Stone Arrogant Bastard Ale (World Class Old Money Beer!) Review - Ep.

[@ronaldtheriot]

I rarely see this world class old money beer, these days, and I miss all the old variants of this, that used to be produced.

[@DarwinsBeerReviews]

That was quite a time when they had all those variants. I'm curious if they actually sold well...

[@DaveG45-47]

I really miss this beer so much. For some reason we're not getting it anymore in Northeast Florida.

[@DarwinsBeerReviews]

Yeah, I'm surprised to find this fresh. I definitely isn't around consistently.

[@adamo36532]

I'm surprised you didn't say coffee minus acidity in your flavor profile. Also the bitterness reminds me of the after taste of 80% cacao dark chocolate. Picked this one up tonight in a big can remembering I liked it in the past. I was surprised by the taste but immediately thought kind of like a coffee mixed with IPA and dark chocolate lol. I respect that you gave this beer a high rating. It deserves it for the uniqueness and interesting not overplayed flavor. For me this would be an occasional beer and I am definitely enjoying it.

[@DarwinsBeerReviews]

Interesting take. For me, coffee generally is associated with roast, which this beer doesn't have a ton of. Granted, there are lighter roast coffees out there...

[@chrisw7347]

I had this one for the first time around.... 17 years ago. Been a while, but any time I revisit it I'm pleased, but still it just doesn't taste as good as that first time, for some reason. I'm not super familiar with it so I wish I could say I knew if the brewing consistency changed over that long time frame edit: Gosh look at that gorgeous color on the first second of pouring and the transformation to dark. Really beautiful

[@DarwinsBeerReviews]

Never good as early experiences I guess.

[@kevinpayne3482]

Wow, might have to crack that open sooner rather than later

[@DarwinsBeerReviews]

If you have it. Get it fresh.

[@SwyvCrux]

Im a huge fan of this beer. I often find most IPAs boring not because theyre bitter but they're one note and lack body. This beer is proof you can have a super bitter beer and still have tones of character

[@DarwinsBeerReviews]

True. This is super bitter, but also very tasty and complex at the same time.

[@ikeikeforty]

I was expecting to hate it this one, but the more I sip it the more I like it. Its different from from anything I've ever had before but in a good way.

[@DarwinsBeerReviews]

It's a rare kind of brew.

[@Electroguy74]

This was one of my gateway beers!! Love your review!

[@DarwinsBeerReviews]

Thank you! A great gateway brew!

[@Girthon1]

Super intelligent, tboughtful, knowledgeable and enthusiastic review of this great beer. Thank you.

[@DarwinsBeerReviews]

Wow, that's some really kind words. Appreciate it. Thank you!

[@kevinpayne3482]

Ok, am having this beer now and it is as you say an excellent beer. The bitterness makes the beer. This is a 19.2oz can that I got for $2.75

[@DarwinsBeerReviews]

They sell this in stove pipes?! Didn't know that.

[@commentaccount2750]

This will always be a 100/100 for me. I love piney, bitter beers, but the malt complexity on this one really contributes to the overall flavor without detracting from the impact of the onslaught of chinook.

[@DarwinsBeerReviews]

I guess you're into this Old Money stuff!

[@DarenKeck]

Great review. I’ve been obsessed with this beer for a long time and have brewed clones and with just 2-row, special b, and chinook and they came out great. There is something special about the combination of special b and chinook. Arrogant Bastard has had me looking for other good ‘red ipas’ but I’m not sure I’ve found any better.

[@DarwinsBeerReviews]

A very unique beer. Did you try out the podcast to find the recipe?

[@DarenKeck]

@@DarwinsBeerReviews I got it from an old Homebrewing forum that was likely a secondary source of that podcast. I'm going to seek that podcast out because I'd like to brew it again. Any other beers you'd recommend that have both a pronounced malt and hop character?

[@DarwinsBeerReviews]

@@DarenKeck Wow, that's a great question. Sierra Nevada Bigfoot or any of those old school American Barleywines come to mind.

