Arrogant Bastard Ale

First Brewed: 1997
Brewery Location: Escondido, California, United States
ABV: 7.2%

History & Availability: Stone Brewery, makers of the Arrogant Bastard, actually don't consider this beer to be their flagship, despite it being by far the most popular of their brews and the only one you'll find with any consistency on the east coast. However, it does get some great circulation and I tend to find it almost anywhere craft beers are sold.

Appearance: A medium ruddy color, this beer has a slight head that dissipates to a thin layer within a couple minutes. The beer is totally opaque, and probably the lightest beer I've seen so far that has such a cloudy quality. I can see only slight carbonation, which makes sense due to the relatively small head, but again because it's so cloudy I can't really tell. --Interestingly the head seems to actually increase as you drink the beer.

Smell: Pretty bitter. The hops are definitely prominent in this one, and it's not mild hops either. Hidden beneath the hops are scents of some bitter grain and alcohol, but these are definitely secondary scents that I really had to search for.

Taste: Same as the smell, this beer is aggressively hoppy. The brand's shtick is the arrogant attitude, as the name implies; and as such the bottle proclaims prominently that "you're not worthy" of such an aggressive taste, and I have to say, you probably won't like this beer if you don't have an incredibly refined palate. As the beer warms you get a little more of a sweet taste in the background but the bitter hops always remain prominent in the foreground.

Mouthfeel: Rough. This is definitely not the beer to drink if you're looking for an easy, quick-drinkable brew. It's tough to really hold for any longer than a couple seconds because it's just so bitter. Carbonation is lowish so that's really not the issue, it's totally a taste thing.

Drinkability: I personally have trouble finishing a 22oz bottle simply due to the overwhelming hops. It's not a burpy beer by any means, and it's not too filling, but if you're not crazy about the taste it's going to be tough to have too much of it.

Overall verdict: A-, it's not one of my personal favorites, but it's the best-tasting of the highly-hopped beers I've had yet.