Arrogant Bastard Ale

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

Nice dense light beige head which lasts for a while. Very interesting aroma. Very fruity hops with hints of sweet grapefruit. I like it. Color is a dark ruby brown. Good $hit. Flavor is excellent. Perfectly balanced. Good malt backbone with a generous helping of hops. Citrus fruit present with a little bit of roasted grains. Finish is pretty bitter but not too much. More grapefruit and a nice alcohol warming. A top quality beer and one that will find a permanent home in my fridge. Bonus points for the great bottle and description. Worth buying just for that.

It pours with a dense head, leaving good lacework, has a deep mahogny color, with hop and nutty barley-malt aroma, follows through a little malt accented, with a robust balance of hop bitterness in the palate with an agrissive bitter hops finish.

OK, I am typing this as I try this beer, so here we go. Aroma is God F*****G awful. Smells like rotted fruit rinds and cheap perfume. I cannot stress this enough. First sip: Initial thought "So, this is what badly fermented orange juice tastes like." Second sip: Ok, a little more mellow. OK, burnt orange taste, VERY bitter acrid aftertaste. 3rd sip: Am I rating something that is an overall 4.03? Did the fine folks at SBC accidently bottle dishwater in the bottle? 4th sip: Ok, the aftertatse from the first 3 sips is killing me. I wonder how many people buy this shit more than once? 5th sip: No more. As I finished this beer, it got a little better, but was still not plesant. Everything about this beer is overproduced. It is too sweet, too hopy, too freakn’ fruity. This is officaly the most overrated beer on this website. Period. A valuable lesson can be learned from this beer: a cute name does not a good beer make. If Budweiser released this very same beer with a name like "Bud Strong Ale" then most people would rate it around a 0.8 and complain about it. But, a micro with a cute name=masterpiece. Once again,a cute name does not make for a good beer. 02/25/05 Re Rate-I am trying this beer once again because my beer palate has developed more. Just some quick notes: bitter, hoppy, very flavor full. Much better the second time around. I will be raising my 1.9 original rating.

Pours a nice dark reddish amber color. Aromas of HOPS, and some other hints, maybe fruit, maybe coffee. Flavor is a bittersweet, malty, and hoppy as hell. God I love this beer.

Had this at a beer tasting. Stone doesn't sell in Illinois (arrogant bastards!) but someone brought a bottle. Not enough to make an in depth assessment but from the two ounces I had it was a treat. Ruby red with tan head. Scent of caramel and raisins and a rich, fruity flavor. Wish I had more to taste. March 31, 2004: Had this as part of an intense tasting with family. Tasted Stone Arrogant Bastard, Ruination IPA, Smoked Porter, Imperial Stout, and finished off with 3Floyds Dark Lord. Arrogant Bastard was an awesome start. All I said above holds and more so as I had ample amount to taste. This is excellent, from the bottle blurb through the pouring and the aroma and the flavor. Awesome.

Bottle. Poured a deep red-brown and clear. Tannish head that fades moderately quickly to a ring/layer and leaves great lacing. Malty aroma with a bit of raisin and chocolate. Moderately malty for just a brief instance and then a long hop bitterness. Well balanced, just on the bitter side of things without being overtly a hop bomb. Medium bodied, a bit thinnish with mouthfeel. A decent beer but after re-rating this clocks in a bit lower than my original rating.

650ml bottle. Slightly hazy amber body with a fine tan head. Aroma is citric, grapefruit, pine and some caramel. Flavor is slightly sweet malt delicately balanced with a fair amount of fruity hops. Its refreshing, its tasty, its nice – love it.

Man, I can get this about anywhere around Nashville, and I have never rated it. Go figure. Well, I bought this bottle at Frugal McDugal. Pours a beautiful deep cherry brown with a thick off white head. Aroma of toasted malt, fruity hops, and a hint of alcohol. Nice medium mouthfeel and carbonation. Hops take center stage, and have some grassy, peppery and piney notes. Malt backbone of dark fruit and caramel. This is the benchmark american strong ale for me. However, this bottle was a little past its prime. Some of the sweetness and fresh hoppiness was gone. Otherwise this is a 4.2 or 4.3. I will get a fresh one and rerate.