Tarnation
Saint Arnold Brewing Company

19.2oz can. Poured out a clear, golden amber color with a small, khaki-colored head of foam. It left sudsy sheets of lace. It smelled of toasted bread, malt, toffee and caramel. Great roasted malt taste with some citrus and a piney bite.

RB transfer

 

 

 

 

Lovely clear reddish-amber color with a small head. Aroma is top notch: very dopplebock-like, with a toasty caramel scent (slightly more hops than typical for a DB), just a pleasure to smell. Taste: not as pleasant as the scent. There's a hotness of the alcohol that gives it an unpleasant edge. Otherwise, good malt flavor, very bready. Bitterness is high enough to offset the sweetness but doesn't add too much hop flavor. Lots of body, appropriate for the strength. Overall: I find it disappointing, because it smells SO SO good, but it lets us down once we drink it.

The marketing copy doesn't quite align with this, but my take is that Tarnation is essentially a Belgian take on malt liquor. Interesting, certainly drinkable and better than most macro gas station swill that you'll find in 19.2oz tallboys, but it still falls into the category of beers with a primary marketing pitch of having a high-ish ABV.

Poured from a 12 oz bottle bought in Texas.

L - Medium amber color with beautiful red hues and crystal clarity. Thick, creamy, light tan head.

S - Aromas are not all that welcoming. A hint of toasted grain, and a whole lot of bitter hops that seem a bit skunked. Maybe I had a badly aged bottle?

T - Flavors are better than the aromas, but still a bit harsh. Strong, woody & herbal hops up front and throughout the palate. Warming malt and alcohol come later in the palate. The sharp herbal hops note lingers after the swallow.

F - Medium body with some mouth-coating sweetness that fades to a fairly dry finish. Creamy, moderate carbonation. Strong hops bitterness that packs a bigger punch than the 53 IBUs that are listed. Warming alcohol.

O - Overall, this is a good strong ale, but not an amazing example. Given the labeling, it seems clearly aimed at competing with Stone's Arrogant Bastard, but this beer lacks the depth and complexity of that one for me.

Appearance: Deep mahogany brown glass holds a thin cover that laces a bit.

Aroma: Mostly a grape skin tannin, malt driven fruitiness. Interesting is what's not there, alcohol.

Taste: Melanoidin malt, decoction mashing, sweet and mellow, rich and silky. Some of the grape notes, some sugar frosting, no hop notes, maybe a slight earthiness. The sweetness is held in check, but it's the star of the show.

Mouthfeel: Medium heavy body, oily texture, medium high carbonation, clean finish.

Overall: I used to live not far from St. Arnold's brewery and got very familiar with their Amber. I'd like to think this was some brewing accident where a brewer accidentally tripled the hops and malt bill on an Amber run. "What in Tarnation have you done!" They've made a pretty awesome American Strong Ale. Do it again!

This beer is 9% ABV and ran me around $11 USD for a sixer at an H-E-B grocer in Texas. I mean hey, why not...

Brown sugar, hints of hop resin (Amarillo), caramel, cardboard, biscuit. Maybe tobacco, maybe bread.

Not great, but there's bang for the buck here. I've had better; I've had worse.

C / AVERAGE

 

Appearance: Hazy medium brown body with a massive, dense and persistent off-white head. Fine streams of small bubbles drift lazily to the surface. Small, sparse patches of fat bubbles cling to the glass wall beneath the surface. Belgian-style lacing adorns the glass wall.

Aroma: Earthy and herbal hops, dark bread, caramel, nuts, wood and sweet alcohol.

Taste: On tasting, there is a brief note of caramel and brown sugar, soon followed by abundant earthy and herbal hops. A warming under current of sweet alcohol soon makes itself known. As the hops fade toward a citric and medicinal note,, the sweet and spicy alcohol ascends, and notes of wood present. The finish closes with earthy and grapefruit hops.

Mouth feel: Full and soft, very pleasant, with slight soft carbonation.

Drinkability/notes: Very, very good, and a bargain at the price of $10.99 a six-pack. This would par well at a holiday dinner.

Presentation: Packaged in a short twelve-ounce brown glass bottle with a pry-off crown, served in a La Fin du Monde tulip.

 

(from written notes, had a few weeks ago)

1pt 3.2oz can with 09/11/23 printed on bottom of can, poured into teku glass.

Appearance - Large tan head and clear medium brown body. Weak to decent lacing. Slight patchy stick. Has faint legs. Decent to good retention. 4.25

Smell - Nutty and woody. Soft sweet malty undertones. Very faint floral notes. Some alcohol noticable. 4.5

Taste - Pretty solid brown ale. Though it's listed as an "American strong ale"... doubt. Alcohol is well hidden but still present under the earthy notes. Tasty. 4.25

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied, if not a bit watery, smooth, boozy and clean thanks to a bit of an astringent finish. 3.5

Overall - Because more like tobacco as it warms. Enjoyable. Probably wouldn't have it again. But it's interesting and well made. Basically a strong brown ale. 3.75

 

Pretty solid beer, taste wise it's dark bread with a little bit of sweetness. If you enjoy dark beers you will probably like this.

 

Appearance - The beer was a handsome copper color with little visible carbonation.

Smell - The nose was composed of dark, bready moles, and a moderate sweetness.

Taste - At the front, there was a strong, bready, mulch presents. It almost drank like a doppelbock. There was just a touch of sweetness to add a sense of balance. The dark bread turned toasty dry at the finish.

Mouthfeel - The carbonation was somewhat light, which made the thinner body a surprise.

Overall - This was a very underrated beer.