Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale - Stone Brewing Co.

oberon

North Carolina

4.53/5  rDev +7.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

A huge Huge thanks to fellow Buffalo area BA Orfeu for leaving some of this and a few other gems on my porch tonight!Poured into a brandy snifter a deep amber infused with some tawny brown a big fluffy almond colored head atop leaving multiple sheets of lace as it settled into a soapy-like top.The only let down of this beer in my mind was the nose seemed a bit unasumming some faint vanilla and caramel and hints of orange peel.Oh man the flavors are definently Not unassuming where to begin here caramel sweetness and woody tones at first sip the vanilla from the oak becomes prevelant a big drying spicey hoppiness really hits and hits hard just making it oh so drinkable and balanced.As the beer warms the alcohol heat comes thru more but not outta hand,oh so beautiful a beer I just loved it.

Serving type: bottle

11-07-2006 02:05:14 | More by oberon

NeroFiddled

Pennsylvania

4.5/5  rDev +6.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

This will be a fairly straightforward and simple, hedonistic review as I've already reviewed the straight Arrogant Bastard and so much has already been said about this beer.

Basically, I feel that the Bastard is already a full-throttle beer and the oak-aging is wasted on it. Sure, the oak is present (and it's drying, woody character does help to tone down and smooth the beast a bit), but does it really help to improve the character of the beer? I'd say not. It's different, but it's not better. And there's just too much going on to really enjoy the character of the wood (although it is oak-chips, right?). Good, but not great.

Serving type: bottle

01-18-2005 01:54:37 | More by NeroFiddled

TMoney2591

Illinois

3.9/5  rDev -7.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Served in a tumbler.

You are not oaked worthy! Still, it pours a semi-murky garnet topped by a finger of dirty ecru foam. The nose comprises the standard fare of pine and grapefruit, along with a decent blast of flowers, a solid contingent of caramel, and a small amount of, you guessed it, oak in the background. The taste followed very similarly, with the oak playing a nice supporting role to the other aforementioned elements. Nothing overbearing, which is refreshing in these days of o'erblown wood-aging nonsense. The body is a solid medium, with a light moderate carbonation and a sorta dry finish. Overall, a very nice brew, though I'm not sure I would necessarily take it over the normal Bastard on a regular basis.

Serving type: bottle

02-22-2011 04:12:37 | More by TMoney2591

feloniousmonk

Minnesota

4.13/5  rDev -2.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Clear crimson coloring, edging on darker maroonish, but a full, lush, creamy-toned head, leaving lace. I like it.

Aroma: cherries, whiskey, vanilla, berries, cognac, luscious and lovely. Wide open, deep, complex, mature, and heavenly.

Taste: vanilla jumps up first, smothers the palate with the flavor of that sweet bean, fruit flavors join in as well, but vanilla maintains it's dominance. Yums.

Medium mouthfeel, body, smooth, tasty, ...almost too smooth. But so delicious. If, maybe, too much vanilla. I like other things that arise from the flavors of various oak barrels.
Wait. Oak chips? Oak...chips? No barrells? Hmmm...
Tasty, delicious, ...I like it, but not as much as the Original A.B. So, sue me.

Serving type: bottle

12-26-2006 07:44:13 | More by feloniousmonk

WesWes

New York

4.13/5  rDev -2.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

The beer pours a ruby red color with a thick frothy offwhite head that lasts. The aroma is great. It has a smooth and mellowing scent that boasts of pale, crystal, and roasted malts along with a generous amount of hops and a mild oak aroma. The taste is good. It has an aggressive wood flavor up front as well as in the finish. It blends well with the bold malt and hop profile. The hop bitterness lends itself well to the oak flavor. The mouthfeel is good also. It is a full bodied beer with adequate carbonation. This is a wonderful version of an already great beer. I prefer the original, but this one is a good drinker as well.

Serving type: bottle

10-02-2007 20:31:11 | More by WesWes

drabmuh

Maryland

4/5  rDev -5.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pretty much side by side with the regular arrogant bastard.

Poured from a bottle without a date into a becher. Beer is brown and hazy forms a thin off white head of medium bubbles that leaves some lacing on the glass. Carbonation is moderate.

Aroma is strong, lots of malts, nice hop character and a slight tinge of alcohol. This one has some woodsy, oak aroma to it, still smells good.

