Day 312: Ruination IPA

Name: Ruination IPA

Brewer: Stone Brewing Co. (Escondido, CA)

Classification: Imperial IPA

Alcohol: 7.7%

Thoughts: I usually don't order bottled beer at a restaurant or bar when there is the option of draft available, but I did just that with Stone's Ruination IPA. By the way ruination is defined as "the action or fact of ruining someone or something or of being ruined". Stone says they named it this because it has so much hops in it that it will ruin your palate. Which, to put it lightly, is a stupid name! I say that because it doesn't ruin your palate at all. In fact it is like Viagra for the palate. It pours a hazy, perception-bending orange-gold  hue with a thick, heavy head that ribboned around the glass really well. The aroma is a tsunami of hops and malts. The hops are piney and minty, while the malts are biscuity and sweet like shortbread. Alcohol remained absent from the smell despite this being an Imperial IPA. Usually an Imperial IPA has lots of alcohol content and have ABV% around 10 or so. 7.7% ain't too shabby though. The taste is just more unrelenting hops. Those dry bitter hops that just coat your tongue and throat until you can't handle any more hops. Here's an analogy. Hops are to Ruination IPA like butter is to anything Paula Deen makes. If hops caused Diabetesssss this beer would be on the USDA watch list. This is a fantastic drink, and it gets two thumbs up and a full recommendation from me. 

Rating: 92/100