Stone Brewing Co - Double Bastard

I've got a confession to make.

I've never had a Double Bastard. I've had Arrogant Bastard a bunch. Hell, Oaked Arrogant Bastard is one of my favorite beers ever. I've even had Lucky Basartd. But for all the times I've had these beers, I've never put a Double Bastard in my cart to take home and enjoy.

But tonight, THAT ALL CHANGES!! That's right, tonight we're drinking the one, the only, Double Bastard by Stone Brewing Co!

I don't really need to get into too many details. It's Double Bastard. Pretty sure if you are a craft beer fan, you have seen it, heard about it, had it, loved it, maybe hated it... so enough psychobabble, let's get this bastard poured.

Double Bastard pours out perfectly ruby red with a finger bordering on finger and a half of a white, rocky head. The head on this thing lingers for a long time. It's still in the glass right now as I'm typing this. There's been a slight retention and it's leaving behind a very thick and sticky lacing. There is a lot of carbonation coming up from the bottom of the glass. DB is pretty clear. This is a really nice looking beer.

Let's get the nose on the DB. Getting a ton of caramel and vanilla. A lot of a sweeter malt character. I'm picking up some molasses character as well. Honestly if I was to smell this without knowing what it was, I'd think it was a barleywine. There's some dark fruits in here. Raisins and figs along with some cherries. There's a very slight hop bitterness. It's not nearly as strong as I was expecting for both being a Stone Beer and part of the Arrogant Bastard line. I do pick up some of the bitter grapefruit but it's very much hidden by the caramel and malt characters.

The taste on the DB is really nice. There's immediately some hop bitterness. That's quickly followed up by some caramel and vanilla notes. I'm getting some nice molasses character here too. Reminds me a bit of a gingerbread without the spicy character of the ginger. Middle of the tongue there's a kind of sugary bread like character. I'm getting a lot more bitterness here than on the nose that's for sure. Back end of this I'm getting some roasted characters, maybe an espresso, kind of earthy note. A bit of a tobacco character here too. I really like this beer.

So overall, I have to say this is easily my 2nd favorite Bastard. Oaked AB is one of my top 5 beers. Double Bastard is really good stuff though. I'm very impressed. I'm sort of surprised at how balanced this beer is. It's not over powering as I had figured it would be. It's got good body, good hop characters that I didn't get as much on the nose but once you get into this beer, they are definitely there.

Rating: A (very solid A)

Wife... well, you should know by now.