Still medium bodied and lots of carbonation. The flavor of the oak is there as well but the hops seem off in this one. The bitterness isn't matched with the original and I don't like it as much.

Serving type: bottle

04-20-2010 03:23:13 | More by drabmuh

Mora2000

Texas

4/5  rDev -5.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

The beer pours a dark reddish-amber color with a tan head. The aroma is pine and orange hops along with some oaked notes. I also detect some alcohol in the aroma. The flavor is a great mix of caramel malt and orange citrus. The oak then comes in, with the addition of some vanilla notes. Low to medium bitterness. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation.

A very good beer. The oak aging has really toned down the bitterness from the regular, non-oaked version.

Serving type: bottle

09-25-2010 04:26:56 | More by Mora2000

zeff80

Missouri

4.45/5  rDev +5.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

A - Poured out a clear, burgundy color with a three-finger, fluffy, tan head of foam. The head was long lasting and left tons of patchy intricate lace.

S - Good aroma. Citrusy hops with floral notes. Sweet caramel with a touch of boozy alcohol.

T - Orange and other citrus flavors come through with a mild bitterness. Lots of sweet caramel and light roasted malt flavors provide a good backbone. Then to top it all off there are oak, bourbon and vanilla flavors.

M - It was crisp, sharp and smooth. A medium bodied beer with a slight alcohol heat.

D - This was a really great tasting beer. It is so good in so many ways. It is nice to try a 'hyped" beer that really delivers.

Serving type: bottle

07-21-2010 13:55:57 | More by zeff80

metter98

New York

4.13/5  rDev -2.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A: The beer is slightly hazy amber in color. It poured with a two finger high beige head that died down but consistently left a thin layer of bubbles covering the surface. The dissipating head also left lacy patterns running along the edges of the glass. A light amount of carbonation is visible.
S: There are moderate aromas of pine resin hops in the nose along with some hints of oak.
T: Flavors of roasted malts and accompanied by a moderate amount of bitterness; there are notes of oak in the finish.
M: It feels medium-bodied and crisp on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
D: The beer is relatively easy to drink because the alcohol is well hidden from the taste.

Serving type: bottle

01-16-2011 14:45:58 | More by metter98

MasterSki

Illinois

4.45/5  rDev +5.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

20th review - woohoo! Now I can post new brews on this site. Picked up a sixer in Madison on the way back from Darkness Day.

A - Attractive mahogany color with one fingers of tan foam that dissipates slowly into an attractive big-bubbled lace. A small amount of carbonation is visible.

S - Toffee and malt, oak, hops and citrus. I wish more ales were this rich in the olfactory arena. Unsurprisingly it smells like Arrogant Bastard but with a bit of oak...

T - Starts sweet, ends bitter. The oak is pretty understated - likely because it's just oak chips and not barrel-aging. Keeps all the positive elements of AB - malty caramel front palette morphing into a hoppy bitter IPA at the end. The wood really comes out at the beginning but is quickly overwhelmed by hops.

M - Resinous - smooth, but a little more watery than I like. The carbonation is pretty unobtrusive. Nothing too special here.

D - I can see why they come in sixers. The 7.2% doesn't really make an appearance, although I can't drank too many woody beers in an evening (as the recent FOBAB proved).

A nice variation on Arrogant Bastard - as much as I like roadtrippin' to Discount liquors...please Stone, come to Illinois!

Serving type: bottle

11-18-2008 01:53:44 | More by MasterSki

Gueuzedude

Arizona

4.22/5  rDev -0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pours with a frothy, amber-tan colored head that is a bit on the thin side. The beer is a hazy orange-amber color when held up to the light, otherwise it is a straight up amber color. The aroma is herbal and citrusy with notes of tangerine, orange, perhaps a bit of mint, lemon basil. The oak is really not all that noticeable in the nose at this point. There is some woodiness up front and it seems to be interacting in interesting ways with the hops, creating aromatics that I can't quite put my finger on, but they are definitely not in the regular Arrogant Bastard.

The taste has a nice full mouth-feel to it an the hops are still quite raw and aggressive. Underneath this though is the oak; most notable as a tannic and astringent note in the finish. The beer is perhaps a bit too cold right now, but the flavors I can taste are orange, grapefruit, a sort of raw grassy herbal note, sweet caramel malt (which accentuates the citrus notes), menthol in the finish, and even a bit of tobacco.

