Saint Arnold Brewing

Saint Arnold Bitter Belgian

Quick note from Saint Arnold regarding their new Bitter Belgian release:

The last release currently planned in our Moveable Yeast series is the Bitter Belgian – Elissa IPA fermented with a Belgian yeast strain as opposed to our house Saint Arnold Continue Reading →

Saint Arnold Santo, October 20th

(Houston, TX) — Saint Arnold Brewing Company (www.saintarnold.com), the oldest craft brewery in Texas, today announced its newest year-round beer, Santo, will be released on October 20, 2011. Originally planned for September, the release of Santo was delayed after the initial batch was Continue Reading →

You Decide: Santo X or Santo Y?

The brewing process is finicky and sometimes it just doesn’t work out.  Just ask St. Arnold Brewing Company who just dumped 11,000 gallons of Santo down the drain because it was not up to their standards.  Many wanted to grab a bucket and Continue Reading →

Posted in Saint Arnold Brewing

Saint Arnold Bitter Belgian

Saint Arnold Bitter BelgianQuick note from Saint Arnold regarding their new Bitter Belgian release:

The last release currently planned in our Moveable Yeast series is the Bitter Belgian – Elissa IPA fermented with a Belgian yeast strain as opposed to our house Saint Arnold ale yeast. The result is a much fruitier beer with a variety of interesting notes that work quite well with all the Cascade hops used to brew Elissa.

 Bitter Belgian will be available on draft only. Although it is being released on February 9, it will only be sporadically available on that date. Many pubs and restaurants will be putting it on over following couple of weeks. In addition, some accounts will wait to tap their kegs until they have another special event planned.

There is a very limited amount of this beer available. While most of it will be sold in the greater Houston area, some is being shipped to our other Texas markets as well as Louisiana.

When possible, we really recommend enjoying Bitter Belgian next to an Elissa IPA so you can see just how large an effect yeast can have on the flavor of beer. We will have Bitter Belgian on our weekday tours starting February 9 but it will not be available on our Saturday tours.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Saint Arnold Brewing, Seasonal Return

Saint Arnold Winter Returns, Malts A Bit Different

Saint Arnold’s Winter Stout is back on shelves as of today.  First brewed in 1996.  This years edition was changed just slightly – as the brewer struggled to get a particular malt called Special B.  This years batch is 1/2 Crystal Dark, & 1/2 Special B.

A creamy, full bodied sweet stout with a subtle chocolate and coffee flavors and a well balanced soft roastiness. Saint Arnold Winter Stout is loosely filtered to preserve a rich mouthfeel which is particularly satisfying during the colder months.

Style: American Stout
Taste Expectations: Creamy flavor. With notes of chocolate & roasty coffee.  This years release might taste a little different. (In a good way of course.)
Availability: 12oz bottles, Draft. Winter Seasonal.

4.5% ABV 

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Press Releases, Saint Arnold Brewing

Saint Arnold Santo, October 20th

(Houston, TX) — Saint Arnold Brewing Company (www.saintarnold.com), the oldest craft brewery in Texas, today announced its newest year-round beer, Santo, will be released on October 20, 2011. Originally planned for September, the release of Santo was delayed after the initial batch was tasted and the brewers felt there was something missing. After modifying the mash temperature and replacing the wheat malt with Munich malt, the brewers believe they have created the light, refreshing yet dark and flavorful beer they were after.

It is the second major new brew to be introduced by Saint Arnold in October, following closely on the heels of Saint Arnold Pumpkinator, which will be released on October 13th.

“When we set out to create Santo, the idea was to create the beer we always wished we would get when we ordered a dark Mexican lager to go with our enchiladas,” said Saint Arnold Founder/Brewer Brock Wagner. “While we were a little embarrassed about announcing that we decided to dump our first batch, we are happy with the decision, especially given the beer that we are ready to release now. Our brewing team has been thoroughly enjoying this new version. We haven’t waited for the release date to tap some for ourselves.”

Santo is a black Kölsch. It is light in body and dark in color. Despite Santo’s dark appearance, the beer maintains other characteristics of a true Kölsch. Saint Arnold uses the same special Kölsch yeast — an ale yeast that ferments at almost lager temperatures — that is used in Saint Arnold Fancy Lawnmower Beer. This contributes to Santo being light bodied and floral even though it has a distinctive dark malt flavor.

