Arrogant Bastard Ale

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

Nice brown / reddish tinge with a graying head that’s bubbly and foamy. Aroma is pineapple, mango, melon and grapefruit sprinkled with sugar. Wafts of amaretto, greasy potato chips and bubble gum also surface from time to time. Okay, let’s party. Hops and grapefruit flavors come out swinging. Honey suckle and rose. Damn this is tasty. Hops infusion is a welcomed intrusion. Dry scratchiness, like sandpaper on the palate. More malt presence than Ruination, adding some maple and honey sweetening for a solid malt backbone. Finish is rum raison and rose herbal tea. Yeah! Good f*cking beer. Thanks, tpkenned!

Ruby body with a fairly large head. Aroma is grapefruity and spicy hops galore. Medium bodied. Still the staple for the style, but I can never get into Stone’s house character or well... hop/mallt choice either. While more ’boring’ than the double bastard, I find this less offensive. It’s not bad, but I have really grown to dislike the stone beers.

Excellent beer. I AM worthy. Big bold hops, a some-kind-of-candy aroma. Rerate: seemed a lot more dry than it used to be and somehwat disappointing.

Bottle. Now this is beer. Pours a lovely red-orange-brown with a good off-white head. Aroma of hops and... canned pears? The palate is smooth--the flavor is anything but. Crap loads of hops, start to finish. In the distance behind the hops hide some tasteful fruity notes. Damned good brew, but definitely not for the faint of tongue.

Amber to red in colored with a nice tan head. Smell is strong in hops with some pine and fruit notes coming through. Taste has medium bitterness rounded out by some malts and a little fruit.

Pours amber/copper, beige head. Aroma is malty/roasted and hoppy. Taste had quite a good dose of hops and malts. Slightly under the IPA version with more malts. Fruit notes. Gains in roasted / caramel flavors as it warms up, but keeps a good hoppy finish.

This was my introduction into the wonderful world of great beer! This was also my first Stone brew and my palate will never be the same! You can find this everywhere around here so its a regular pick up for me. Brownish/red color and hopped nicely. Good head and lacing. Excellent aroma of hops and spiced fruit. Alot of malt flava. A slightly thicker syrupy texture. This is one arrogant bastard to a BMC drinker, but for the rest of us, its not so arrogant! Just good!

On tap at the Yard House, Rancho Mirage. Boy oh boy! This was a big, harsh experience. Initially intense and flavoursome like brandy, but once it hits the back of the tongue this gives way to the biggest hoppy hit I’ve yet experienced. The climax has moments of smoothness and then of sweet, cloying, throat-grabbing brashness. Appears to be a quality product, but it’s too much for me.