The beer is quite tasty, but the oak is fairly subtle at this point. In the end this is a good thing, because if the oak was heavy handed it would really clash with the fresh, vibrant hoppiness that is characteristic of this beer. When paired with some Mexican food the Oak character really starts to become noticeable; it becomes much more woody with a pronounced buttery-oak type note in both the aroma and taste. But it still does not dominate the overall hoppy quality of this beer. This is a solid beer all around, and one which I enjoyed trying.

Serving type: bottle

12-06-2005 21:49:29 | More by Gueuzedude

TheManiacalOne

Rhode Island

4.78/5  rDev +13%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Poured from a 12oz bottle into a US tumbler pint glass.

A: The beer is a deep reddish brown color, with a short off-white head that fades slowly and leaves a thick lace on the glass.

S: The aroma is a nice mix of floral hops, caramelized malts and some citrus.

T: The taste is very well-balanced with flavors of caramel & citrus sweetness and a strong hops presence, which seems slightly toned down compared to the regular Arrogant Bastard. There's a nice hearty malt backbone. The after-taste is slightly hoppy and slightly sweet.

M: Crisp and a little smoother than the original Arrogant Bastard, medium body, medium carbonation, finish is clean.

D: Very tasty, goes down quite easily, not too filling, nice kick, I always have high expectations for Stone beers and they have yet to disappoint me, with this beer I was very interested to see what difference the oak aging would make on an already great beer. It seems to me that it took a little bit of the harshness out and made an excellent beer even better.

Serving type: bottle

05-04-2008 02:47:41 | More by TheManiacalOne

Knapp85

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev -5.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

This poured much like their normal Arrogant Bastard ale with a caramel like brownish orange color and thick white head on top. The lacing does it's job pretty well and sticks to the glass nicely. The smell of the beer is still pretty hoppy, it still smells like Bastard. The addition of oak had a minimal amount of strength in my opinion. The oak shows up slightly on the nose and in the taste but doesn't really curve my thoughts of the beer in either direction. The mouthfeel is nice, it's slick and smooth feeling. Overall I found it to be pretty good and would probably drink it again if I could.

Serving type: bottle

09-07-2011 05:36:38 | More by Knapp85

russpowell

Oklahoma

4.78/5  rDev +13%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Poured ruby red with a pillowy 2 fingers deep tan colored head. Great head retention & pretty good lacing

S: Rich biscuitty malt, then herbal & citrus hops move in. Smokeyness as it warms

T: Caramel, oakyness & dryness up front. Vanilla follows, along with herbal & citrus hops. Hints of cherry follow with some alcohol warming. Finishes dry, with hints of cherry & grapefruitty hops, that some how works

MF: Medium bodied, low carbonation & pretty good balance. Great smooth body

Drinks pretty easy, this is very tasty brew & somewhat complex, not sure I think this rates $16 a sixer though
(about $4-5 over priced IMO), a great, if overpriced beer from a brewery that usually is a pretty good value for the quality delivered

Serving type: bottle

11-22-2006 06:47:34 | More by russpowell

emerge077

Illinois

4.25/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Re-reviewing based on a fresh bottle that just arrived in Chicago. Just goes to show how important freshness is...

Copper reddish color, billowing tan foam. Great retention and visually appealing.

Definite oak in the nose, fruity and woody a trace of brown sugar. Flavor is also oak-forward with moderate hop presence, not as bitter as Arrogant Bastard, toned down from the oak aging. Resiny pine hop bitterness resonates in the aftertaste, with drying oak notes. The wood has a fruity note too, hard to describe, but it reminds me of cantaloupe. A trace touch of the abv, but not distracting. Easy enough to have one or two, but not one to have more of. I'm slowly sipping this one.

Glad I gave it a second chance...

03-20-2007

B- / 3.35
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | drink: 2.5

12 oz. bottle, obtained through questionable channels...

Pours a nice reddish brown with good clarity. Sheets of lace coat the sides of the goblet. Skim of foam remains for the duration, and foam has a rich, dense quality.

Smells lightly of grassy hops, slight bubblegum.

Taste leads off with a strange artificial rubber/plastic taste, before moving into hoppy territory. Doesn't have a signature oak-aged character, just seems a bit off. Mouthfeel is big like an IIPA, rich and full. Bitterness is present, not overwhelming...nicely assertive with residual herbal dryness.

