Arrogant Bastard Ale

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

22 oz bottle-pours a big creamy tan head that laces with red color. Aroma is crisp sweet grapefruit hops, then peach and malt come through. Taste follows. Solid, but not too overpowering. Well balanced. Half way through the caramel starts showing. Good carbonation.

Re-rate: This bottle was aged about a year. The hops have mellowed a bit in the aroma and given way to more complex bready crystal malts. Good sweet caramel flavor blends well with the bitterness. Still no sign of alcohol. I think the aging has made this less "arrogant", but I enjoy it more. Original Rating: This has a fresh citrusy hop aroma with hints of caramel malt. Deep copper with a thick, lacy, cougar-colored head that coats the glass as it diminishes. Starts slightly malty and sweet, almost chocolatey, finishes sort of sticky and astringently bitter, but remains pretty well balanced. Another plus is that you really can't taste the ABV. In my opinion, they used to many bittering hops, and not enough aroma or flavor hops.

This beer rocks. What was I thinking with my previous rating? I rated it fairly high, but was way off with my description... I think. I described the appearance as a cloudy mohogany color. Ummmm, the beer I am currently staring at is as clear and sparkling as the Golden Dome in South Bend, Indiana. Mohogany isn’t a bad description, but ruby is more accurate. The medium-sized head is off-white, creamy and mostly lasting. Excellent lacing too. The aroma is left coast all the way. Malty, mysteriously spicey and very floral. A little buttery too. The flavor is malty and bitter up front... leaning farther toward the left coast’s hops than London’s toasted malts. Not balanced. Not supposed to be. Yeah, sure, there are notes of caramel and toffee on the tongue, but the hops beat the living shit out of them. I’m glad that all dark ales aren’t this massively hopped, but I am rather enjoying this one. The perfect beer for a cold, rainy, November West Virginia night such as this. This beer is full-bodied with lively carbonation. Creamy mouthfeel. Medium length, semi-dry, bitter finish. Notes of buttery toffee at the wee end of the finish. Great Beer! Have one.

clear red-amber colour with a fine creamy, slightly brown-tainted head, nice lacing, strong hop presence with aroma of cream, apricot and flowers, full-bodied with a very creamy mouthfeel, robust bitterness, the finish is dry, malty and very bitter, filling the mouth with tons of hops - very pleasant and not too extreme

(Props to Linc for giving me the chance to try this)A hop bomb. No subtle use of hops to be found here. Very sharp hoppy aroma (grapefruit/pine), with some raisins. The flavour is pretty full on, hops everywhere, quite bitter and very sharp and a bit sickly, particularly as you work your way through it, the amount of hops throws the balance out a bit. Pretty much everything i was expecting, a massive hop bomb. Did i mention it was hoppy? RE-RATE: i like it a little better this time. Toasty raisiny caramelly malts happening, with a huge hit of piney, citric bitterness in the finish, very hoppy. A bit salty, with some boiled vegetables. Certainly is aggressive. (original rating 3.3)

Deep chestnut colour, small yellowish head. USA C-hops, dry cookies, bitter almonds aromas. Hops cake instead of space cake. Sweet cake bottom, and again, over and over, just dried hops. Bit of wood, drenched in hops oil and a bit of molasses, spatted with orange marmalade. Medium bodied, lip-sticking ending. A classic, but since I tasted this as one of my first Westcoast big’unes, better have come up.

Deep amber beer with a small off white head. Sweet malty aroma with a faint caramel note along some hoppy fruityness. Sweet malty flavor with some dry and citric hoppyness. Thanx to Luke for bringing this one to Denmark.

Bottled, many thanks Ian for sharing this. Chestnut with dying head. Unbalanced, bitter beer, pushes a dry hard unsophisticated hop to the fore with no refinement. Sharp, almost medicinal with a bite of alcohol and a touch of bath cleaner. Not a pleasant beer to drink or relax with. Poor side of middlling.