Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale

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

grapefruit, caramel, woodsmoke. friendly tan head over clear orange-brown. a little slick weigh in the mouth with good carbonation & hop sting. wish i had a regular bastard to compare. this seems to have just a tad more sweetness than my memory of the regular, but still massive bitterness, almost to the power of the double bastard. this has a little more balance but still the citrus sharpness. some wood and alcohol flavor as well.

Bottle: Dark amber/orange color - almost reddish with a thick tan head and great lacing. Aroma is primarily hops, citrus and some sweet malt backer. The taste is packed with hops, hops, and more hops. Nice citrus and floral hops dominate with some sweet malt and a bit of raison flavor. An excellent beer!!

Pour is a deep, dark, opaque red-brown; head is full and creamy, canvas-colored with decent longevity and nice lacing. Nose is different from original but still nice; hops are more subdued with grapefruit still there as well as sweet caramel, oak, and vanilla, maybe some dark fruit and pine in the background. Flavor is not as balanced as AB, but nice; still rich caramel and citrus followed by vanilla, raisin, and oak with a nice bitterness coming from both the oak and the piney hops. Finishes with the medium high bitterness of pine and oak really taking over and really quite aggressively. Palate is still creamy and soft, silky even, but with a more than medium body. A nice offering from such a great base, AB, but it needs some maturity. Some aging gives some more density and allow the hops to mellow. Almost a year later I was much more impressed. The addition of oak is a great idea, adds more complexity and certainly a likable, but different approach to a unique beer.

Appearance is a nice reddish brown color, tan head, a little hazy. Very enticing. The aroma is citrus hops, and sweet caramel malts. Also very enticing. Subtle but unmistakable trace of the oak in there as well. The flavor is a nice caramel and toffee malt flavor, balanced by subtle citrus hops. Again, the oak is subtle, but it’s there. The palate is a nice balance of caramel malts, ending with a slight hop burn. Excellent example of the style. I wish I had rated this with the unoaked version at the same time to see the difference.

Bottle, Malty, hoppy nice, but just a touch of oak, What more reallly needs to be said, I have to believe that stone is one of the best breweries in the USA. This brew is aggressive, with its malts, head , and hop, also its quite delicious. This beer is very well done, makes for a great sipper. The oak just adds great dryness to the palate. Thanks MrRomero.

Pretty fantastic drink. Oak woodiness all over the place; almost like I had a mouthful of beauty bark each sip, but in a good way. This drink is dominated by its signature wood. Smooth, caramel malt with some hop bitterness doing a tango on my tounge with the oak chips on the finish. Very dry drink and very smooth - a nice variation to what was already a great brew.

On draft @ BW3 downtown Indy. Pours cloudy murky brown with copper edges and creamy tan head. I get a vague sweetness and oak agedness in the aroma. Nothing but thick cigarette smoke around me so that is just about all I can smell. Flavor starts off smooth then the 90L to 120L crystal malts jump out along with centennial hop kick in the face creating the classic Arrogant Bastard Ale sensation. Lots of malts and lots of hops. I only pick up a faint wood note. Very faint in fact. Re-rate in a better environment.

12oz bottle pours a crystal clear deep amber with light mocha head. The aroma is lighter than I’d like with sweet caramelized type malts, pine hoppiness and faint wood. The flavor has that classic ABA bust of flavor coming from medium roasted malts and maybe 90L crystal malts mixed with a solid pine hop bitterness. Midway a short lived up welling of malty sweetness murmurs up about the same moment as some mild oakiness. The oak goes very well with the base ABA flavors. Comes up short in the aroma though.

This had a good head.Color was a dark amber.Aroma was a biting pleasant type.The taste was more mellow than the regular Aragant Bastard Ale.I liked this much better.Had it on tap in the showroom.the NEW showroom.