Stone Ruination IPA

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

12oz bottle poured into an English pint. SRIPA pours dehydration yellow, if you get my drift, with a medium-sized extremely thick head that looks like an ice cream float. The aroma is perfect. It is a nice blend of pineapple and marijuana. The body is medium-to-heavy and slick with hop oil. The hops are a tad high for me but not unexpected for an imperial IPA. I prefer regular IPAs as a whole bus this is a great style example. Hop heads rejoice! The high hop billet caresses the alcohol out just enough to add complexity and depth to the character. The finish is dry, leaving you begging for just one more sip. I would, I could with a mouse and in a house, in a box, with a fox...

First of all, the aroma. The second the cap is popped this beer throbs with fresh pineapple chunk juiciness, mandarin cheesecake, soap, lemon/lime Jelly Tots (gelatinous English confectionary) , thick encloaking pollen, fresh-rubbed geranium chlorophyll tones, human sweat, intact biscuity pale malts for company. A balance of juicy malt, yeast and INTENSE citrus hops there that reminds me of Rulles Tripel as much as a murderously hopped IPA. The sweatiness and resinous green takes over as it heats. At first sniff a massive humming world class ale; I can’t really imagine a beer smelling any more saliva-prompting. Outrageous. Body slick, fat and low carbonation, lacing beautifully at the strength. Mouth fiercely bitter but balanced with grapefruit , mandarin tang, ...erm, paracetemol grapefruit quinine harshness....no, forget about balance. One for the hopheads. But still a trace of residual nutty biscuity pale malt holding things back from the abyss. By their fingernails. Despite the hop pungency, a beer I could happily swig straight out of the fridge every night when I got home from work; big and intense, but aromatic and moreish. Tested its hop mettle against a fiery Rogan Josh and it more than held its own. A wild, huge, balanced, punishingly tangy savoury beast. Octo ccouldn’t take it. Where can I get a crate?

I have tried this beer many a times, but I have yet to rate it. This beer is transparent, too clear for an imperial/double IPA. Nice hop aroma. It is very pungent, but I wouldn’t say it is as good as Pliny, or Hop Wallop. Very aromatic with hops. Nice malty aroma as well. This beer has a nice balance between hops and malts, as far as the aroma is concerned. Nice malt and hop balance. A nice bittering hop makes the beer very good. The bittering hop allows that bitter flavor to linger all over your tongue. I am not a huge fan of the palate, but this beer is pretty good. Overall, look at the picture and you can see that it is too filtered, but the flavor, as far as the hops and malts, have a great balance. This is an above average imperial/double, but not the best.

Bottle with SixFootSix. Pours an off-white, lacing head and a hazy golden color body. Smells of Pineapple, grapefruit, and honey. Tastes of pineapple, apricot, and honey. Bitter finish. Very hoppy. Very hoppy.

Bottle, pours a cloudy yellow beer with a fluffy white hear. Aroma is sweet citrus pine and hops. Flavor is also sweet citrus hops with a note of pine, clean mouthfeel with a bitter dry end. very nice beer I would!

Pours orange with a nice floral aroma. Quite hoppy, but not overbearingly. Well balanced for a strong IPA. Very good beer.

Pours dull orange with yellow hints and light and fluffy white foam which forms in drifts around the sides of the glass. A candy floss sweetness with a stabby hop flavour underneath. Quite fruity in a slightly tropical way. Very promising multi-layered aroma. Big, hard-hitting hops threaten to overwhelm but just as they teeter on the edge of too-muchness they recede. What follows is a candied peach smoothness. The after effects contain much hoppy bitterness but the fruit lingers too. Terribly well judged. Very tingly in the mouth. Smooth and oily thick. Another fantastic brew from Stone. How I wish these were easier to get hold of in the UK. Really balanced and darned tootin’.

Pours orange with a nice fluffy white head. Tons of hoppy aroma. Flavor is hoppy bitterness, but not overly so. This is actually pretty well balanced in spite of the warnings on the bottle. Very Good