Some of you have been on this blog long enough to know that I’ve stated my dislike of Arrogant Bastard multiple times. The beer simply strikes me the wrong way and is far too bitter without having enough to back it up. However, I still thought it was my duty to try Double Bastard from Stone.
I went in thinking, “I’m sure I’ll hate it doubly.” For the record, I still don’t like Arrogant Bastard, but the Double version wasn’t shabby at all. Double Bastard is not as high octane as you might presume. It weighs in at 10.5%, which is not too strong for me (and not for many of you either). Here are my impressions of the beer.
The Pour: Double Bastard has a very nice red-copper body and a creamy, off-white head. Really, the beer seemed very bright and crisp looking, yet it poured like it might be a little thicker.
The Aroma: Alcohol and grapefruity hops were immediately evident on the nose of the beer. Touches of caramel and (believe it or not) bubble gum qualities came through when I stuck my snout in the glass. Some roast and coffee also cropped up.
The Taste: This was where I fell of the Arrogant Bastard wagon but stayed on the Double version. First off, the alcohol and grapefruit that I noted on the nose came through heavily in this beer. But there was plenty of malt to back up the citrus. Plenty of malts, residual sweetness, and the general thickness of the beer were what really made this stand apart from Arrogant Bastard. Some of the coffee, caramel and bubble gum also came through on the taste. The beer eventually faded into a very long, dry, and lingering finish.
Overall, Double Bastard truly out-shined its counterpart. I would even suggest that this is what the normal Arrogant Bastard ought to be. Very nice, especially considering what Arrogant Bastard is like. Can you tell what I think about the regular Arrogant Bastard.
Mike’s Rating:
Overall Satisfaction: 
Among other Bastardized Ales:
I’m quite a fan of the regular AB and haven’t had the chance to have this before. The store I go to didn’t have it late last year when it was last put out but they are pretty good on getting the Stone seasonals now so when it comes out I hope to grab a bottle.
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I do like Arrogant Bastard myself. I would love to try Double Bastard at some point. Additionally, I would love to try both bastards… oaked! I presume the review was simply just double bastard, and not oaked, double bastard?
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There’s Arrogant Bastard, Oaked Arrogant Bastard, and Double Bastard. They don’t bottle an Oaked Double Bastard, but they have done some one-offs with wine barrels, and I believe whiskey barrels too. Their Levitation could probably be best described as Arrogant Bastard Light, but it’s not marketed that way. Either way, I haven’t had anything from them that I didn’t like, and most of them I loved.
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I have a bottle of the oaked Arrogant Bastard aging and hope to try it in about 2 or 3 years. I can understand that people do like Arrogant Bastard and I actually like it on tap. But I’m just not a fan of the bottled version. Yes Tex, it was the plain ole’ Double Bastard (if it can be called that). They had some of the oaked stuff at Dark Lord day but I didn’t try it…too much else going on with beers, if you know what I mean.
Thanks for all the interaction guys!
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