Goldilocks and the Three Bastards

The Arrogant Bastard label states that: "This is an aggressive beer, you probably won't like it. It is quite doubtful you have the taste and sophistication to be able to appreciate an ale of this quality and depth."

Today's fairytale-like review will focus on the Bastard, the Double Bastard, and the Oaked Bastard... One taster, one Goldilocks. Three beers, three bowls of porridge. Coincidence? I think not.

I, who we can affectionately refer to as Goldilocks, got to choose between these three pours. So follow along as I take you through this storybook tasting... that is, if you have the courage to enter the house of the Arrogant.

Arrogant Bastard: Like Mama Bear's porridge, this is the first impression that we have to this family of beers and the flagship beer of the Stone Brewing Company. Its the original, the one and only, the Bastard! It was one of my first craft brews and my first American Strong Ale. The first time I had it I didn't like it (just like they said), but I loved the idea of it so I pretended like I did. However, after 3 or 4 Arrogant Bastards I developed the taste and appreciation of it and it is now one of my go-to beers. It tastes of pine hops with a little citrus and some light caramelized malt flavor. It's the strong hoppy bitterness that is the dominant flavor and the lasting impression of this beer.

Quick Taste

Arrogant Bastard
North San Diego County, CA

ABV% 7.20

American Strong Ale

Appearance: Redish Brown Color, Slightly Yellowish Head

Aromatics: Malty Sweet

Taste: Bitter and Malty, Light hops flavor

Notes: One of my first craft brews, great character and awesome bottles

87


Double Bastard: Again, the beer is mostly pine-tasting hops with a little citrus, but this beer is very malty and much stronger on the back end. When beers use a lot of hops, sometimes more malted barely has to be added to balance out the bitterness. I feel that a lot of times this creates an alcohol flavor and sweetness that I don't tend to like, and that starts to happen a little bit with the aftertaste in the Double. Like Papa Bear's bed, this might be a little to hard for most, but then again, you may be more worthy than I.

Quick Taste

Double Bastard
North San Diego County, CA

ABV% 10.50

American Double Strong Ale

Appearance: Redish Brown Color, Slightly Yellowish Head

Aromatics: Malty and Alcoholic

Taste: Harshly Sweet and Malty, the flavor lingers and improves as it fades

Notes: The alcoholic flavor is the almost too much

84

Oaked Arrogant Bastard: Just to complement this story even better, this Baby Bastard comes in the smaller 12oz bottles that the other two do not. This beer is strong, yet smooth; just right - like Baby Bear's porridge and bed. The oak barrel aging process works very nicely with this beer. It helps to balance out the strong and overpowering flavors that can mask some of the subtleties of the classic Arrogant Bastard. The Oaked Bastard has a much more complex taste (or it could just be that I actually notice it in this one) than the other two. And, unlike a lot of other barrel-aged beers you don't get an overpowering whiskey taste. In my opinion, it's the best of the three, and it's just how Goldilocks, er... I, like it.

Quick Taste

Arrogant Bastard
North San Diego County, CA

ABV% 7.20

American Strong Ale

Appearance: Redish Brown Color, Slightly Yellowish Head, least head of the three

Aromatics: Malty and oak

Taste: Mellowed and more balanced vierion of AB (Bitter and Malty, Light hops flavor)

Notes: By far the most balanced and smooth of the three

89

America and The UK together again...

... OK, at least working together.

Stone (famous for Arrogant Bastard and other big character beers) teamed up with Brew Dog (famous for the former world's strongest beer, Tactical Nuclear Penguin) to create a Belgian Style Double IPA.
If you take everything you know about Stone and everything you expect from a Belgian style black beer you'll end up with Bashah.

When I poured it I initially noticed the dark, dark brown color, and the lighter brown head.

The aroma of the beer is about what I expected from the combination of the dark look and from a Belgian. Its dominated by the fruity sweet smells of a belgian dark, but with definite smokey undertones.

The taste is like no other beer I've ever had... it was good, and I enjoyed it, but I had to wait for it to warm up for a bit before I could dissect the flavors. It has a rich fruit and light chocolate flavors, and smokey undertones that I smelled that are caused by the roasted malt. This very light smokey flavor that is not overpowering or dominating at all and are very pleasant. The combination is very nice and well balanced.

When two of the most progressive and dedicated breweries in the world combine their powers anything could happen. In this case they not only hit the target but they blew it up like a Nuclear Penguin, or a stone hitting Goliath... or something like that... I'd have to but this beer up pretty high on my list of all time favorite beers.



- Nathan

QUICK TASTE

Stone & Brew Dog Bashah
Scotland/California


ABV% 8.6


Belgian Style Double IPA

Appearance: Dark brown, almost black; Lighter brown head


Aromatics: Sweet fruit and smoke


Taste: Light hops, dominating fruity and smokey malt taste

Notes: A Scotland-brewed, combined effort between Stone and Brew Dog is exactly what you'd expect from great breweries like these two. Worth hunting down and paying a little extra for. It also has a pretty sweet label...

One of the top beers on my list I gave this beer a 93.