Stone Brewing – Arrogant Bastard Ale

For the Fourth Beer of Christmas, we got a little arrogant.  Please don’t tell Santa.

This one was a lighter weight echo of last night’s beer.  It’s classified as a Strong Ale (see Style below) bur reminds me a lot of a Pale Ale (and coincidentally, Strong Ale is a sub-class of Pale Ale).

The Arrogant Bastard builds up a nice head that quickly dissipates leaving a strong fruity hops scent frothing out of the glass.  The aroma of this beer is bolder than last night’s Hog Heaven.  It makes a beautiful mahogany brown glass.

The beer’s strong flavor bursts through the medium bodied beer with a caramel sweetness that accompanies the strong hops and warming alcohol flavors.  I thought the intense aroma might also mean a more intense flavor, but it was lighter, sweeter, and more complex than the Hog Heaven.

This is not for the faint of tongue, but it’s a nice change to my regular line up of beers.  Don’t plan on sharing this one.  Grab a big ol’ 22 oz. bottle for yourself and hang on tight for a strong, wild ride.

Stats
Brewer: Stone Brewing Company
Location: Escondido, CA
Website: http://www.StoneBrew.com
Style: American Strong Ale
Alcohol Content: 7.2% ABV
Interesting Note: I’ve had a few beers from Stone Brewing before (their gargoyle logo and 22 oz. bottles make them stand out at the local beer stores), but I really got interested in their brews after watching the documentary Beer Wars which featured an interview with Co-Founder Greg Koch. The movie is available on Netflix (streaming and DVD) and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in craft beers.