Stone Brewing May Not Want You
Like Tasteless Yellow Whizz? Then Arrogant Bastard’s Not Your Beer.
by James "Dr. Fermento" Roberts
January 31 - February 6, 2002 / Vol. 11, Ed. 5
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Stone Brewing May Not Want You Like Tasteless Yellow Whizz? Then Arrogant Bastard’s Not Your Beer. James "Dr. Fermento" Roberts
Ask someone what their favorite beer is and you’re likely to get as many different answers as you would if you asked their favorite pizza. Beer’s a personal thing, about attitude as much as anything; people will defend their beer choices much as they’ll defend their opinions about religion, politics and sex. The production of beer is also about attitude. If the sole objective of making beer was making money, we’d have nothing but canned beers from brewing conglomerates that create their own markets by manipulating your attitude with slick advertising campaigns aimed at getting beer drinkers to think that consuming a product will provide the drinker with some attribute he or she doesn’t already have. Even craft brewers must position their beers carefully. They may be billed as sexy, sophisticated, fun, wild or just about any adjective in between. Take our local breweries: Glacier’s beers come across as sophisticated, mostly because of the context in which they’re served; Glacier Brewhouse is an upscale joint. On the opposite end of the scale are the beers from Cusack’s Brewpub. The devil-may-care attitude of the brewery and brewer is reflected in Cusack’s devilishly distinct and often uncommon line of brews. Midnight Sun Brewing Company’s motto is "Do the Wild Thing," and the Alaska animal theme on their masterly labels supports that well. To really grasp the concept of attitude as it applies to a brewery, however, you need to experience the entirety of Stone Brewing Company. This means focusing beyond the glass and the sensory pleasure of their beer and examining the organization that makes it and how they depict themselves in a global market where sameness is good and standing out usually means trouble. Stone Brewing Company’s beer first showed up late last year when Yukon Spirits, the University Mall liquor store, took a gamble and brought some into the state using less than conventional procurement tactics. The beer was an instant hit, but it didn’t take Stone Brewing long to get wind that their beer was being sold in an unfamiliar location. Any other brewery might have been flattered by the lengths someone would go to get their beer and left the door open for more conventional distribution. Not Stone Brewing. They threatened a cease and desist order. But Yukon’s boldness paid off in the long run: The beer is now widely available throughout Anchorage. It officially debuted at the Great Alaska Beer and Barleywine Festival two weeks ago, when distributor Odom/ANCO brought them to town for keeps. Right off the bat you can see these are beers with attitude. Take their Arrogant Bastard – the name says a lot, but the label says more: "This is an aggressive beer. You probably won’t like it. It’s quite doubtful that you have the taste or sophistication to be able to appreciate an ale of this quality and depth. We would suggest that you stick with safer and more familiar territory – maybe something with a multi-million dollar ad campaign aimed at convincing you it’s made in a little brewery, or one that implies that their tasteless fizzy yellow beer will give you more sex appeal. Perhaps you think multi-million dollar ad campaigns make a beer taste better. Perhaps you’re mouthing the words as you read this." Arrogant Bastard has a huge malt base with a high-impact hop punch that delivers a pineapple-like citrus nose and a somewhat coarse, almost herbal hop character in its 7.2 percent alcohol-by-volume center. It’s bitter but swallows smooth. The alcohol is hidden behind the hops and the complex malt character. I asked Stone Brewing Chairman and CEO Greg Koch how his company got so… well, arrogant. "When it comes to beer, I absolutely am," he said. "We brew the kinds of beer we want to brew, the way we feel they should be brewed. Everything on the label is true." Other beers in the Stone line that can be found in Alaska include their Smoked Porter, which is fundamentally different than Alaskan Brewing Company’s landmark example. "Ours is a porter first," said Koch. "For the record, I love Alaskan’s. In Alaskan’s, smoke is the predominant character. In ours, smoke is an element only, that adds a subtle depth and complexity to the beer." Look for Stone Brewing’s Arrogant Bastard, Smoked Porter and IPA around town in 22-ounce bombers. Kegs will follow, so monitor your favorite watering hole for a taste. For a rare treat, get to Humpy’s (610 W. 6th Ave., 276-BEER) and sample a pint of Double Bastard, which is billed as the Arrogant bastard with "excessive excessiveness." Humpy’s became the benefactor of the only two kegs on tap anywhere else except the brewery. Get it while it’s sassy!
