Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale

Pours a nice ruby red with a one finger creamy tan head. The nose is sweet, waxy, grapefruit peel, alcohol, very bitter hoppy. The flavor is spicy, hoppy, astringent, mandarin, waxy, dry, too hoppy. The palate is very bitter and waxy. not too impressed with this one.

[rated 6.7.08] Pours a very dark amber/brown with a small white fine froth on top and great sticky lacing. Huge grapefruit and burnt malt aroma, sweet apples, and quite piney. Sooooo much better than Arrogant Bastard! Mellowed to a point where its drinkable... and good! Dark fruits, charred oak, light caramel, great bittering hops, and some pine to round it out. Burnt molasses is still the backbone but the oak aging has brightened it up so much. Still earthy but palatable and sophisticated. The woodiness pinches your cheeks in like a bourbon would do. Medium/light oily body with smooth subtle carbonation, I am seriously wondering how old my bottle is as it is crazy good and slightly oxidized. Fantastic and quite a surprise!!! [for perspective today I’ve had a bottle of 01 & 05 third coast old ale, batch 5000, 04 expedition stout, fresh hopslam, fresh two hearted and some bells cherry stout =) thanks Dukefan] Synergy, this beer is greater than all of its parts. 9.5.9.4.18 [rerate 5.19.09] 8.4.8.4.16

Bottle at Distortion08 Soupalicious - Shared with Mette - thanks Sune for shipping this to me. Clear brown - offwhite/yellow head. Chokolate, roasted, bisquit, light oak/wood, raisins, resin, citric, caramel, lovely hoppy. Again a unbalanced but fantastic beer from Stone. Smoothness & violent at the same time.

Has the hugely hoppy nose. Good citrus and resiny notes, grapefruit tags along also. No oak notes really to speak of. Taste is not as bitter as its Bastard brother. Good oaky notes and a malty character that really separates it from the other Bastard. I like being able to type bastard this much and not be able to get accused of pointless cursing. I would say it is just as good if not better than any regular Bastard you see.

I think I like the original better, nevertheless this is quite a good tasting beer. I would definitely buy it again for 3 bucks a bottle anytime. A bit of a bitter finish but it was a nice bitter, not a skunky bitter finish.

beautiful dark mahogany pour with reddish tints. lively frothy head, slow to dissipate. aroma not overly potent, consists of hops, citrus, and grapefruit. flavor is delicious- same citrusy hop bite but with a woody malt character and some sweeter notes. nice mouthfeel, but not incredible. very drinkable, extremely tasty.

bottle. Dark burnished copper color, inch thick bubbly tan head. Aromas of sweet toasted bread and some sharp citrus and spice. Flavor dominated by a dark roasted graininess with a fair amount of sweetness. Medium bitterness, some orange peels and citrus in the hop character. Finish is a bit on the chalky side. A good brew, but falls a bit short in some areas.

Dark amber ale; sweet, grapefruit-oak aroma; heavy hop flavor, with caramel sweetness underneath; finish is bitter hop with very slight caramel (or molasses?); pleasant overall, but not as finished as I’d hoped.