I was visiting my friend in Nashville and got psyched to fucking hell when I found out they had Arrogant Bastard Ale there. This has been the #1 brew on my “Beers to Try” list for literally 3 or 4 years now, and I was almost giddy with anticipation.

The bottle itself is great, telling you how you are not worthy and “fizzy yellow beer drinking wimps” need not apply. It weighed in at above 7% alcohol and came in a 22 oz. bottle prepared to rape me.

A – The Bastard pours a dark amber brown with a tan fluffy head. The head was quite dark colored for an ale, almost a color usually reserved for stouts. There was a touch of red when held up to the light. It’s a really great looking beer. It truly looks like something Satan himself would drink.

S – Whoa, man, a lot here. I’ve never smelled anything quite like it. The first thing you notice right away is the staggeringly insane amount of hops in this thing. However, once you pass that there are also tons of little complexities like spice, brown sugar, and even some vanilla. I was kind of overwhelmed by the Bastard, which is clearly what they set out to do.

T – I will just get it out of the way right now and say it was a fucking challenge for me to finish the Arrogant Bastard. I split the bottle with a friend and we were dying (albeit happily). The mouth feel is really full, sticky, and almost syrupy. It opened with sweet malt before being blasted away into bitter hops for a finish of mountain forest crispness. I’ve honestly never tasted so many hops in a beer in my life, and I actually think that they could stand to tone it down a bit to let those great malt flavors shine a little more. You don’t even notice the alcohol, which could be a good or bad thing, because if you kill the whole bottle by yourself you will definitely be rolling.

Overall: *****

Arrogant Bastard Ale isn’t just a beer; it is an experience. I can’t stress that enough. It’s way too intense for me to drink regularly, but I’m overjoyed I got to try it. Definitely don’t pass it up if you get the chance.