Stone Cold Arrogant, BUT BELIEVE THE LABEL
Feb 21 '02
The Bottom Line Stone Brewing's Arrogant Bastard Ale is a wonderfully overhopped, deliciously unbalanced beer. If you think you are worthy, seek it out!
Arrogant Bastard Ale is definitely “an aggressive beer. When the label says “You probably won’t like it,” believe it! You probably won’t.
I’ll bet that fewer than 5 out of 100 people will like this beer. If Arrogant Bastard is for you, you already know it. You are the kind of person who thinks Samuel Adams Double Bock is too light. You are the kind of person who asks for a second glass of Boon Geueze - and you didn’t even make a face when you drank the first glass. You are the kind of person who drinks spirits straight up --water or ice would dilute the flavors too much. If you are the kind of person who would like Arrogant Bastard, you know it, because you’re a connoisseur. You’re an epicure. You’re an arrogant Bastard.
Well, I like to think that I am worthy, so I’m popping the lid now…
An Arrogant Glass of Ale
Appearance:
Deep copper amber color that’s almost the hue of an old worn penny with some bright ruby red highlights. Slight chill haze, but let it warm a few minutes and it disappears completely. The head is big and tawny and rocky when it first pours, and it leaves a nice light Belgian lace down the side of the glass. A lovely glass of beer!
Aroma:
Complex. Lots of hops with a citric grapefruit edge, gives way quickly to sweet caramel malt smell with some pineapple esters. The aroma is seductive and gives away nothing as to the shock that awaits your tastebuds when you take that first big gulp…
Flavor:
Lots of soft sweet malt and toffee flavors with an almost honey-like quality to it, but that quickly yields to one of the most powerful hop flavors I’ve had in a very, very long time. In some ways this beer reminds me of a weak young version of Bigfoot. “Weak version,” hah! The beer still comes in at 7.2% alcohol, so its definitely The hops taste very earthy and peppery and are hugely bitter in the flavor with a very long lasting bitter aftertaste that just hangs in my mouth long after I’ve swallowed the last drop.
I’ve always been a big hop-head. I love hugely hopped beers, especially IPAs. Arrogant Bastard Ale is beyond the realm of “hugely hopped”. It’s enormous. By golly, it’s even - dare I say it -- arrogant in its heavy-handed use of the green cones. If you share my love of all things humulus and lupulus, then you really ought to try this beer. I’ll bet it pushes the envelope for you a bit, and it just might be the beer that makes you cry “uncle!”
This beer is so hoppy and so bitter that it not only leaves an aftertaste in your mouth and in your throat, but you actually feel a little bit of a burn deep in your stomach about 15 minutes after drinking the beer. What a wonderful sensation!
Verdict:
This is an amazing beer. It’s a beer that twists the notion of beer styles around and that questions every rule of brewing and common sense. It’s a true exercise in excess, and for anyone who really loves every beer in the world in all its guises, then it’s a treat worth seeking out. To anyone else, anyone who thinks beer is just a drink, well, you really might want to heed the advice on the label and look for something that comes with a million dollar ad campaign - this beer isn’t for you, you won’t like it.
Pssst! If you’re a friend of the brewers, could you pass along a message for me: “good beer -- needs more hops!”
Stylistically Speaking
This is a tough beer to pin down, stylistically. When I was chatting with a couple beer geeks at a homebrewers club meeting, the concensus was that this is a variation on the American Pale Ale style. I've heard that opinion before, but I disagree with it. I think this is an American barleywine, pure and simple.
Barleywines are usually very strong beers (7-10% alcohol with starting gravities of 18-25 Plato). They can be aggressively hopped, like in Sierra Nevada's classic Bigfoot Ale or Dominion Millenium. They can also span a range of colors from a tannish copper to deep brown. On all these counts, I think Arrogant Bastard Ale fits the profile. Sure, it's on the lower end of the gravity scale, and sure the balance is tipped far more to hops than is normal in the style, but it sure as heck ain't no American style pale ale! The color is much too deep, the gravity and alcohol much too high, and the hops over the top for that style.
I think it's funny that Stone Brewing is selling this beer in 22 ounce bottles while the wimpusses up the coast at Anchor and Rogue continue selling their big beers in dinky little 7 ounce baby bottles that are barely enough to even give you a sniff of their beers. Way to go Stone!
About Stone Brewing
Stone Brewing Company is the brainchild of California brewers Steve Wagner and Greg Koch who opened their microbrewery in an industrial park in San Marcos in 1996. The brewery also makes a variation on this beer called Double Bastard Ale, which clocks in at 10% -- a huge beer.
Otra! Otra!
I'd probably rate this beer about 4-1/2 stars. It's one glaring flaw though is also its most spectacular feature for someone who truly loves beer and truly loves a succulently glorious deep bitter flavor. I'm talking the balance. This is an unbalanced beer. Terribly unbalanced. Horribly balanced. That's why you probably won't like it. Unless of course you're a super die-hard beer geek, in which case, please! Leave a few bottles for me...I'd sure like to have another, please...
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