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I mentioned in my preview post that I was really looking forward to tasting this beer. I like the sound of "Oaked," and I know Stone Brewery's other less expensive beers to be pretty good. Plus, I mean, just listen to the name! Arrogant Bastard Ale! It just has to be good. To start off, here are the stats:Arrogant Bastard Ale:
Brewery: Stone brewing company
Style: American strong ale
Alcohol: 7.2%
Serving type: Bottle poured into pint glass
price: $2.99
I think it is worth noting that I do not look at the beer advocate page before drinking the beer, and I don't read reviews before writing my own.
I got to drink this beer this past weekend while I watched another Celtics game. So far every beer I have reviewed here as been drunk while rooting on the C's. Maybe I need more beer drinking friends.
I popped open this bottle and poured it into my pint glass. As you can see from the picture I actually got a decent head on this! This is the first time I have used the hand washed pint glass. I guess that tip paid off, thanks Aaron!
I didn't really detect much aroma from the beer. A little but of hoppyness, but nothing to distinct. The taste was very hoppy, as I expected, but lacked much character. Mainly I just tasted the hoppy bitterness without any of the undertones (such as the pine I tasted in the dogfish head 60 minute IPA). To my disappointment I didn't get ANY oakyness. The hops seemed to overpower any flavors that the malts or the oaking might have given it. I wonder if this was not due to the beer being too cold as Aaron suggested previously, but the taste was pretty consistent all the way through, and it took me about half the game (minus commercials) to drink it. So it should have been warmed by the end I would think.
Overall I was let down given my high hopes for this beer. It reminded me alot of the Stone IPAs, which can be had for $1.99; I really didn't get much of a difference between them. I MAY give this another try some time, just to be sure, but unless someone has had other experiences to convince me otherwise, it probably won't be for a while. My overall rating: Mediocre.