[@kevinpayne3482]

Darwin you need to try “darken” by upland brewing out of Bloomington Indiana, it’s a barrel aged sour brown ale. Killer beer! Cheers!👍🏻🍻

[@DarwinsBeerReviews]

Sounds lovely. It's been very long since I've had Upland.

[@kevinpayne3482]

I’ve got a can of that in my fridge looking forward to your opinion on this bad boy

[@DarwinsBeerReviews]

Nice! Enjoy it!

[@kevinpayne3482]

Just realized what this tastes like, a dark mild but with a boosted abv

[@danielscott1040]

Bit hoppy for a dark mild though, right?

[@DarwinsBeerReviews]

Yeah, I was going to say. This has almost nothing to do with a Dark Mild.

[@Bankaimg]

Also, I can't hear you much lol

[@danielscott1040]

HIs mics haven't worked in months.

[@DarwinsBeerReviews]

Yikes. I need to speak louder. I tried going back to my old mic and lost like 3 reviews. Not sure why, audio just didn't record. Not pumped about that.

[@Vykk_Draygo]

Yeah, Special B is a really dark caramel malt, so dark fruits and potentially some cocoa or roast flavors. Lovely character malt. I used to be able to get Arrogant Bastard all the time. Haven't been able to find it over the past six months or so, unfortunately. Love this beer. It really does feel like a bigger beer than it is, which is interesting.

[@DarwinsBeerReviews]

Thanks for sharing on Special B. This beer certainly is a gem. Hope you get to revisit this.

[@Bankaimg]

Great beer always.

[@DarwinsBeerReviews]

Glad to revisit it.

[@shawnhapney8784]

I was there in the 'Gateway' 20 years ago. Stone, Rouge, Alesmith, Russian River, many others were I suppose carrying on and embellishing upon the ⚓ and Sierra Nevada etc west coast craft thing? Sorry Seattle/ Portland I know you guys have great breweries from way back like Elysian. Combined with the bar/ restaurant brewery things. Bridgeport IPA a solid example, 'Hair' Of The 'Dog' is a hard hitter dark bitter ale. But yeah anyway I remember when the Stone stuff got some traction first couple years there was one 🍺 they concocted under a different? It wasn't 'AB' or 'OB' it was a more 'Dark Fantasy Comic' or somewhat 'Biblical Evil' named beer. Anyway it got reviews best describing it as: 'Acrimoniously Bitter' as the IBU'S were in the ashtray meets pine cone meets grapefruit dept. BTW I never lived out west but I worked for a local distributor of import beer/ wine/ food years ago here in Cleveland. We had a bunch of the 'Famous Name' High Quality Euro beers so that ties ya into the 'scene' of that stuff. I got to visit the PNW shortly too so I got privvy. Cheers!

[@DarwinsBeerReviews]

Awesome! How did you enjoy PNW? Any favs?

[@austins.6805]

Oh man, now you got me wanting Arrogant Bastard again! I haven't had it in a hot minute. That beer is NOT for your new money haze bros. 🤣 To me, the malt tastes kind of like fruitcake--sweet brown bread, dried fruits, candied fruits, etc. Much like a Belgian quad, like you said. And the bitterness is absurd even for a seasoned hop head. The hop taste and bitterness reminds me of licking a pine tree. You taste bark, dirt, and pine sap.

[@DarwinsBeerReviews]

Described perfectly!

[@gorequillnachovidal]

had on tap a few months ago... was nice to taste a little bit of bitter, wanted more bitter for sure. Looking for some damn original Ruination release up on long island... Of course the original Palate Wrecker which does not exist anymore was the king of Bitter

[@DarwinsBeerReviews]

Ruination! I want to revisit that!

[@gorequillnachovidal]

@@DarwinsBeerReviews the just did a limited re-release of the original formula. So if any place you go to sells Stone check it out. It just came out.

[@danielscott1040]

​@@DarwinsBeerReviews Well, you can now. It's part of the fans series this year. The only red flag is the ABV doesn't match the original release.