Bourbon Barrel Aged Arrogant Bastard Ale

I'm a huge fan of bourbon barrel aged beer. Bourbon County Brand Stout, Founders Backwoods Bastard, Central Waters Bourbon Barrel Aged Barley Wine and Founders KBS are some of my personal favorite beers. I enjoy them so much that, if they are on tap in my area I will recruit my friends to go try those beers with a level of enthusiasm that makes it seem like we are attending the Beer Super Bowl. Because of my fondness for those beers I seem to think any beer that spends time aging in a bourbon barrel is going to be fantastic. And while that is definitely not the case, I seem to fall for it every time.

On a recent visit to my local beer store, I stumbled upon Bourbon Barrel Aged Arrogant Bastard Ale from Stone Brewing Company and immediately picked up a couple bottles. While I was excited to try it, I've always had mixed feelings toward Arrogant Bastard Ale. I always thought the name of the beer was fantastic and the label on the bottle is hilarious. The flavor of the beer however has never quite been as good as I wanted it to be. Over the years I've revisited it from time to time hoping for different results but I always seem to arrive at the same conclusion, it's a mediocre beer that relies on its name to sell it. But I felt it was time to push those feelings aside. This version of Arrogant Bastard was aged in bourbon barrels and that gave it a clean slate and a strong desire for me to like it. But would I?

Bourbon Barrel Aged Arrogant Bastard pours a slightly hazy dark red with a lingering khaki head. The aroma is full of caramel malt and dark fruit with citrus, pine and oak. The initial flavor is pine and citrus with a caramel malt backbone, basically Arrogant Bastard. The flavor progresses to some pleasant vanilla and toffee sweetness from the oak before a slightly bitter pine finish. The most noticeable thing is the absence of bourbon flavor which to be honest I found most disappointing. The flavors of the oak clearly come through and do in fact add to the flavor in a positive way. However this isn't the oak aged version of Arrogant Bastard, this is the bourbon barrel aged version. Another thing I felt was lacking was proper carbonation. While it wasn't flat it was certainly lacking the proper amount of effervescence it required.

Grading Bourbon Barrel Aged Arrogant Bastard is difficult. While it is an improvement on the original beer, the barrel aging should have added more to its flavor profile. That being said, the added layers of sweetness brought a better balance to the aggressive hops of the original beer. But at the same time the lack of carbonation reminded me of drinking out of an old 2 liter bottle of soda. It might not be flat but it certainly was close. What I am basically trying to say is while this is not a bad beer, it just feels like a missed opportunity at making a really good one.

Overall I rate Bourbon Barrel Aged Arrogant Bastard a 2.75/5. It's worth trying if you are a fan of Arrogant Bastard Ale. But if you are a fan of bourbon barrel aged beers it feels like a disappointment.

Rating Scale:
1 - Repugnant and undrinkable
2 - Acceptable but forgettable
3 - Good, worth a purchase
4 - Excellent, a step above the norm
5 - Truly exceptional　

To discuss this blog or all things beer follow me on Twitter & Untappd at @ACraftyLook

For more beer reviews go to: http://acraftylook.blogspot.com/

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!

Not Your Father's Root Beer

From the moment I heard that Not Your Father's Root Beer was getting distribution in New York, I became very excited. The idea of an alcoholic root beer, while not uncommon, was something I had never seen, much less had the chance to try. So one day as I was reading the morning newspaper(Facebook news feed), I saw it was on sale locally. At that point I jumped out of bed and headed to the store. While driving there I started to have doubts about Not Your Father's Root Beer. What if this wasn't as good as its reputation? What if it tasted more like the awful Jack Daniel's Hard Cola I thought was such a good idea so long ago? What if this is just another “beer” that arrived with a lot of hype and ended up being a gigantic let down? My concerns seemed to vanish immediately as soon as I drove into the parking lot and went into the store. Two minutes later I walked out with a huge smile on my face, 8 bottles and a desire for it to be 5 o'clock somewhere. Several hours later, the time to try my first alcoholic root beer arrived and I was not disappointed.

Not Your Father's Root Beer pours very similar to root beer. It is very dark brown with a light fizzy head that dissipates quickly. The aroma in fact is reminiscent of an old fashion style root beer. It is candy sweet with heavy vanilla, along with anise and clove. The flavor matches the aroma and it is fantastic. The flavor of Not Your Father's Root Beer tastes pretty much exactly like an old fashioned root beer. The only noticeable difference is there is a slight spice and alcohol burn in the finish. While this is truly nitpicking(that's what I do here) the flavor of the alcohol seems to vary per sip. It can go from barely noticeable to an almost mixed drink-like finish. At only 5.9% I feel this should not be case and would have preferred it was masked slightly better. Other than that, this is a fantastic root beer that exceeded every expectation I had for it. I see this being a fixture in my refrigerator for the foreseeable future.

Overall I would rate Not Your Father's Root Beer a 4.5/5. If you are a fan of root beer, this is for you. If you are not a fan of root beer then ignore this review completely.



Rating Scale:
1 - Repugnant and undrinkable
2 - Acceptable but forgettable
3 - Good, worth a purchase
4 - Excellent, a step above the norm
5 - Truly exceptional　

To discuss this blog or all things beer follow me on Twitter & Untappd at @ACraftyLook

For more beer reviews go to: http://acraftylook.blogspot.com/

Thanks for reading. Sláinte!