Can't finish the bottle, i'm guessing it's an off batch, or inferior oak chips. The initial taste is pretty unsettling.

Serving type: bottle

04-02-2010 00:53:57 | More by emerge077

Halcyondays

California

3.95/5  rDev -6.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

On-tap at the Beachwood BBQ, in Seal Beach, CA,

A: Pours a dark murky brown, with a tan head, about 1-finger thick, leaves good lacing as the beer is drunk.

S: The weaker point of the beer for me, I wasn't getting much smell, though some good malts and woodiness came through in what I did smell.

T: Smooth, much smoother than the regular Arrogant Bastard for me, similar flavours though, a lot of malt, with some peat and smoke, presumably from the oak aging, with some woody, piney hops to balnce it out.

M: Smooth, as I stated before, robust, but mellow as compared to the original.

D: A very good beer, a change-up on the original Arrogant Bastard, but I like both styles very much.

Serving type: on-tap

08-26-2007 22:15:59 | More by Halcyondays

Gavage

New Jersey

4.2/5  rDev -0.7%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Appearance: clear dark copper in color with a thick fluffy 2" head that lasts forever. Nice lacing develops.

Smell: caramel and woody overtones are predominant. Some fruity tones linger in the background.

Taste: roasted malts, woody, vanilla, plums, raisins, a touch of grapefruit citrus and alcohol. A decent bitterness rounds it out.

Mouthfeel: smooth throughout. Long aftertaste. Medium-heavy in body.

Drinkability: the old reliable bastard with a twist. Nice change of pace from the standard and it peaks your interest. Nice beer.

Serving type: bottle

11-17-2006 00:43:02 | More by Gavage

jwc215

New Jersey

4.05/5  rDev -4.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

12 oz. bottle:

Pours hazed brownish amber with a thin off-white head that stays around.

The smell is of brown sugar and caramel with citrus, pine and floral notes. Oaky/woody background lets you know that this was oak-aged.

The taste is a heaping of malt - brown sugar, caramel/toffee with plenty of citrus and pine backing it up. Oak and vinuous notes, with some acidity, dominate the long, very dry, finish.

Full-bodied and rich in texture.

I like this one...but, personally I would probably choose the non-oaked Arrogant Bastard over it. I had this at a tasting awhile back and wanted to have it on a fresh palate - I still feel that while the oak is interesting (and I've had barrel-conditioned brews that really enhanced the flavors) it almost interferes with its great natural taste (call me a "party-pooper" I suppose). Still in all, it's a great beer...the Double Bastard still takes it all of the three, though.

Serving type: bottle

09-06-2007 00:12:03 | More by jwc215

biboergosum

Alberta (Canada)

4.35/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Grabbed a bottle of this for my "let's see if this is the time my suitcase gives up the ghost because of beer" return from Austin, Texas a few months ago. As I'm attending a whisky appreciation event this evening, what better way (with beer, anyway) to start things off...

This beer pours a hazy medium dark reddish copper hue, with a few fingers of thick, puffy off-white head, that settles into a cap for a while, leaving remnants of lacing around the glass. The aroma - I can smell it sitting on the table across from me - is dark roasted malts, fruity, with an acrid woodiness. The taste is big caramel malt, wrapped in the flavours of slightly charred oak - vanilla, caramelized sugars, an herbal earthiness. Then the citrus grapefruit and pine hops come crashing down over all of this, not quite balancing things, but at least making certain that all participants are present and accounted for. The body is nice and heavy, sumptuous, a mild carbonation trickling through the morass, the finish relatively light, only a slight malt stickiness and lovely mild citrus hoppiness lingering. This is a pretty decent example of the oaked beer trend of late - would that I could have more than the one of this.

From what I can remember, I like the extra complexity of this beer versus the 'regular' (heh) offering, especially the additional perceived hop components. The oak doesn't change the nature of the base beer, as other oak-aged products seem to show - well, this is Arrogant Bastard we're talking about here, so not much of a surprise, I suppose.

Serving type: bottle

03-01-2009 00:09:22 | More by biboergosum

tempest

Pennsylvania

4.38/5  rDev +3.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Single from Bocktown Beer and Grill

Appears dark red with a short white head and lacing. The aroma has a smooth mixture of the citrus hops and oak. It comes off like one note, making it unlike other hoppy beers. There's a dry, woody flavor, not like your normal oak, it seems like there's more spice to it. The hops are big with spicy citrus juice and a dry grapefruit finish that lasts long into the aftertaste. Yummy.

