Ruination Tenth Anniversary IPA - Stone Brewing Co.

johnmichaelsen

Oregon

4.1/5  rDev -6.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On tap at Al's of Hampden.

The beer pours an orange amber color with good head retention and lacing. The nose is impressives in this beer, as I get a huge aroma profile of orange citrus and pine (with a capitol P). There's also a slight balsa wood, lavendar component as well, which is impressive. The flavor profile replicates the nose, though there was a bit more complexity. Interestingly, although this beer is quite bitter, leaning to the dry side, ultimately the finish was a bit sweet. Mouthfeel was medium bodied to full, with a long, bitter, alcoholic finish. The only real problem is the heat in the finish, which mars this beer's drinkability a bit. Knowing Stone, I assume they made this beer to be intentionally over the top (and they succeeded), but I just found this beer to be a bit too boozy and hot, even though the flavor profile is pretty excellent otherwise (it's like the regular ruination on steroids).

A good beer, but it's hard to imagine drinking more than a single glass of this.

Sampled this in bottle format later the same evening. There seemed to be a bit more pine in the nose (which surprised me), but otherwise I found the bottle version to be very similar to the draft version (and so not in need of additional review).

Serving type: on-tap

06-30-2012 15:54:07 | More by johnmichaelsen

beerthulhu

New Jersey

4.28/5  rDev -2.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

A: Cadmium orange, good clarity, with a moderate rise of effervesce. Bready oatmeal white head retains nicely and sticks well on the vessel.

S: Fresh grapefruit juice with a touch of pine and fresh oranges have a good level of aromatic level.

T: Dry pine, grapefruit, toasted dry grains, strongly hopped, but smooth, bitter and evenly refined. Flowery bite of dry hops, toasted dry grain base, with strong grassy-lemon dryness.

M: Good fullness, sticky and syrupy consistency, softly carbonated. Bitter pine and soft alcohol warmth.

O: Enjoyable palate wrecking 2x ipa. Few could argue its assertive and aggressive dry hop nature that is overall balanced pretty well with the malt base.The hop fade is rather quick off the tongue but thats ok because it delivers a blunt amount of hops upfront that will leave you satisfied. Overall i would say this is very good, but find it hard to limit its flavor score of just a 4.0, smoothly bitter, well balanced, assertive hoppiness.

Serving type: bottle

07-12-2012 23:45:50 | More by beerthulhu

woodychandler

Pennsylvania

4.3/5  rDev -1.8%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Today is the annual IPA Day and I wanted to do something special to celebrate. I was able to purchase a couple of bottles from my local bottle shop when they initially went on sale and since it is marked "Limited Edition - Enjoy Fresh", it occurred to me that today might be the day to break it out.

From the bottle: "In June 2002, we released Stone Ruination IPA. Bigger, hoppier, & much much [italicized] much more bitter than the popular beers of the day. In fact, back then it was on the outer fringe of craft brewing. So, in a bid to warn folks of the bitter impact of our "Liquid Poem to the Glory of the Hop", we named it Stone Ruination, for its extraordinarily bitter, "ruinous effect" on the palate. People thought we were nuts. Nobody would want such a bitter beer. You see, in June 2002, only a tiny handful of breweries either had bottled a double IPA as a limited release or had one on tap at their brewpub. Without realizing it, we'd made a bit of history, as our new beer proved to be the first full-time brewed & bottled double IPA on the planet. How times have changed. Today, double IPAs are brewed by literally hundreds of craft breweries all over the world. Incredible. Delicious. And incredibly delicious.

No, we didn;t create the double IPA style. That honor's been attributed to our old friend, Vinnie Cilurzo, who produced his Blind Pig 1st Anniversary IPA in 1996 in nearby Temecula, CA (the same year Stone opened). We then picked up the double IPA baton with our successively-ever-bigger-and-hoppier Stone 2nd through 5th Anniversary IPAs (1998-2001). Ultimately, in 2002, we blended those recipes to create Stone Ruination IPA, if for no other reason than we simply wanted that big, hoppy character available to us all year 'round. Turned out you did, too! Today Stone Ruination IPA is one of the best selling double IPAs in the world, thanks to you, so we brewed this special version to celebrate."

