Double Bastard Bigger Longer Uncut
Stone Brewing

On draft at the Oceanside taproom location. In 10 oz snifter glass

Clear dark copper amber in color, cream colored head. Big oak aroma, on top of caramel malt. A little smokey. Similar flavors, with a strong underlying bitterness. A touch boozy but no more than expected for a 13%abv beer. Medium bodied, feel is a little sticky.

Draft at BitterCreek.Dark brown, small ring of head. Smoky, ashy aroma. Powerful. Taste is also big and bold. A sipper. Don’t know if I could drink a full pour. Good, but very strong.

 

 

 

A: Poured into a snifter to a deep brown beer topped by a dense and slightly rocky finger of light tan head which fades slowly to a collar around the edge of the glass with minimal lacing
S: Smells of peat and faded hops with some light caramel malt
T: Taste is faded hops and a hint of caramel before peat, iodine, and a tire fire come in with some hints of tobacco, there's also some earthyness with a hint of oak along with another round of faded hops and caramel. On the swallow there's more faded piney hops and earthyness, a nice blast of caramel sweetness, followed up with some lingering peat, iodine, and tire fire.
M: This beer has a body which is on the heavier side of medium. There's a slightly creamy feel while carbonation is sometimes prickly. The beer has a drying finish which is expected.
O: Overall I'm having a hard time deciding on this one. There's a surprising amount of peat going on in this beer and that comes from a person who drinks Octomores and other Islays. The peat in those is much better integrated though. It's interesting but I can't decide if it's interesting in a good way. Probably one that is better shared if you're still hanging onto a bottle. Share it with your peat loving friends though.

 

 

 

22oz bottle. Bottling date of '10/14/16'.
Amber brown colored body, clear body. One finger of light tan head. Leaves sheets of lacing.
As soon as the cap came off, I can smell the peat/iodine. There must be some malts in there somewhere.
Taste is more complex than the smell, but the peat is still strong. There are malts that express caramel and vanilla, along with a brief flavor of dark fruits, and an even briefer appearance of bitter hops. There is a semblance of chocolate at the very end and into the aftertaste. The higher ABV% hints at its presence but is largely hidden, but this beer expresses as a strong ale.
Medium plus mouth feel. Very good carbonation.
Stone pushes this strong ale into ones face and either one likes the Scotch peat dominance or one doesn't. I like the peat but this is still a very polarizing beer. I am sure I will carry the smoke forward for the next hour or two. Overall this beer is quite smooth (for those who like peaty Scotch whisky).

 

 

Shiny dark copper-red with a soft tan froth.

The woody peat is chock full of rubber bands and burnt plastic, and these sickening components are so potent they are able to push the caramel and extremely prominent burnt pine of other Bastards way in the background. I don't know what it is about Scotch having such a powerful influence in beer, but it's way more potent and forward in beer than it ever becomes in actual Scotch, and this is nothing but a blaring foghorn of an example of that.

The moderate body is frothy soft, though, with only a slight heat, surprisingly, and a semi-dry finish.

An absolute atrocity to all things beer, this is easily the worst of the Bastard series, which is already a tough competition for the bottom of the barrel.

 

2016 release aged 2 years:
L - Opaque amber/copper leaning more towards brown with a medium tan head that dissipates somewhat quickly but leaves behind some nice lacing.
S - Malt and whiskey as well as...maybe some aldehydes, rubber, and peat which honestly is somewhat off-putting to me personally - however, some might find this very good.
T - Complex: Notes of rich malt and barely followed by piney, bitter hops, intermixed with notes of caramel, dark fruits, vanilla, earth (incredibly peaty), and oh there's the whiskey profile - rubber, leather, woody, "peaty as hell" as per Arrogant Bastard perfectly sums up the whiskey flavor profile. Some smokiness as well. The 13% alcohol content is hidden very well.
F - Medium to full bodied with a light amount of carbonation - somewhat sticky
O - This is definitely not one of my favorites from Arrogant Bastard...by far. That said, it is not as bad of a beer as the reviews and ratings might lead you to believe. This is an incredibly complex beer with a nice flavor profile that builds on the amazing flavor of double bastard - however, if you are not a fan of scotch whiskey then you absolutely will not enjoy this beer - as the tagline on the bottle states, "peaty as hell". If you're a fan of anything Arrogant Bastard has put out and are lucky enough to get your hands on a bottle, I'd absolutely say go for it, but just temper your expectations if you are not a fan of scotch.

 

Poured 22oz bottle into snifter. A dark copper and ruby liquid fills my snifter with a 1.5 finger light tan head that dissipates quickly, but is present around the edge. Nice webbed lacing. Like scotch??? The aroma is loaded with it. Very peaty, smoky oak, with caramel malts peaking through some tobacco. Flavor starts off with heavy peat, tobacco, with a smoky meatiness along with the oak and caramel malts. It is in your face. Feel is a bit light, but on par for a strong ale, and it has decent carbonation. I'm not a huge scotch fan, but this beer came together nicely after some age.

 

This takes getting used to. Very strong peat smell and smoke flavor. Liked it more the second night than the first as I downed a growler.