Stone Ruination IPA

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

Oozes hop aroma. Floral and grassy and grapefruity. Awesomely bitter. The first few sips cause IBU cringes, the last few are just perfect. Malt, yeast and alcohol are noticeable behind the massive wall of hops. The hops are piney, grapefruity and sweet. Astringency is not overbearing. This is tasty stuff.

Nmad dog.

Pours a nice murky gold with a one finger head that turns into a crown with heavy lacing. Hop scent is more floral than fruity, but very nice indeed. Wow this is good. For the palate breaker this supposedly is, it is very nice tasting and refreshing and well worth it’s place in the top 100. Fruity hops are the emphasis with less on the (IMHO) less pleasant casade area. Mouth is medium with medium carbonation. Works here. I could drink this all the time. I am thinking more often that West Coast DIPAs kick the asses of those from our end.

Bomber at Brick Store. Robust amber/gold color, not much head. Aroma is hops and then some more hops. Flavor is aggressively bitter--really too much for my taste,which runs more to sours & malt, rather than hop bombs. I’ve developed a recent appreciation for some really well-done IPAs, but this one is really too aggressive, and lacking supporting malts, for my liking.

I buy the bombers at a local store, and this is one of my favorite Stone brews. Most of the aroma is hops, with a thick lacing and a nice gold color. The taste is bitter with a blend of grapefruit, orange and pine. Get it -- you won’t regret it!

Served in a snifter from a tap at 3 Floyds, I could not detect much in the aroma besides hops. That changed with the first sip, as the solid malt back bone presented itself and tempered the citrus and pine notes. Pleasant to the palate, this is one of the few in this style of which I could enjoy a couple of snifters without turning my mouth into a desert. Not too sweet, as others tend to be.

Dark amber with a nice white head. Aroma is fruit,hops and bitter. Flavor is the same. Very nice beer.

From a 12oz bottle to a pint glass. Pours with 1 inch of thick white head and lots of lacing. Great straw/gold color looks great against the white head. Smell is of slight grapefruit and malt. Taste is overwhelmingly bitter and hoppy. Interesting blend of hop flavors grapefruit, pine, lime and pineapple with none dominating. If you like really hoppy IIPAs, you’ll like this one. I don’t. This didn’t have nearly the balance of malt that I prefer. Nonetheless a quality beer.

Strong pine and hop aroma with a crisp copper appearance... very smooth as the balance between hops and caramel is perfect... always a fan of imperial IPAs