Santo is brewed using pale two-row and pils malted barley, a dash of Munich malt and an addition of black malt. Saint Arnold uses Hallertau Hersbrucker hops, added to the brew kettle in four separate cycles to create a delicate flavor and aroma. It has an original gravity of 1.045 (11.4° Plato), bitterness of 17 IBU and alcohol content (by volume) of 4.6 percent.

Santo will be available on tap and in 12-ounce bottles sold in six-packs and cases throughout Texas starting on October 20, 2011.

Santo is the sixth year-round beer from Saint Arnold. It joins Saint Arnold Amber Ale, Saint Arnold Brown Ale, Saint Arnold Elissa IPA, Saint Arnold Fancy Lawnmower Beer and Saint Arnold Weedwacker in the regular lineup.

About Saint Arnold Brewing Company

Saint Arnold Brewing’s ten brews are made and sold by the company’s staff of 37 dedicated employees. The brewery was listed by USA Today as one of the “10 great places to see what’s brewing in beer,” and Smart Meetings magazine named it among the “Top 5 breweries to host an event.” Saint Arnold is located at 2000 Lyons Avenue and its brewery tour and tasting is offered every weekday at 3:00 P.M. and Saturdays starting at 11 A.M. For more information on Saint Arnold’s five year-round and five seasonal beers as well as root beer, log on to www.saintarnold.com.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Saint Arnold Brewing, Seasonal Return, Videos

Pumpkinator Release & St. Arnold’s Most Interesting Man In The World


St. Arnold’s Pumpkinator started out as part of their Divine Reserve Series.  It was so well recieved when it was released back in 2009 that they decided to brew this Imperial Stout/Pumpkin Ale again as a seasonal.  The Imperial Stout base has lots of pumpkin added to it and was dry spiced.  Pumpkinator has been sitting in the tanks since late August until it was just bottled and released today!  People were lined up before 10AM in Houston to get their 4 bottle allotment. Pic via Beer, TX. [Chron]

Check out Brewer Dennis Rhee, St. Arnold’s Most Interesting Man in the World, talking about brewing Pumpkinator:

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by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Beer News, Saint Arnold Brewing

Saint Arnold Sailing Santa Blends Christmas & Hops

Guess when this one might be released.  Saint Arnold Brewing’s (Houston, TX) Sailing Santa is a blend of Elissa IPA & Christmas Ale.

About Elissa:
A traditional India Pale Ale, the Elissa IPA is very hoppy with a properly balanced malty body. Elissa has huge hop additions in the kettle that give it a wonderful bitterness and is then dry-hopped in the fermenter to create the pleasant floral, hoppy nose. Our reverse osmosis water makes the bitter very soft with no harsh notes to it. The maltiness is derived from British Maris Otter malt. Its rich flavor stands up to the hops that would otherwise dominate this beer. The Elissa is an authentic version of an India Pale Ale (IPA) style.

 About Christmas Ale:
A rich, hearty ale perfect for the holiday season with a malty sweetness and spicy hop character. The generous use of five different malts is responsible for the full flavor and high alcohol level of this beer Saint Arnold Christmas Ale is best consumed at 45° F.

Style: Winter Warmer/ Strong Ale?

Availability: 22oz bombers

Arrival: TBD

?? ABV

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Beer News, Saint Arnold Brewing

You Decide: Santo X or Santo Y?

The brewing process is finicky and sometimes it just doesn’t work out.  Just ask St. Arnold Brewing Company who just dumped 11,000 gallons of Santo down the drain because it was not up to their standards.  Many wanted to grab a bucket and go take it off of their hands, but instead of letting you do that, St. Arnold has proposed an alternative.

Head down to their tour on Monday night from 6pm — 8pm and you will get to sample two freshly brewed editions of Santo: X&Y.  You will receive a ballot to vote and help select the winner!

The difference?  St. Arnold brewed a new batch and split it in to two tanks.  They then pitched it with two different yeasts.  They’re happy with the results, but want your input to decide which is better.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Beer News, Saint Arnold Brewing

Saint Arnold Divine Reserve ’11 Promoted

Saint Arnold Brewing recently mentioned that it has secured enough simcoe hops to make Divine Reserve ’11 year round in 2012.

Divine Reserve ’11 is an imperial IPA that was released in March of this year and quickly sold out.  It was limited to draft & 4,700 cases.  The beer will renamed with it’s new promotion.

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.

8.9% ABV

by Reid Ramsay