A Couple of Arrogant Bastards

It’s surprising how different a draft beer can sometimes be from from its bottled counterpart. If you haven’t come across this before, stop in at O'Marro's Public House and check out a pint of Arrogant Bastard Ale from Stone Brewing. Then go try the bottled version of the beer. They’re two different animals.

Actually, I’ve never much cared for Arrogant Bastard. When I’ve had the beer in the past, I’ve found its bitterness to be so leaden and flat that it overwhelmed the beer’s other flavors – including the flavor of all those hops jammed in to create that bitterness in the first place. But the beer pouring out of the tap at O’Marro’s is nothing like that. This Arrogant Bastard has a much brighter profile. The bitterness is still there, but it’s not so dull and overbearing. Here it allows the hops to come through with a sweet, citrus character that’s entirely missing in the bottled version. The body of the beer is more pleasant, as well. The beer has a thick, malt base and on tap that malt character is full and rich in comparison to the syrupy, oily mouthfeel that I get from the bottled beer. Speaking of which, the only spot in Oshkosh where I’ve been able to locate Arrogant Bastard in bottles is at the Blue Moose Beer Cave on Murdock. They’re selling bombers of it for $4.49.

In either case, it’s a big, aggressive brew but the draft version at O’Marro’s is a better beer in every respect. When you’re at O'Marro's, though, don’t start with the Arrogant Bastard. Make your first beer something lighter, maybe a Guinness, and notice how clean the tap lines have recently become at Shawn’s bar. He’s switched over to the Micro Matic Clean Flo system and the beer is coming through beautifully.