer along with flavors of caramel, butterscotch, figs, rich vanilla bean, and a complexness that gives this beer an almost bourbon like quality. Its smooth and worth taking the time to sit down with some good cheese, a good book, and sip. If that doesn't make you content I'm not sure what will. Not only has this beer aged wonderfully, it has a lot more time to age. Drink now, drink later, either way you won't be disappointed.

3 comments:

Lee said...

I still have some some DR 5 and DR 6 in my closet! With this godawful hot weather, though, I'll probably let that keep aging until winter. Mostly sticking to pilsners and Shiner Smokehaus for now.

Anonymous said...

I've got a DR #1 that I've kept in my fridge...not sure if it'll be any good, what do you think?

Barleyvine said...

I actually know some folks that have a DR1 still and have heard its aged well. If you have only 1 its a tough call. Personally it was me I would drink it. Its probably still good, but if you wait much later and it might not be. Worst case the beer has already turned and you really haven't lost anything by opening it. Let me know how ut is.