Beer Events – San Diego Beer Week: Stone Brewing’s “Redoubled Double Bastard Ale”

With San Diego Beer Week now behind us, I wanted to quickly record the single event I attended before it trickled out of my brain forever.

On Saturday November 2^nd, Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens hosted its 2013 Double Bastard release party.  Titled “Redoubled”, the event featured the premier of this year’s Double Bastard, the eight vintages that preceded it, plus a handful of variations.  Double Bastard is one of my favorite Stone products, so I felt like this was my one not-to-miss.

My friend and I arrived early at brewery, fearing that we would have to fight a crowd.  This concern proved to be unfounded and we were seated immediately.  Over the next two hours we consumed a large quantity of the history of Double Bastard, four ounces at a time…

• 2005 – Very watery; port and sherry flavors; everything I liked in the 2007 vintage, but muted
• 2007 – Port-like aroma; port and sherry notes; prunes; bitterness is nearly completely gone
• 2009 – Smells of brown sugar; bitterness has dropped off almost entirely, touch of sherry; less oxidized than 2011
• 2011 – Bitterness has dropped significantly; plum and pitted fruit flavors; slightly oxidized
• 2013 – Sweet; amplified bitterness; citrus resembles tangerines; very fresh and refreshing; sharp and alive
• 2010 Bourbon Barrel – Sweet, sharp, clean bourbon flavor; neutered hop character; very rich; good, but four ounces is about all I could drink of it
• 2010 Chipotle – Not over the top heat; maturely measured chilies; mellow, pleasant, green, and smoky
• 2012 Toasted Oak – Tannic and woody; rich citrus peel bitterness; heavily dominated by the oak
• 2012 Red Wine Barrels – Tons of wine in the nose; tannic and bitter; great oak and wine flavor

It was an amazing opportunity to attend an event like this and experience how a beer like this ages.  After all was said and done, I think that the newly released 2013 was my favorite.  Double Bastard is a beer that showcases hops, and while the earlier releases were interesting, it was only when the hops genuinely shined through did the beer seem complete.  Of the variations, I think the red wine barrel variety was my favorite.  I’ve had a few wine barrel aged beers that were complete misses, but this one was certainly not one of them.  The rich wine and the citrusy hops played together in perfect harmony.

All of this beer, along with a freshly baked pretzel and a skillet-full of vegetarian shepherd’s pie, made for an incredible afternoon.  Before we left I took a quick stroll through the gardens and gift shop, where I picked up a growler of Ashy Stache (smoked IPA) to go.  By the time we exited the compound the line out the door was exceeding 90 minutes, so I’m glad we showed up when we did. 

“Redoubled” is definitely something that I would look into visiting again in the future, and highly recommend to friends.

-Matt