Arrogant Bastard Ale

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

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

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Bottle at Patricks Pub Kristiansand. Red golden colour with a beige head. Aroma is malt,roasted, hop, caramel. Flavour is sweet, malt, roasted, , hop, grapefruit, caramel. Full bodied nice beer.

Bottled, many thanks Ian for sharing this. Chestnut with dying head. Unbalanced, bitter beer, pushes a dry hard unsophisticated hop to the fore with no refinement. Sharp, almost medicinal with a bite of alcohol and a touch of bath cleaner. Not a pleasant beer to drink or relax with. Poor side of middlling.

a hazy reddish ale with a thick light moka head. A pleasant vinous aroma, with carmale notes, and funky floral hops, and light coffee notes. In mouth, a sweet caramel malt, torrefied coffee, nuts and floral hops, citrusy. A good classy ale. Bought at Bessette’s, Canton, NY. Tasted Feb. 2007 and many times before.

UPDATED: NOV 26, 2004 This beer rocks. What was I thinking with my previous rating? I rated it fairly high, but was way off with my description... I think. I described the appearance as a cloudy mohogany color. Ummmm, the beer I am currently staring at is as clear and sparkling as the Golden Dome in South Bend, Indiana. Mohogany isn’t a bad description, but ruby is more accurate. The medium-sized head is off-white, creamy and mostly lasting. Excellent lacing too. The aroma is left coast all the way. Malty, mysteriously spicey and very floral. A little buttery too. The flavor is malty and bitter up front... leaning farther toward the left coast’s hops than London’s toasted malts. Not balanced. Not supposed to be. Yeah, sure, there are notes of caramel and toffee on the tongue, but the hops beat the living shit out of them. I’m glad that all dark ales aren’t this massively hopped, but I am rather enjoying this one. The perfect beer for a cold, rainy, November West Virginia night such as this. This beer is full-bodied with lively carbonation. Creamy mouthfeel. Medium length, semi-dry, bitter finish. Notes of buttery toffee at the wee end of the finish. Great Beer! Have one.

clear red-amber colour with a fine creamy, slightly brown-tainted head, nice lacing, strong hop presence with aroma of cream, apricot and flowers, full-bodied with a very creamy mouthfeel, robust bitterness, the finish is dry, malty and very bitter, filling the mouth with tons of hops - very pleasant and not too extreme

Gravity pour at Churchkey. Labeled as dry-hopped/Simcoe. Clear copper, three-bubble head, no carbonation. Aroma of smoke, oak, bourbon, flowers. Taste has caramel, a smoky edge and a bitter finish. Great character. Easily the best beer of the night.

On tap. Poured a dark brown color with an averaged size head. Smells of molasses, piney, and some citris. Sweet and bitter tasting (nicely balanced).

Bomber poured a clear dark copper with a small amber head. Aromas of lime, a bit of carmel, and pine. Palate was medium bodied and resiny. Flavors of citrus, and carmel with a dry, bitter, astringent finish. I hear it gets better with age,I’ll have to stash a bottle away for a couple years and see if it improves.

UPDATED: SEP 23, 2007 Deep ruby-brown beer with a thick off-white head. Aroma is lovely, biscuity malt, caramel and toffee with a sweet grapefruty citrus malt. Bitterness is much more restrained than the last time I had it. Sticky with a soft resinousness on the back. Palate is good, but the sweet malty aroma doesn’t really come through on the flavour very much. Not as good as it used to be, but still excellent.

Dark ruby coloured beer with a thin skin of tan bubbles over the surface. Lovely caramel, cookie dough, and vanilla maltiness backing up an assertive citrusy hop aroma. Flavour is fantastic, sweet toffee and caramel malts on the front fading to a hint of coffee/chocolate character before the citrusy and earthy herbal hops flavours make an appearance. These fade out leaving an awesome bitter kick in the teeth. As this beer warmed, you got even more citrus hop character and some spicy and fruity maltiness on the nose. Truly a first rate beer. 8 4 9 4 18

On tap - David Copperfields NYC. Wow! My first experience of such hoppiness. Greg's comments are fascinating. I can't imagine many (normal)people getting on with this, but we lot are a bit different! Aggressive and arrogant are not the words. The aroma is so very very tart. I noted passion fruit and grapefruit. The colour is a dirty brown, but we shouldn't pay too much credence to that. This beer tastes at first like grapefruit in need of sugar (lots), but you soon start to enjoy the tartness of it. It is hard going as a first experience of this type of beer and I probably cannot do it justice with my English palate. Certainly a sipping type beer rather than guzzling; but a beer that when you finish it, it is with pleasure rather than pain - well worth drinking.