Double Bastard Ale

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

WOW! Great strong ale that makes a distinct impression. Aroma is complex with distinct hop and toffe overtones and a mildly sweet and hoppy after taste. Appearance is deep rich with a strong tawny head and good lacing. Flavor...what words can I use...? rich complex fruity, hickory with a nice hop bite that hides the alcohol very well. Brings remnants of a fine barley wine combined with a well seasoned IPA. Palate was very rich, filling and lasting. Overall this is Stone's best beer! They should consider making this one year round, I know I will be drinking this one again! I can not recommend this one enough!...Double my Bastard!

This could be one of my favorites! An awesome treat. It pours a garnet color with a small off-white head and some lacing. The aroma is citrucy and hoppy with hints of pineapple. The taste is smooth and well-balanced. There are distinct tastes of hops, pineapple, and caramel.

Red in color Small head. Some many different aromas that it is hard to pinpoint what they are. Very powerful beer 3 of the 25 oz. beers could knock you on your ass. Extremely malty and sweet with a very bitter bite. This is one hell of a beer.

Truly Double the Arrogance. Very hoppy to start, then the hop/caramel/citrus tastes settles in, with a clean slightly sweet finish. I would never guess the ABV without checking the bottle. This really knocked my socks off!

This beer will knock your socks off!! It starts strong and finishes strong, lots of,"kick your butt flavor." One of the best I've ever tasted.

2003 edition in the 22oz bomber. The bigger brother to Arrogant Bastard pours a brown color with reddish highlight and a minimal tan head unless poured very aggressively. The head drops quickly to a bubbly ring leaving a nice lacing around the glass. Quite the strong aroma on this one, with plenty of sweet malts, earthy hops, fruits and a touch of alcohol. This one definitely brings a big taste to the plate with a sweet fruity malt upfront that settles into a bitter hop bite. This one has a similar taste to arrogant bastard but upped several notches and a few more complexities are thrown in. A very complex tasting beer indeed, maybe having a 3 liter at one sitting can help unravel some of these complexities. Mouthfeel is amazing, full and creamy with perfect carbonation. Drinkability is perfect, there is only slight alcohol tastes and scents so that never slows the consumption. This is a near perfect beer in my opinion and I look forward to this years release as this was my last bottle. Highly recommended to all except people new to craft beer because this will knock them on their arse.

This was the 2004 edition. Reddish amber, big foamy beige head that ebbed to a half-finger float with lacing all the way down. When you pour this, it explodes in a hazy orange mass which resolves to the big head over clear liquid -- fun to watch. Aroma was lovely, persimmon, raisin, prune, orange, currant, apple butter, sherry, herbs, yeast, malt and alcohol. Taste starts with a blast of floral yet quite bitter hops, then the toasty, earthy, smoky malt comes through. The barley flavor is sweet and grainy, and nearly fruity. I noticed bits of coffee, chocolate, toffee, brown sugar and treacle. The hops were persistent, herbal and lent a bit of juniper. There was a note of oak-casked bourbon even though this wasn’t the oaked iteration. For a 10% ABV ale, the taste of alcohol was notably missing. The finish was clean and fresh, leaving a bit of fruity, almost cherry aftertaste. Mouthfeel was good, although slightly thinner than expected. All in all, another great one from Stone.

This beer introduces itself with a robust aroma of hops that lures you to inhale even deeper to discover the subtle hints of caramel and citrus that linger ever so faintly in the background. It goes on boasting a deep chestnut color, but it lets you know its confidence as its big thick camel colored head rests perfectly upon that solution. After you have been awed by this beers introduction and its strong demeanor you let this fluid into your mouth to experience an explosion of hops. The solution is thick and hoppy. There is a mild sweetness that hides in the background which turns into a mild citrus taste in the aftertaste. This beer warms the throat and then the tummy. The hoppy taste hangs on eventually turning a little nutty as it sits in the throat waiting for you to replenish it with another drink.