Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale

Brewed By: Stone Brewing Co. in Escondido, California

Purchased: 12oz bottle from a 4-pack bought at Spec's Liquor in Galveston, TX

Style/ABV: American Strong Ale, 7.2% 
Reported IBUs: ?

It's true. I was down in Texas over spring break. It was really nice. While the Midwest was getting pelted with snowstorms, I was enjoying low 60s and upper 80s. Texas definitely wins the weather competition. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure I can find more Jester King stuff in Chicago than in Texas. And Texas has some crazy liquor laws. You need a special license to sell hard liquor, and the booze stores are closed on Sunday. What the hell, Texas? I picked up some random beer to pass the time while enjoying the sunny weather, and this happened to be one of them. About Stone:

Stone Brewing are one of the more prominent breweries in the American craft brewing scene. They were founded in 1996 in San Marcos, California, and moved to Escondido, California where they recently expanded their operations. Stone was founded by Steve Wagner and Greg Koch. Koch has a reputation among the craft beer community for voicing his opinion, not putting up with shit, and standing behind his beer. 

If you haven't dabbled with Arrogant Bastard yet, go do it. Arrogant Bastard is like a craft beer rite of passage. It's also delicious. And it's everywhere! It's definitely a good standby, and I seek it out every once in a while (especially when I'm cooking Brats). This is the oaked version. Clocking in at 7.2%, this beer is aged with oak chips for additional flavorz.

Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale

This beer pours a an amber/copper color with hints of red on the edges. I kicked up two fingers of amber-tinted head. The head is thick, bready, and impressively sticky. In bright light, this beer is a hazy orange-red color, with large, lazy carbonation. Head retention is nice, and lacing is already forming. This is your typical Strong Ale fare.

I really dig the nose on the Bastards. You'd expect a lot of hops ala an Imperial IPA, but up front I get toffee, mild wood and oak, candied oranges, bready oranges, brown sugar spice, pine, raisins, and candied sugars. There's some molasses too. The nose isn't overly vibrant/floral, it's subtle.

The taste is aggressive with bitter grapefruit, grapefruit/orange rind, and wood up front. You get some oak and sugary fruits, and then the beer goes back into a bitter rampage. Oak/vanilla and wood make an appearance, and you get some brown sugar spice and pine as well. For 7.2%, this beer tastes aggressively bitter. I'm not sure how bitter this is, but I'd imagine it's around 90-100+ IBUs. 

The oak in this grows, especially in the back of the palate. The wood tannins work in tandem with the intense bitterness, leaving tons of residual bitterness on your tongue. And it's dry. I'm not tasting any booze at all, so the 7.2% is hidden well. This is exceedingly bitter, but is reasonably drinkable. The mouthfeel is medium-full, and I would call it slightly creamy except the beer gives way to huge bitterness. This beer is stealing the moisture from my lips, and finishes super dry and woody. Palate depth is off the charts awesome, while complexity is somewhat low for this style. You get bitter rind/citrus/wood up front; a hint of candied fruits, and then more bitter; some spice and pine show up, and the beer finishes with oak, wood, SUPER DRY AND SUPER BITTER.

Rating: Above-Average

This one squeeks by with a Light Above-Average thanks to that awesome mouthfeel and palate depth. The assertive bitterness + wood sticks around and coats your mouth/lips. There's also some really nice oak on the back end, and as your palate adjusts to the bitterness you pick up some oak sweetness and candied oranges. Overall, this is an aggressive and bitter beer. I like pairing this beer with spicy Mexican food, spicy wings, Brats with onions, aggressive cheeses, cheese and onion soup, cheese and potatoes, etc. The intense bitterness in this beer can stand up to ghost peppers, so like the Wu Tang Clan, it ain't nothing to fuck with.

Random Thought: Holy fuck, I think I described this beer as bitter like 14 times. I'd go back and edit it, but it's so much easier to just hit "Publish." TIL I'm lazy.