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  [ Read More ]

When entering the Saint Arnold brewery, an icon of Saint Arnold of Metz hangs on the wall just inside the door. This painting is the inspiration for the new Saint Arnold series called Icon. This series is a quarterly release that won’t be limited to a single batch or limited release. Instead, it’s intended to be easy to find for the quarter that it’s available. The picture on the label is similar to the painting hanging in the brewery, but  [ Read More ]

You may have been expecting the next installment of my visit to The Avenue in New Orleans, but I’ll get back to that soon. On Saturday I visited Saint Arnold Brewing Company for my birthday; it’s just north of downtown Houston and is located at 2000 Lyons Ave. Saint Arnold hosts tours every day except Sunday. On weekdays they open at 3:00 pm until about 4:15 pm, but on Saturdays they are open from 11:00 am until 2:00 pm. During  [ Read More ]

It’s that time of year in America where we honor those who gave their lives serving this country in the Armed Forces. On this Memorial Day let’s take a look at the latest release from Saint Arnold, Homefront IPA. This beer’s story starts with Chris Ray; you might know him as a pitcher for the Seattle Mariners. He’s also a homebrewer. Chris came up with the Homefront IPA recipe and brought it to Matt Lincecum, owner of Fremont Brewing Company  [ Read More ]

For the second time in about four months, Saint Arnold has re-released one of their single batch Divine Reserve beers. Last October for Halloween I reviewed Pumpkinator, the re-release of Divine Reserve #9 that Saint Arnold will now put out seasonally in the fall. Now I’m reviewing Endeavour, Saint Arnold’s newest year-round beer. It’s a re-release of Divine Reserve #11, a double IPA (or IPA² as Saint Arnold calls it on the label) that Lindsay, Jackie and I reviewed last year.  [ Read More ]

Ahoy sailors! “We’re kicking off our fun old fashion family Christmas by heading out into the country in the old front-wheel drive sleigh to embrace the frosty majesty of the winter landscape and select that most important of Christmas symbols.” – Clark Griswold Okay, so maybe we aren’t going to go out into the country and cut down a Christmas tree; our artificial tree is already up and decorated. We will, however, embrace another wonderful Christmas tradition: holiday beers! Saint  [ Read More ]

Happy Halloween! To celebrate, I’m reviewing Saint Arnold’s re-release of Divine Reserve #9 (and setting my ringtone to Grim Grinning Ghosts, of course). I last drank this Imperial Pumpkin Stout about 5 months ago; the original bottle of Divine Reserve #9 had been aged 19 months. Now it’s been about two years since this one hit the shelves for a very brief time, and Saint Arnold has blessed us with a single batch of Pumpkinator for Halloween and the holidays. Since I  [ Read More ]

This article started as a review of Weedwacker; however, Weedwacker and Fancy Lawnmower share the same formula except for the yeast used. Having not tasted Lawnmower either, this has turned into a double-fisted review; Lawnmower in one hand and Weedwacker in the other. Let’s start with Fancy Lawnmower, a Kölsch-style beer. It’s golden, crystal clear, and a bit sweet and malty. Overall, it’s a pleasant beer to drink but nothing extraordinary. I’m also drinking Weedwacker. This beer is the first  [ Read More ]

Check out the photo from my new photography studio! It may or may not be made from a cardboard box, tissue paper, masking tape, and poster board. But that’s not why you’re here… on with the beer! I previously reviewed Divine Reserve #9 by Saint Arnold about 12 months after its release; it was still delicious and perhaps even better than it tasted when first released. Here we are now about 19 months after it had been bottled and it’s  [ Read More ]

It’s almost unfair to drink this after drinking Divine Reserve #11. As Saint Arnold’s normal IPA it’s pretty good, but the comparisons to Divine Reserve #11 are inevitable. It’s much more muted than Divine Reserve #11. Heck, it’s more muted than Lagunitas IPA and Abita Jockamo IPA too. That being said, this beer is extremely smooth, especially for an IPA; this style usually attacks your tongue with hop flavors. I don’t dislike Elissa, but it’s not my favorite IPA either.  [ Read More ]