Stone Brewing Company Double Bastard Ale

Hello beer lovers and welcome to another edition of the NorCal Beer Blog's brew review.

Tonight’s featured beer is Stone Brewing Company Double Bastard Ale.  My first taste of Double Bastard was on tap at the Stone Brewing World Bistro and Gardens in Escondido.  I eagerly picked some up once I returned from my trip to San Diego and am keeping some for cellaring purposes.

From the Stone Brewing Company website:” This is one lacerative muther of ale. It is unequivocally certain that your feeble palate is grossly inadequate and thus undeserving of this liquid glory...and those around you would have little desire to listen to your resultant whimpering. Instead, you slackjawed gaping gobemouche, slink away to that pedestrian product that lures agog the great unwashed with the shiny happy imagery of its silly broadcast propaganda. You know, the one that offers no challenge, yet works very, very hard to imbue the foolhardy with the absurd notion that they are exercising ‘independent’ thought, or attempts to convey the perception it is in some way ‘authentic’ or ‘original.’ It’s that one that makes you feel safe and delectates you into basking in the warm, fuzzy, and befuddled glow of your own nescience. Why so many allow themselves to be led by the nose lacks plausible explanation. Perhaps you have been so lulled by the siren song of ignorance that you don’t even notice your white-knuckle grip on it. You feel bold and unique, but alas are nothing but sheep, willingly being herded to and fro. If you think you are being piqued in this text, it is nothing when compared to the insults we are all asked to swallow streaming forth from our televisions and computers. Truth be told, you are being coddled into believing you are special or unique by ethically challenged “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain” marketers who layer (upon layer) imagined attributes specifically engineered to lead you by the nose. Should you decide to abdicate your ability to make decisions for yourself, then you are perhaps deserving of the pabulum they serve. Double Bastard Ale calls out the garrulous caitiffs who perpetrate the aforementioned atrocities and demands retribution for their outrageously conniving, intentionally misleading, blatantly masturbatory and fallacious ad campaigns. We demand the unmitigated, transparent truth. We demand forthright honesty. We want justice! Call ‘em out and line ‘em up against the wall... NOW.”

Let’s get started!

Appearance: Pours a dark reddish brown with a small tan head and nice lacing.

Aroma: Scents of sweet and roasted malts, hop resins, orange rind and alcohol.

Taste: Tastes like liquid magic – smooth, incredible balance, malts galore and a nice hop bitterness.

Overall: Stone Brewing Company’s Double Bastard Ale at 10.5% ABV isn’t for just anyone…only the worthy. Very drinkable, but perhaps not as sessionable due to the high ABV unless you’re capable…dare I say, WORHTY (again)? An exceptional brew.

Cheers!

Mark Harvey