Double Bastard Ale

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

Taste 2/9 Bottle. Looks: Deep caramel body with a nice full foam. Aroma: Nice citrus a heavy malt. Taste: Very strong malt and floral/citrus hops. Full bodied. Too sweet, maybe toast more of the malt.

Bottle. Hazy orange/copper color. Small whitish head. Aroma is sweet and hoppy. Citrus hops and honey to be exact. Flavor is sweet but not sickly so. Some notes of honey, caramel and great malt backbone. Then the hops come into play. NIce citrus hops balance this beer beautifully. Very nice.

750ml Bottle. Pours a bright and deep golden hazy ale with a huge white head which lasts the duration. A thick syrupy palate, very sweet and strong with huge hop smell and taste and bite. Very heavy and great with some spicy nachos and chili. This beer will kick you in the butt

2004 Release!!! A- Pours a murky dark amber hue with a watery off-white head, lacing is excellent throughout S- Rich, strong hops, tones of pine and citrus, considerable alcohol presence T- What can I say other than Amazing! I like Double Bastard, and this is the longest aged bottle I have ever had. Initial taste is dominated by piney/citrus hops followed by cherry and honey sweetness. Aftertaste is a brief hoppy bitterness balanced by sweet malts. Alcohol is fairly evident, but not entirely overwhelming. M- Full bodied with light carbonation, thick and oily mouthfeel. D- What a treat! Pulled this gem from a co-worker who had to give away his beer due to medical reasons. Didn’t realize it was 2004 until I started drinking it!!! I am a big fan of AB and am more partial to Oaked than Double, but this was great!

2007 bottle. Poured cloudy dark copper with a beige head, no lace. Aroma of big sweet toasted malts, caramel, piney hops. Taste is very malty with big hop bite, a little like an imperial red. Body is sticky. Finish is very bitter. Overall, very enjoyable hoppy brew.

Pours a deep cloudy copper brown with a glowing red hue and a mid sized off-white creamy head. Aroma is very fresh and pungent citrus hops with a lot of grapefruit and pineapple. A solid caramel malt backbone gives the aroma a nice roundness. Flavor starts with a creamy sweet toasted malt character with a little buttery and a slightly tart fruitiness. Gains the powerful bitter edge from the hop resin. Can detect hints of the alcohol. Becomes very floral and spicy in the swallow and finishes with a bite but keeps its nice malt sweetness. Medium to full body and moderate carbonation. Very well balanced and rounded. Nice fresh taste.

Poured a dark brown/copper with a tan/beige head. Aroma was very sweet with notes of toasted malts, and caramel. Palate is medium with strong flavors of toasted malts. A decent amount of hops in the flavor as well. Some alcohol is present. Finish is slightly bitter. Overall very good, but the balance was a little different.

You can’t consider yourself even a well-informed novice until you’ve drank your own birth year in beers, so here goes. 650ml bottle. Deep copper pour with a dirty diminishing beige collar. Specks of lace, ample legs. Plenty of sweaty resinous hops in the aroma, notes of tangerine peel, blackcurrant even raspberry, pollen, toffee malt richness, dab of Marmite, phenolic heady apple, almond, butterscotch,raisiny choc hints and thyme after an hour,loads of alcohol. Quite an integrated, English-like combo of house yeast fruitiness, caramelised malt and floral/citrus hops that reminds me of Fullers, White Shield, Burton Bridge... every now and again a waft of pure hop joy. But it’s not enough. Alcohol and hop astringency in the mouth. Alpha floral and tanging with soapy citrus but overwhelmed by booze, shampoo and quinine. The punch of hops without the promised aromatics. Aftertaste utterly drenched with retronasal alcohol, if no burn. Slick and full but losing its lace and head. Tipping some into Octo’s glass. Delicious smelling ale but the least balanced and enjoyable of my US box, and by the pint+ measure a bit of a struggle.