Brewery At Lake Tahoe Bad Ass Ale

A reddish brown ale with a thick moka head. In aroma, chocolate and hops. In mouth, a rather grainy nutty malt, bitter chocolate, cold coffee, sustained British hops. Medium bodied. On tap at brewpub, August 21 2009.

Date: July 04, 2009
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewpub
Appearance: clear dark amber, creamy beige head, lots of lace
Aroma: sweet dark malt aroma, earthy hops
Flavor: big sweet malt flavor, caramel and butterscotch sweetness, nice chocolate, well balanced with earthy hops, light bitterness
Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 8/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 12/20
Rating: 3.1/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: *4

Tap at the brewpub. The body was dark brown with some medium orange at the edges. This was topped with a khaki head. The aroma was caramel and apples. The taste was tea with some caramel notes. Decent.

Pours a clear reddish brown with light tan head. Aroma is malty and metallic hops. Initially the flavor was caramel, sweet malt, bread, then it had a dry earthiness, and finished with metallic tasting hoppy bitterness. The body was to thin, but overall not bad.

A great caramel aroma. Can definitely tell this is their signature brew, as it just tastes the best. Some nice hops in the finish and a solid thick flavor throughout. Didn’t know it was 9%.

This stuff was okay, probably the best item they had on their beer list and while in most cases that would be a good thing, this really wasn’t that good of a beer (which tells you alot about the rest of their line-up). An appearance of maple brown, clear with a one-finger white head. Aroma of sweet caramel malts, spicy hops, a bit nutty and some toffee. Mouthfeel was too thin. Flavor was malt with a hull astringent knocking in the background, piney hops, alcohol and little else in the way of complexity. If this was supposed to be some sort of Arrogant Bastard clone, they need some more work.

Draft at the brewpub. Poured a clear amber color. Head was off white and left a bit of lace. Smells predominantly of dried fruits and malty caramel with a whiff of alcohol. Delicate alcohol comes out again in the flavor along with some toasted bread and nuts. Decent beer, but not exactly "bad ass".

After all the hype about this beer (at the restaurant) I really wasn’t very impressed by it. Had a decent amount of malt, and a decent amount of hops... but the alcohol sure was overwhelming the rest of the flavor. Nothing special.