Double Bastard Ale

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

Bottle: Real sweet and fruity malt aroma. Citrus and caramel. Some grapefruit hops in there, but real sweet grapefruit. Pours a dark reddish-brown with a off-white head that is short lasting. Kind of like a barley wine up front with the malty banana bread flavor and ends with a real nice citrus hop finish. Real thick and syrupy. Alcohol is covered up real well. Has a little warming affect, but not an alcohol taste. Kind of like a barley wine and a IIPA in one. I like this much better than the regular AB (by 1.2 points to be exact). This is great!!! The more you drink the more the barley wine characteristics increase as the IIPA finish characteristics decrease. Okay, I take the back. The flavors have a way of just flowing as they please. One minute it’s the barley wine flavors taking over, the next it’s the IIPA flavors jumping in.

This is a great big brotha beer of the Arrogan Bastard. This 100+ IBU beer is heavilty malty and excellently balanced. Fruity (dates, raisins) in taste and finishes with a mild to medium bitter hops bite. Get this in the 3L bottle. That’s the best way to drink it.

2006 bomber. Almost opaque ruby brown color, lasting khaki head. Strong aroma that I could smell from a yard away of wheat, brown sugar, strawberry, lots of stuff -- insert aroma here, this beer probably had it. Bracing bitterness the whole way through but also extremely smooth and drinkable. Starts sweet before the "punishing" (sorry Stone, it ain’t that bad) attack on the palate. Taste of berries, brown sugar, creamy mouthfeel. Awesome beer!

Poured out of a 220z 2004 vintage bottle into a double bastard glass purchased from the brewery. Pours out amber with a creamy 1/4 finger head that is off-white and dissipating. Smell is of grass, pepper, yogurt, lemon, and brown sugar. taste is of sugar, pepper, caramel, and rose hips. Bitter astringent metallic finish. Excellent mouthfeel with lively carbonation that tickles the tongue and lasts after that taste for some time. Light lacing was present throughout the tasting. Overall one of the better American Strong Ales I’ve had.

Bottle. Deep copper, brown, with a thick tan head. Despite the slight head cold, the hops are impressive. The aroma is fruit, flowers and pine. There must be five types of hops in this beer.

While there is a bitterness there, it’s not as scary as the label would make it out to be. In fact, this beer is rather sweet and heavy, which cuts the bitterness. What comes through is the alcohol. The only points lost are for the alcohol in the aroma and flavor. I’d think this fits more as an Imperial IPA. But, what do I know.

This is the best beer I’ve ever had. Let me qualify that: I’ve just started trying craft beers, but of the ten or so I’ve tried so far- Yes, a pretty small amount, but so what- This was truly an eye opener. I never had a beer that tasted as complex as the 10% alcohol Double Bastard, and it almost tasted like hard liquor to me, a brandy or close to it. I can’t quite describe all the flavors this brew boasted, and while it seemd like a ’big beer’ to me, I certainlyt noticed the alcohol, a warm fuzzy feeling almost after the first taste, anmd then heavy malt, many other flavors, but mostly a nice alkie heat. I’ll let y’all know more as my taste buds develop. I assume that’ll happen from some of the posts y’all leave, but now I can’t tell whether I’m tasting big old blackberries, or toasted somethings. I know I like it alot and that I’m about to stop drinking Baltica as my go to. This is certainly more expensive, but at 10% alkie, it translates pretty closely to the brews I’m used to. Thanks a bunch for putting me on to this kind of brew. I wouldn’t’a known about it unless y’all pointed me in the right direction. An’ I’m pretty trashed right about now. Much obliged.

Pours an amber color with a medium tan head. The aroma is very strong of fruits, caramel, hops, and a little alcohol but not overpowering. The aroma alone was enough for me to just dive in right away. Very strong hoppy flavor, just how I like it. Leaves a hoppy flavor with some alcohol warming on the finish. Very delicious brew. Drink this only if you like a very hoppy brew, otherwise don’t even bother.

Lots of malt. Lots of hops. Lots of alcohol. This is a great American Strong Ale, and what I like to call a hop coctail. Pours to a deep amber to red color with a white head that fades, and a moderate amount of carbonation. The nose is excellent with lots of good piney and citrus hop aroma paired with some estery fruit. The palate is firm with good sweet and caramel malt flavor, and a nice back drop of estery fruit. Double Bastard finishes with good malt and fruit notes up front, the ends with some good piney hop bitterness, and a soothing alcohol bite. Really nice before or after dinner drink, and makes for a great sipping brew.