So... You ever kissed your sister (or brother)? Ever played a great game and ended up tied with no more overtimes? Ever had vanilla ice cream plain? Yeah? Well then you've had the IPA equivalent of Metolius' version of the India Pale Ale. It's not bad, per se, but it isn't great either. No hopzilla going on, but there's a definite hop finish. There's too much malitiness for an IPA. Hell, you ever heard the word maltiness and IPA in the same sentence? I mean it's not an amber (though you wouldn't know it from the looks of it), but it's just sort of blah. If you're sitting at a BBQ and someone offers you a coors light or a Metolius IPA, definitely take the Metolius. Just don't expect anything earth shaking.
Stone - Aarogant Bastard Ale
This is a snippet of the message on the Bottle: "This is an aggressive beer. You probably won't like it. It is quite doubtful that you have the taste or sophistication to appreciate an ale of this quality or depth." It goes on to accuse the reader/drinker of being influenced by multi-million dollar ads, and attacks the big boys for their watered down crappy beer. Now, I love Stone. They brew good beer, and can hold their own with the best. More than that with their IPA, in fact. But I'm a little irritated with this beer. It was good. Damn good. It was a well rounded ale with some love for the hops-a-holic in all of us who like craft brews. But did they have to go so over the top? I mean, if you're going to call your beer an Arrogant Bastard, and lay claim to MY taste buds. You know the guy's taste buds who buys craft brews and even brews his own... you better damn well represent. This was a good beer. Medium/Full bodied with a great but not overpowering hops finish. But the only arrogance I found was in the marketing.
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I wrote that label back in 1997. Methinks you might want to read it again, but perhaps a little slower this time. "Perhaps you think multi-million dollar ad campaigns make a beer taste better" could hardly be defined as an accusation. Additionally, we don't "attack" big brewers, we make fun of fizzy yellow beer. And fizzy yellow beer drinkers. I mean c'mon...they ARE asking for it. Heh. Just sayin'.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, thanks for the good word about our beers and our brewery. Methinks you are among the Worthy.
Cheers!
Greg
Ok so I just opened a bottle of Arrogant Bastard Ale, Im pretty sure it might have flipped me off as I poured it into the glass... Great beer, love the lable, love the beer...
ReplyDeleteIdaho Brewer
Wow. To be put in your place by Greg Stone... AWESOME! Thanks Greg for the comment, and Sean, don't try to suck up just because he's one of the founders of your favorite brewing company ever.
ReplyDeleteActually, I guess that is a good reason to suck up. Nice work Sean.
Plus, i think part of the point is that the copy on the bottle is arrogant. Everything about the beer is arrogant. Often, beer snobs act the way the copy reads.
ReplyDelete