Arrogant Bastard Ale

Brewed by Stone Brewing Co.
Style: American Strong Ale
Escondido, California USA

Sampled 50-60 deg F in a straight sided pint glass. A very attractive and inviting beer with a dark ruby color and firm creamy head with heavy lacing. Reminiscent of Bigfoot ale: strong caramel malt backbone topped by a ton of hops - just a different kind of hop than Bigfoot. Very piney and resiny. Malts are present, providing a syrupy body with some caramel and toffee presence, but the hops effectively mask most malt taste. A quinine type bitterness, hop flavors are tingly in the mouth, mixing with the syrupy feel in an almost unpleasant way. Maybe I’m not worthy, but I don’t believe this beer is particularly great. Rerate: not sure what was wrong the last time I had this, but this bomber (purcahsed at my local gas station here in FL, rockin!) was a fairly decent, somewhat balanced dark hoppy ale. The malts were mildly chewy, caramelized and sweet. The hops were resiny with a slight citric character. Not overly bitter. More of a balanced finish, Upgrade from the old 3.5

same rusty amber apearance as the oaked with a large creamy tan head on top. viscous pour. sweet fruity caramel and hop aroma. light notes of pear, pine, toffee, and even chocolate. flavors of resiny orange pine hops and bready malt. not as bitter and dry as the oaked but more sweet. full bodied. alcohol is well hidden compared to some ASA’s. finishes with a clean herbal-like aftertaste both of these(bastard, oaked bastard) were excellent, if not my favorites, of the style.

Time to see what this beer is. I drove 4.5 hours round trip for this (and quite a few others). Pours brown / dark amber with nice sized off white head. Aroma is big - lots of piney hops mixed with dark roasted malts - very thick and rich. Body is medium / heavy and slightly oily with light carbonation. Flavor is heavily roasted / burnt caramel malts with a piney / woody hop finish. Everything about the beer is thick. Very enjoyable. Not much changes throughout the drink. Not quite as complex as expected, but what is there is wonderful. I look forward to trying more from this brewery, it is off to a nice start.

2002 I had this one from a cellar and found it to be a good cellaring beer. AB fresh has a somewhat coarse hoppiness that puts many people off. The hops in this one were subdued allowing the malty richness to come to the front. It still poured a deep clear chestnut brown with deep red highlights. Thick head that laced the glass with each sip. Rich complex aromas and a smooth, rich flavor that rememinded me of a better Barleywine. If you found this beer to be a little much, try putting one away to mellow for a year or so.

Bottle: Poured a reddish orange with off white creamy lasting head. The aroma is a mix of hops, malts, and citrus. Taste is awesome, its almost like chewing on hops and caramel malts. I like it and wish I had more!

Bomber. Pours a reddish amber with a lacy off-white head. Aromas of oranges, pine, fruit, malt and yeast. Creamy medium tot full body with light carbonation. The taste starts lightly sweet with toffee, oranges and goes to a lingering bitter piney grapefruit finish.

Bottle (GBBF): Copper with a mild brown head. Suprisingly subtle malt aroma, with big hops dominating. I expected more balance. Flavour however is a combo of sticky sweet caramel malts with a strong citric hoppy finish. Medium-full bodied, and quite tasty.

22 oz. bottle - This beer is aggressive alright. While appaerntly not as hoppy as Stone’s Ruination IPA, this is still more of a hophead’s beer due to the strong hops finish. Initially you’ll be hit with malty sweetness though. The flavor is strong like one might expect on reading the bottle, and very good. Highly recommended.