Beer Review: Double Bastard Ale

The Final Rating 9.9/10

First Impression: Taking a gander at the bottle and the exact ABV of 11.2%, I kind of know what I am in for, which is why I exactly did all the work I needed to do throughout the day before I engaged with this source of liquid annihilation.

My anticipation of smell is an aroma of fruity flavors. Probably citrus, caramel, and then there are those varieties of flavors I am anticipating from good ole Arrogant Bastard Ale. I don’t mean to confuse the aromas I have mentioned with Arrogant Bastard of course, but I do remember the citrus quite well.

The taste considering all of the high ABV beers I’ve had will probably be on the bittersweet side. Since its one of Stone’s special strong ale’s, it may be considerably more hoppy and hopefully pack more of a bite than Arrogant Bastard Ale, which is actually currently my favorite beer.

The head retention might last a while after the pour, the color itself should appeal as an amber, but that I am unsure of as of now. The head should appear to be a foamy tan, like its brother ale that I have previously mentioned. Yes, I expect some similar characteristics but I am definitely hoping for a rougher taste and a considerably adventurous experience for my taste buds to endure.

Pour:  No aggression is needed for the pour and you can see a lot of action going on as it fills up in a Weyerbacher pint glass. Quickly but swiftly, the head reaches the top of the glass, about roughly an inch thick. In fact, the glass almost overflowed.

Appearance:  Sort of a dark amber copper color. The head maintains a very nice light tan where you can see micro bubbles endlessly flow up from the bottom of the glass. Simply put,  just one of the  beautiful moments for a beer enthusiast to see.

Head & Lacing: The head retains itself quite well but you will notice after a while that it will start to fade. Very foamy view from the top of the glass, as if I’m visualizing a cloud of foam where I can barely see any porousness. The lacing sticks well to the glass as if it’s not going anywhere for the time being, even when the head starts to fade down more and more.

Nose: Right off the back you pick up notes of citrus and pine along with a buried scent of grain alcohol with deeply hidden caramel that indicates the balance of malt and hops overall. It’s hard for me to tell what other aromas linger.

Palate: There is a steadily hint of the alcohol blended with citrus and pine straight up front. Of 11.2% ABV you really get the taste of the grain alcohol, but not as much as you would if you were to sip high ABV spirits. It simply doesn’t bother me, since I’m use to hard spirits with a rough taste, and in general it just seems quite sessionable regardless. In that regard, I actually develop more appreciation for the alcohol taste as it is backed up by other complex and intense varieties of flavors that tend to sneak in which I can’t really put my finger on.

In the back, the hops creep up nicely, I guess that may be the lingering of the citrus and pine flavor of them steadily undermined by the bittersweet malt flavor, which is indeed quite complicated to comprehend for myself even. I do also get a hint of caramel and maybe somewhat of a rye or whole grain bread flavor but overall this seems to be a stronger version of the ordinary Arrogant Bastard Ale as far as the palate serves. There may be other flavors I can’t pick up, but maybe that is because I am overwhelmed by the mentioned flavors.

Overall with the flavor, there is a pretty good balance of malt and hops, but I think in the end I get more of a balance of the bittersweet malt mixed with the taste of alcohol. I guess one can imagine the taste as if it was a more sessionable Tequila, except it tastes nothing like Tequila and Tequila tastes nothing like it. Especially as it warms up, the malt flavor seems to dominate but when it was cold I was definitely able to sense the balance of hops up with the malt.

Overall: This is just about the best damn beer I ever had. Demonstrated is a very relinquishing balance of hops and malt with a pleasant blended hint of alcohol along with other varieties of complex flavors. Not much more can be expected or should be expected here. I always wish for every beer I have had though, that the flavor can have more bitterness to it. On the definite side, this is definitely just a stronger and more improved Arrogant Bastard Ale.

It was either this or the Oaked Arrogant Bastard I was posed with getting at the Liquor Store just the other day and needless to say, I am delightfully satisfied. Next time I’ll be sure to pick up the Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale and do a review on that as well. Taking a look at the beer is also a site to see, especially for those beer enthusiasts. Aroma is heavily inviting for the next sip with the palate to back it up. Lacing remains to stick to the glass from the start.

Pours with ease and it’s not for the weak hearted to drink as it mentions on the bottle. Be warned though, you will taste the alcohol. However, I think the alcohol taste is simply the best thing about this beer because it gives it that robust spark to back up the palate just a little bit more than an ordinary beer would with a lesser ABV.