Arrogant Bastard Ale

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

Nice copper color with a modest light tan head that clings to the side of the glass as you partake. Orange citrus aroma with a hint of malt. Sharp, somewhat citric, with a touch floral hops bite starts and carries throughout the quaff. After that the malt comes to play and play it does. Smooth caramel, toffee, mocha, and a bit doughy - just outstanding. So few brewers understand the true importance of quality malts and hops. Slightly warming towards the finish. This is one of the few "heavyweight" brews that could be my everyday choice. Unfortunately, I have to send away to get this one on my porch step. Thanks Mr. AB for producing this quality quaff.

Just came home from a satisfying day of work, sitting in the first spring sun, still warm - about 15 degrees Celsius - in the late afternoon. Kids playing in the back gardens, the first tiny green leaves on trees and coming out of the ground, announcing the flowers that will soon arise. The first little bugs crawling over the finally dry floor of my garden. Birds getting excited about the bugs and making love. Then the sound of a beerbottle being opened - pssshh. It pours a beautiful red-brown color with a light brown head leaving very nice lace. Smelling the beer gave me a feeling even beyond the extasy I already felt. A very very beautiful hop perfume with some caramel and raisin. This beer must be yummy! The first sip was so much in contrast with all surrounding me. A very harsh hoppy flavor but yet light sweet. A nice fruitiness, raisin, plum and hell I don't know what - complex. A nice body, full and filling my stomache but not like liquid bread. A medium long lasting finish with much bitterness that almost makes it acidic. You can imagine I had much trouble rating this beer objectively. But even though I tried my best to not like it too much I still did. Thank you mother nature for this afternoon and thank you aceofhearts for this beer.

Deeply emerged in the arrogance, I detect aromas of fruit and hops. A yeasty malt character with nice barleywineish qualities in the finish. Super good but I prefer the double bastard over this one.

Bottled at GBBF, August 2005. I must confess, I didn’t find this as arrogant as I expected. In fact, I thought it was relatively restrained and subtle. No shrinking violet certainly, but not the loudmouthed show-off I’d been expecting. Perhaps I’m just getting more accustomed to these big US beers so they don’t have the shock factor that they once did. The aroma was surprisingly malty, with the fat hops bubbling under. The grapefruit and pine hoppiness built up in the mouth but there was still a solid underlying malt base and hints of caramel. Quite refined and very satisfying.

Tap. Amber brown color with medium head. Complex aroma taht last the whole brew. Flavor is excellent with blend of character and good alcohol bite at finish. Drink one or have first.

Bottle @ Oliver Twist, Stockholm. Pours a clear amber color with a small off-white head. Sweet malty piney hoppy aroma with hints of grapefruit. Mlaty hoppy bitter piney flavor. Sweet malty finish with piney hints anf a long bitter aftertaste.

On tap - David Copperfields NYC. Wow! My first experience of such hoppiness. Greg's comments are fascinating. I can't imagine many (normal)people getting on with this, but we lot are a bit different! Aggressive and arrogant are not the words. The aroma is so very very tart. I noted passion fruit and grapefruit. The colour is a dirty brown, but we shouldn't pay too much credence to that. This beer tastes at first like grapefruit in need of sugar (lots), but you soon start to enjoy the tartness of it. It is hard going as a first experience of this type of beer and I probably cannot do it justice with my English palate. Certainly a sipping type beer rather than guzzling; but a beer that when you finish it, it is with pleasure rather than pain - well worth drinking.

Bottle. Chestnut in colour with a fluffy beige head. Aromas are spices and pine with toffee lurking in the background - also alcohol, obviously. Flavours are initially soft toffee and caramel malts that are soon superceded by dry, woody, yet green pine. Very prickly on the palate with a bitter finish. The very powerful alcohol almost destroys the beers character. Almost.