Stone Double Bastard

Yes, that really is the name.  Double Bastard is the bigger, badder and meaner cousin of Arrogant Bastard, which itself has an oak-aged brother.  Both of those are available year-round, while Double is released about once a year (usually in the fall).  All three have an exceptional reputation for brazen hoppiness and "abundant arrogance." All three are known for an aggressive flavor profile erring heavily towards bitter rather than sweet.  I just finished a bottle of this year's Double release, just out late last month.  Split it about 2/3 for me and 1/3 for someone else (it's a big bottle).




Yes, I have the actual glass from Stone.  Two of them, actually.

 

 

You can't really tell from either of those photos (no thanks to the poor lighting), but Double Bastard is a very clear, very transparent, and very red beer.  It isn't quite as brown in light as it looks there.  The foam tops out at about a half-finger tall.  High alcohol content cuts down on head retention and formation, and if this year's batch wasn't 11.2% pure ethanol I'm sure the foam would rise higher (and last longer).

The aroma is not as aggressive as I thought it would be.  A bit of indistinguishable bright fruit, a hint of pine cone and some dirt.  It has a mild suggestion of what I have come to call "the red flavor"---a weird combination of rotting bagels and burnt toast that I taste in pretty much every Irish red ale (hence why I don't like them).  It's faint though.

The flavor is not in any way faint.  It is very, very angry and bitter.  That red flavor comes back with a vengeance, like I expected (not what I hoped for).  Combine that with a lot of pungent hop bitterness and the end result is a beer that smacks your senses around quite a lot.  There are some hints of lightheartedness, though: some burnt sugar lends it a bittersweet sensation.  I like the pine flavor. Mostly though, the hops are flavorless bitterness, and the beer has some clear ill will towards all mankind---and if you read the novel written on the back of the bottle, you will quickly find out that is the point.

 

 

I've never really cared for Arrogant Bastard.  I felt like Stone couldn't decide whether they wanted to brew an IPA or an Irish red ale, so they brewed both.  I like a lot of IPA's; I've never enjoyed a red ale, Irish or American.  The burnt, rotting bagel/toast flavor is just too much, and it ruins Arrogant Bastard for me.  The suggestions of sugar keep Double Bastard from veering completely off course, and the hops are more distinct here than in the weaker version.  Weirdly, I find this more drinkable than Arrogant Bastard but I'm still inclined to age my second bottle.  The label says "ages well."  I think this needs some time for the hops to calm the hell down and for the grains to sweeten up a bit.