Now this is an American strong ale. Big, bold, and completely out there.

Serving type: bottle

04-25-2008 01:29:17 | More by tempest

akorsak

Pennsylvania

3.78/5  rDev -10.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Received in a trade with Boolshot. I am drinking this from a Stone 10 glass also received from Boolshot.

A: The ale is a deep copper red-brown color. The beer poured a thick two finger head that has laced nicely throughout the glass.

S: The ale has three discernible aromas: alcohol, oak and hops. The oak is present from the get-go, giving the ale a buttery aroma. The hops have a bit of a grapefruit bite and the alcohol, while warming, is big.

T: The flavors that appear here are clearly influenced by the oak chips. The tastes are buttery and almost chardonnay-like. I say almost because the intense hop character still emerges through oak. The hops are bitter, concentrated grapefruit and citrus flavors.

M: The mouthfeel is a delicious combination of hoppy bitterness and smooth oak butter flavors.

D: The beer has a moderate abv, but the hop and oak characters are so intense that you may not make it beyond a bottle or two. The beer is a treasure.

Serving type: bottle

11-20-2006 00:20:16 | More by akorsak

WVbeergeek

Ohio

4.38/5  rDev +3.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Not enough Stone to go around, I'm definitely glad they downed the portion size on this one from last year's 3L and draft releases of it. 12oz much more accessible to most of us East coasters, anyways it appearsa cloudy ruby amber brown with a large foaming beige toffee toned head looks good, real good leaves even lacing in a uniform fashion around my chalice. Aroma contains moderate oak with a piney hop edge and citrus grassy notes in there as well, touch of anise or other spice effect going on for me with mild vanilla softness overall hops shine and really unite with the alcohol great smelling brewski. Flvors is great mild sharp sweet malt caramel qualities with abrassive arrogant hop doses including herbal, pine, and mild citrus peel bursts definitely some woody character somewhat minty expression as well a somewhat tamed but oh so flavorful version of Arrogant Bastard. Mouthfeel is medium to fuller in body with strudy carbonation to carry all that the gravity, definitely coats the palate and gives you that I need to brush my teeth to get the enamel back to normal feel, due to the substantial oily hop resins flowing down the palate. Drinkability is actually amazing one of those rounded out Bastards is something I could go for anytime, I definitely need to pick up a few more.

Serving type: bottle

01-24-2007 23:55:25 | More by WVbeergeek

RblWthACoz

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev -5.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Pours a murky brown with reddish hues that has a lighter tan head. Nose is mild alcohol with some mild hops. Overall not the kick in the nose I would have expected. Flavor is a combination of wood and a tingling alcohol presence. Hops are definitely there in a deep way. Feel has a lot of carbonation to it and the liquid is pretty well bodied. I have to say that I distinctly remember my first time trying Arrogant Bastard and it left an impression. This seems to be a far cry from it and I want to say it is more subdued. Decent, but not as great as I would expect it to be.

Serving type: bottle

01-01-2008 03:28:00 | More by RblWthACoz

barleywinefiend

Washington

4.22/5  rDev -0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured a deep amber color with more carbonation than I expected. Nose was oaky, malty and some vanilla probably from the oak. Lots of oak, big hops on taste, did I mention dry oak, good and malty, that deep ruby color almost brown with a good nose. Big booze for a 7.2% beer, big malts,big hops and big flavor. Very good!

Serving type: on-tap

02-10-2010 13:01:22 | More by barleywinefiend

smcolw

Massachusetts

4.1/5  rDev -3.1%
look: 3 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Quite cloudy, dark, nearly mocha brown. Tight headed head dies quickly. Small amount of lace.

A blend of smells with each whiff, the first one was earthy, like decaying leaves. The second smell was a stong fresh hop with light dry malt. One of the most interesting aromas I've experienced.

Strong bitter hop up front. Although its aged on oak, I cannot taste it. This is a smooth beer with full body which provides good counterpoint to the powerful hop. This bitterness lasts from sip to swallow to aftertaste, which lasts a very long time.

This is not a balanced beer, but it is a rich, full beer with wonderful bitterness.

Serving type: bottle

12-09-2006 20:25:13 | More by smcolw