Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale

One thing I can’t ever get past is the unmitigated Arrogance! How dare they? How dare they invade our homes, surgically alter our taste buds, leave upper deckers in our toilets, take up the passing lane in their Lexus SUVs, be immensely more endowed than the average, bang Angelina Jolie, ask and receive seconds, thirds, fourths? How can they be so superior? How can they urinate with impunity upon and drive a monster truck over all that I hold dear? How can they be so lacking in finesse and grace? How can they overtake our collective beer-drinking consciousness, set the gold standard for all that is sought after in beerland, and profit obscenely from it all in the process -- all without a multizillion dollar ad campaign? Capitalist swine! ("This is Arrogant Bastard speaking...." "Who is Arrogant Bastard?") Have they no shame? Have they no mercy? Have they no respect? How can they tell us what constitutes good taste, and be so right? There’s opinion, and then there’s the right opinion, and these grade-A pricks have the market cornered in the latter. They don’t ask, they just take, and it’s already theirs anyway. We shall relent!

Damn you, Bastard! Damn you to Hop Heaven!

This beer entices the sense of smell with an explosion of scents including malt, hops, oak, and citrus fruit. The glass is filled with a dark mahogany solution that resides under a golden-copper colored head. This magnificent solution enters the mouth thick and heavy coating taste receptacles with the superbly mixed bitter-sweet concoction of hops, oak, barley, and citrus fruit. This beer ruined my taste buds for any of the other fine beers that were (and always are) brought to that Champaign-Urbana Club meeting that Wednesday night.

Just picked up 2 12 oz sixers of this stuff in Pojoaque NM. Man is this an idea whose time has come - and just in time for the holidays too! Same surly undertones as the original Bastard, but the oak complements and smooths it oh so well, not unlike a fine bourbon whiskey. Rough and unrefined below the surface, but smooth as a baby’s ass on the finish. Imagine the ill-tempered original dressed and sobered up for proper Sunday company - until he gets caught in the upstairs bedroom shagging the preacher’s wife!. Delicious! Let me add, I’ll give this one a 5 especially because its not over the top in alcohol content. 8%+ alcohol is simply too much for anything called beer or ale in my opinion, no matter what the "conoisseurs" might say. I wanna drink - not sip - a good brew. Taste and quality-wise, there’s nothing lacking in this brew.

Bottle. Deep browinish-red pour with a light yellowed tan head with a nice retention. Aroma of grapefruit, oak, caramel malt, a touch of vanilla...a reallyfresh, clean aroma for something that was aged...I was hoping for something a bit more pungent. The flavor comes through nicely though, with the grapefruit/pine and oak kinda of coupled together for a nice hoppy-woddiness with a small but present caramel malt backbone and a touch of vanilla. Farily creamy with that woody-bitter combo coming in midway and sticking through to the lingering finish. Overall it was neat to see what the oak did, which essentially ending up being a dry/bitter woodiness. Pretty good stuff, although I’m not a big fan of wood just adding the flavor of wood to a brew, it’s pretty good stuff and really improves as it warms. As far as this catch all style goes, this is my favorite of the bunch, I love the dry aspect it brings to this normally sweet brew. Hoppy, sweet, dry...gotta love it.

ABV: 7.2% first impression: Sweet, candy aroma. deep, menacing rich red glow. deep, mesmerizing. Nice head. Enchanting flavor and general experience. Overwhelmingly hoppy and rich with bitterness. Lacing is intricate and wispy. Head fades quickly. Purchased at: Circle Liquors Super Saver, Pennington, NJ Consumed on: 01.31.2008 Color: Like a deep brewed tea. Very dark, and quite reddish brown. Like a sunset shot from Apocalypse Now. Belgian Lace: fleeting, but there. Aroma: I can smell a comfortable, favorite couch. It’s a good smell. Hoppiness: Biting and complex hoppy flavor. Bite: Wow. Packs a wallop. Flavor: The oak is very much the source of flavor here - it adds a bit of depth to the brew. Weight: This is quite heavy and feels like something of importance when you hold it. Mouthfeel: exciting, tingling, and enticing all at once. second impression: Lace does more interesting things towards middle and end. A satisfying and rich beer. Carbonation is light and uninterrupting.

This is such a great flavor addition to the perfection that is Arrogant Bastard. Unfortunately, it’s a bit difficult to find anymore, despite the fact that I’m merely 10 miles from the brewery.

Re-Rate. Pours dark brown/amber with a nice creamy tan head. Woody, vanilla, caramel, citrus, a hint of light coffee grounds, and dark fruit aromas. Flavor follows follows the aroma almost perfectly, but with a nice semi-sweet creamy undertone. Palate is creamy, woody, a little fruity, and has some nice easy bitterness. Complex, flavorful, and definitely worth trying.

This is the best beer I have ever had. I really like the regular Arrogant Bastard. This is smoother and more drinkable. The flavor is really fantastic!