Arrogant Bastard Ale

This beer sucks in a really really good way. I enjoyed drinking this pint of malty goodness despite its lousy attitude. I would punch this beer in the face if it weren’t so damned tasty.

Big bottle drunk form a trappist glass. Served at a comfortable drinking temperature. Nice, lasting off-white head over a mahogany coloured body, with only a slight haze. Aroma of dry malts and dark fruits. Complex taste profile that starts malty and develops into a blend of berries and pine hoppiness. Bitter ending with hints of yeast. In-depth palate and soft natural carbonated. An hour of joy at Bar & Cigar in Oslo (28.04.2009).

I had it for the first time recently and it was amazing. Definitly one of my top 5 favorite beers.

A dark amber ale, smell is overpowered by hops, with a hint of malts. the darkness and heaviness of the beer suggest a lot of maltiness, however i did not taste them... the hops overpowered the beer. If you like IPA’s you will like this beer

22 oz bottle. Chestnut brown color with beige head. Head thins out evenly after a few minutes. Aroma is citrus hoppiness with yeasty pizza dough. Taste is a combination of coffee, toast, and hop bitterness. Medium palate.

1 pint 6oz bottle. Pours a dark brown/amber with a lot of thick, foamy head that holds shaping. Thick, medium body, creamy. Fairly bitter, smoky caramel flavor, strong pine/grasy hop flavor. Aroma is about the same. Finish is bitter. After having a pint on tap at Fox & Hound I thought this beer had a much better flavor, the bitterness is more appealing, body was a bit lighter. Better enough so that I had a second!

Nice ale, pours a beautiful dark amber red color with a thick head. Head lasts (almost) too long, giving you time to admire it. Excellent aroma of hops, grapefruit, oregano & and a pinch of cocoa. The first sip hooks me with a very quick sweetness, followed by hops, fresh hay and grapefruit. The end is long, with just enough hops to keep me satisfied & wanting more. A medium feel, it is very crisp and straight forward, it is what it is & doesn’t try to push for more. A very good beer, made for sitting back and enjoying.

I’m no arrogant bastard, but apparently that is one of the required personality traits one needs to even try to be worthy of the enjoyment of this particular offering from Stone Brewing. Of course, I am referring to the Arrogant Bastard Ale.

My Arrogant Bastard Ale poured rustic amber with copper hues, rather befitting an evening outdoors watching the burning crimson orb shrink below the towering mountains. A head peaks nicely with a mix of big and small bubbles striving for attention. Swift swirls inspire scattered lace along with a short-lived revival of her puffy head. Rising with the night mists is an embracing presence of sweet fruits, caramel and toffee, roasted malts and warm bread, grass, orange, peaches, and grapefruit. Carried away in a delirious fog of sensory delights, I savor our first quaff as I clutch her bounty close. Arrogant Bastard is definitely hop-forward, soaking my tastebuds in dry grass, hay, and bitter-sweet grapefruit esters. Faintly sweet and pleasantly sticky, my mouth waters after each hoppy quaff now overflowing with multiple varieties of ripe grapefruit. As she warms, pine needs and sap tingle on top of my tongue which, despite her rather sticky nature, is enjoying a growing sense of dryness. Offering silent support from the background is a quiet strength of toasted malts and rich whole-grain breads that are laced with faint notes of honey and orange. Arrogant Bastard that she is, our time is over when she decides and well, I guess her decision has been made considering my glass is empty. All that remains are vivid memories of fresh grapefruit, sweet pine, sticky sap, and dry grass balanced perfectly with toasty malts and honey.

A small part of me feels a twinge of guilt every time I say Arrogant Bastard Ale, but I swiftly squash that little voice with a flare of indifference. We all have our inner arrogant bastard which must be embraced from time to time. The brewers at Stone Brewing may embrace theirs at all times, but if such delicious works of brewing are the result, I really can’t complain.