Saint Arnold Divine Reserve #12
February 28th, 2013 by Scott in Other Beer Reviews
Back in July, Saint Arnold’s Divine Reserve #12 came out and I picked up a six pack. Divine Reserve #12 is an old ale David Rogers, a homebrewer, entered into the 16th annual Big Batch Brew Bash and won the contest. Saint Arnold then used the recipe to brew its 12th entry in the Divine Reserve series.
This video interviews Aaron, one of the brewers at Saint Arnold, about the beer:
When I bought this six pack I took notes on a fresh bottle; here they are for reference:
Reddish-orange in color with a very small head, but many streams of carbonation running up the sides of the glass. Scents of fruit, a little spice, some alcohol. Similar taste, surprisingly light taste for the Divine Reserve series. Not much of a finish in the beer, just a little spice on the back end. Saint Arnold says that this one should get better with age and suggests aging it up to five years.
Honestly, I wasn’t that thrilled with the fresh #12. Here we are about seven months later and the spices have faded a bit. It has a very strong apricot scent now. It’s still a fairly light taste but a little more wine-like. The alcohol is still present; not surprising for 10% ABV. I’m enjoying the beer more with some age on it as it seems a little more complex than it did when it was fresh.
We should be seeing Divine Reserve #13 soon as this was posted on Twitter. Stephen also works at Saint Arnold.
Today is a cool day @saintarnold. Moving #BB3 into stainless and packaging #DR13 http://t.co/uazu4ve9hT
— Stephen Rawlings (@stephenrawlings) February 25, 2013
Divine Reserve is always one of those releases I look forward to because every one is different and quite good. I hear the release date for #13 is March 19 and it’s a Quadrupel; all I know is I’m interested in trying it! The hashtag #DR13 on Twitter should be a good way to keep track of information on Divine Reserve 13 as it’s being released.