Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale

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

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

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Aroma is pure hops and barley. Dark copper color, but translucent. Small white head. Thin feel. Low carbonation. A bit too strong and bitter, though I think the oaked version of this beer us a touch smoother than the original. Good flavor, but all the pieces don’t come together here.

Pours a beautiful red brown color. Nice thick head. Carmel and dark fruits on the nose. A rather smooth vanilla flavor up front, with a dry finish. Less hoppiness than I expected. A great beer.

Poured from a bottle, San Diego. A dark, old aroma like a crypt, with a rich fruitiness like plum coming through a wall of piercing hops and blanketing malt oppression. Pours a primordial brown haze with an insolent, creamy head. Beware of staring into the abyss of this beer, for the beer looks back. In its spectral, ancient sea of darkness is a character that stares back into your mortal soul, threatening your sanity and the survival of your immortal soul with the oppression of an eternity of spiritual slavery and madness. The flavor is biting, hostile really, with a depth of character (wood and something hearty and sweet in the front, with hops & bitterness in the back) that challenges your strength and courage. The bitterness, outstanding in its perfect construction, taunts you ceaselessly. The otherworldly hops work their way into your mind like an aggressive parasitic infection, controlling its host like toxoplasmosis in the hapless rodent, leading it to its end. While your soul is in jeopardy under the shadow of this ancient and bestial assault, the afternotes gently caress you and numb you like morphine for the spirit, comforting you like a warm blanket, inuring you to the death pangs as your soul faces damnation, your spirit enslaved alone in the face of cruel, uncaring, dark eons, madness swirling in your being, taking hold of your consciousness in an oppressive vice grip, slowly drowning you in a whirlpool of madness, STOP! DO NOT DRINK, I TELL YOU! THE BEER IS DAMNATION! One of the most delicious ’extreme’ beers I have tasted, and really quite drinkable. This beer has a lot of character, more than any other Stone I’ve drank, and is FAR more than an IBU/hops experiment!

Pours a slightly hazy and absolutely beautiful dark copper to red body with a dense, eggnog coloured head that reduces to a very thin layer, lots of foam is left on the glass. The aroma is strong, very sweet, complex and inviting. I get lightly toasted notes, dark caramel and sweet ripe fruits (actually not dried fruits, as I was expecting). In the back there is some chocolate and wood. I can’t say I recognise any oaky components or vanilla, all I get is pure wood. Lovely! The taste is moderate to light sweet and the moderate to heavy bitter finish is long-lasting. Strong, complex and delicious flavours. I get lovely hoppy notes with citrus (grapefruit) combined with sweet dark dried fruits, dark caramel, wood (again without any obvious vanilla), lightly toasted notes and chocolate in the back. Perfect mouthfeel with a full body, oily texture and moderate carbonation. A lovely beer with beautiful bottle decoration (but hey, cadmium in the bottle art paint? Really? Cadmium? As in the extremely toxic metal? Stone, you arrogant bastards! Ok, you asked for it, I’ll downgrade the Appearance rating from 5 to 4).
[35.5 cl bottle, from Vinmonopolet Vika, Oslo]

Awesome brew! Much better than regular arrogant bastard, on tap at Stone brewery in San Diego

Bottle 0.355l at Pikkulintu, Helsinki. Colour is dark copper with small white head. Aromas and flavours: Sweetness, vanilla, wood, hints of smoke/tar and roasted malts. Very good.

Pour is dark amber brown with a thin off white head that disappears quickly. Nose is sweet malt with hints of caramel and toffee with subtle hop. First flavor is big vanilla from the oak bit is quickly followed by strong hop bitterness in the back of the tongue. Second taste is less vanilla and more well combined. Mouthfeel is medium. Overall pretty good ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Nice rich color. Light hoppiness and a thin head. The oak is over powered by slight bitter.

Poured from 12oz bottle. Good head with nice retention. Lacing was decent. Interesting flavor added by the oak barrel aging. Definitely one to try. Didn't like it as much as the standard Arrogant Bastard Ale. --you've been Dubbed.

Decent aroma, not overly strong. It has a cherry brown type of color. The head is think and clings to the glass. It has a bitter kick with the after taste combined with citrus. This is an excellent brew.