Stone Ruination IPA

Brewed by Stone Brewing Co.
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Escondido, California USA

Bottle @ the Rover 081128. Pours yellow with orange tinge and big creamy white head. The first smell is typical cali ale with apricot jam and oranges. Then comes a distinct hoppy aroma of cheap perfume and detergents. Reminds me of blue urinoir soap stones. Perfumy citrusy flowery and slightly spicy hops. Favor is soft malty with flowery perfumy hops, followed by assertive, but surprisingly balanced bitterness with perfumy and slightly grapy charachter. Very big body, almost sweet. I was disappointed by this beer. I was expecting something seriously bitter. This was malty sweet with cheap perfumy hops.

(10/23/08) Bottle drank in my hostel room in New York. Clear deep golden color with a medium stable white head. Aroma full of hops, resin, some pine needles, some flowery notes, cookies and some caramel. Sweet flavor with malt, caramel, cookie dough and some fruity notes. Continues with a very bitter hoppy attack (but still remains quite balanced) with pine and some grapefruit and light alcoholic hints. A very pleasant DIPA.

Had a bottle of this when in Vegas...holy hell! Initial impression of bottled hop flowers with a touch of malt at the back there somewhere - slightly overpowering at first, until your taste buds are bludgeoned into line! By the end of the bottle I was starting to enjoy it,and appreciate its nuances a bit more. We need more beer like this in Aus.

Taste 11/8 Bottle. Looks: Amber with a nice thick head. Aroma: Fruit and pine hop nose, with a little malt aroma. Taste: Heavy pine and floral hops, very long lasting on the tongue and very drinkable. Lingering spice.

WOW! This is by far the most bitter beer i’ve ever come across... and I’ve had quite a few DIPA’s. The hops here are quite impressive. Not as much malt as I would have hoped, but still pretty balanced. They ain’t lying when they say it’s "Bracingly bitter". It really is. You have to try it to really understand what they have achieved here. The only downside is that it’s a touch weak compared to other DIPA’s at only 7.7% alcohol/vol.

aroma is awesome and full of grapefruit and orange from the hops. nose fades quickly. app ia hazt dark gold, almost tawny. ouch, what the heck did this do to my mouth? immediately bitter but transitions to a sweet orange (candy like organe) taste. more tolerable and smooth as you drink it (or maybe your taste buds are just gone). still finishes sweet - like a candy. definitely a beer to drink, bu not pound.

Bottle. Pours a slightly hazy orange gold with a small, and quickly deflating, white head. Hops arrive at the nose while opening the bottle, and the aroma lingers as one gets closer. Depth is provided in a light toasted malt fragrance with a slight undercurrents of citrus. Starts off soft, thick, and velvety with remarkably fine carbonation. Finishes strong with a warming bitterness reminiscent of heavily oaked wines. All of this bitterness is nicely balanced though, and clearly not as ruinous as Stone would claim, as I’m certainly thinking of following it up with another…

12 oz. bottle - Pours a murky copper color with small off white head. Aroma is incredible... I get so excited when I first crack open a bottle and smell it instantly. A resin hop aroma that can’t be beat. Flavor is bitter which I love also som citrus, grapefruit and pungent aged cheese aftertaste. This is the best IPA I have had, this brew rocks and highly recomend if you love HOPS !!!!! I am adding to my rating due to the fact that this beer is perfection. I recently have had 4 or 5 6 pacs over the course of a few weeks and enjoy each beer more than the last !! I have had Hop Wallop and many other IPA’s but none compare to the Ruination !!! rerate 8/11/09 - I bought a six pac from different liqour store 3 months ago and this Ruination poured clear and not cloudy like I was accustomed to. It tasted strange and did not care for. I then bought a 6 pac from my usual place and it poured cloudy and tasted awesome like I remember. So if you get Ruination and it pours clear its probably going to suck!!