Saturday, August 18, 2012

Another CYBI Arrogant Bastard

If you read this blog, you probably know that I am a fan of Stone's Arrogant Bastard. My admiration of this beer is not just about it being a fantastic beer. I love the attitude behind the beer. I absolutely love that Stone keeps everything secret about how they make this beer.

I am really fascinated by the Brewing Network's attempts to clone this beer despite Stone's refusal to give any information on this beer.

Well, the BN guys tried again at this year's NHC. I am running behind (again) in my podcasts, so those of you who listen to CYBI probably are already up to speed on this. If you have not already, though, download the episode (Can You Brew It: Arrogant Bastard 4).

Mitch Steele came on again. He (true to form) was not very helpful, but he was extremely nice about it.

They spent quite a bit of time talking about Mitch's new book, IPA, which is one I will probably have to checkout. They also talked about what is going on at Stone.

Eventually, they got to talking about the AB clone. Tasty failed again. No one said the beer was cloned. Apparently it was close, but not quite there.

Like last year's attempt, Tasty used 2-row pale malt, special B, and crystal 150. Chinook hops at various points in the boil to get to 95 IBU.

You may recall that on attempt #2 (http://blog.ericshepard.com/2011/04/arrogant-bastard.html), everyone on the CYBI team except Tasty called the beer cloned, which is usually considered a clone success. Tasty is being stuborn by not going back to THE recipe.

Jamil suggested to Mitch that Stone go ahead and adopts the CYBI recipe. I thought that was funny.

So Tasty is going to continue to try to clone this beer. I think that unless he goes back to the agreed upon recipe, he will continue to fail. I am still a little peeved at the fact that he didn't brew the beer with the recipe that everyone (except him) said was cloned for Mitch.

But it sure is fun to listen to them try either way.
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2 comments:

  1. Dare To Eat8/18/12, 6:43 PM

    I don't really think you can ever replicate Arrogant Bastard. it's just to damn good. But that's not the real reason, you can't replicate the attitude and personality that Stone brings to that beer. It's more than just a solid beer. It's one of my top beers too but there are brews I rate well above it, but few that have that allure of Stone as a brewery.

    Best of luck in their attempts though! I would have no problem being a tester again and again for something like this ;)

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  2. ESheppy8/19/12, 3:18 PM

    I agree, Dare To Eat. Personally, as a home-brewer, I don't do clones. If I make a beer, I want it to be my own. I like to listen to CYBI for the brewing tips and every once and awhile I'll incorporate a piece of the given recipe into one of my own.

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