I set this aside for International IPA Day and here we are! It poured with a massive two fingers of deep-tan head with excellent retention, leaving sticky lace behind as it fell. Color was a deep amber with NE-quality clarity. Nose was dense with citrus hops, caramel malt and alcohol heat. I almost needed a seat belt before beginning! Mouthfeel was full, kind of viscous and quite oily on the tongue with lots of citrusy hops on the tongue. Phew! I know that I was missing subtleties in it, but the heat was masking a lot of it for me. Finish was beyond dry, it was f**king arid! Man, I wanted a glass of water just to be able to catch my breath. Phew! This was quite the beer, but a steady diet would be too much, even for this self-avowed hophead.

Serving type: bottle

08-02-2012 22:50:07 | More by woodychandler

HopHead84

California

3.63/5  rDev -17.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

6/15/2012

Snifter.

A: Yellow orange. Very hazy with a monstrous beige sea foam head. Very good retention with lots of lacing. I wonder if this is chill haze. I guess I don't know.

It was chill haze. The color is a dark orange with perfect clarity.

S: Pungent pine and citrus notes with a little floral influence. Sugary malt with notes of bread and a bit of caramel. Alcohol is noticeable. Orange blends with tangerine, generic melon, and a touch of guava.

T: Prominent pine resin notes with a firm sugary sweet bready malt foundation that matches the intensity of the hop onslaught. There's a little caramel in there with noticeable booze. This is very bitter with pronounced grapefruit rind and orange pith citrus characteristics. Alcohol presence is stronger in the finish and it gets to be a bit much when the beer warms up.

M: Upper medium body with upper medium carbonation. The mouthfeel is smooth, dry, and a touch heavy.

Overall: This is pretty good, though it falls short of my expectations. If you're hoping for a bigger version of that dry classic you know as Ruination you'll need to adjust your expectations.

The first half of the bottle was more pleasant than the second half. If I'd had one cold 8oz pour on draft at Stone I'd rate this higher than I did, but a full bomber with adequate warming shows me this is a pretty solid beer but overly malty and alcoholic while lacking the bright hop expression I find in fresh Ruination. It's more akin to a Barleywine than the Double IPA I was hoping for. Well crafted, but not the sort of beer I would buy again.

Serving type: bottle

06-16-2012 05:37:56 | More by HopHead84

kojevergas

California

2.51/5  rDev -42.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 2

10.8% confirmed. Bottle acquired at a local SoCal bottle shop on Saturday. 1 pint 6 fl oz brown glass bottle with standard pressure cap and posh etched label served into a conical Samuel Smith's pint glass in me gaff in low altitude Los Feliz, Los Angeles, California. Reviewed live. Expectations are actually high even though I despise Stone; I've heard some pretty good things about this one.

Served straight from the fridge. Side-poured with standard vigor as no carbonation issues are anticipated.

A: Pours a 2.5 finger beige colour head of nice cream and thickness, and great retention (~7+ minutes) for the high ABV. Frothy, silky, and appealing. Body colour is a surprisingly hazy murky orange-copper. Tangerine orange, if you will. No yeast particles are visible. No bubble show. Carbonation bubbles are visible in usual quantities; carbonation seems fine. Nice sticky lacing clings to the sides of the glass as the head slowly recedes. I'm actually fairly impressed with the appearance, though the lack of clarity and translucence has taken me off-guard.

Sm: Hop character is generic floral with light grapefruit, some nectary notes, and some pine. But what catches my attention is not the hops; it's the overdone milky sweetness. Nectary and sticky and too prominent for the style. They definitely doubled the malt to compensate for the hops, but I don't know that they did it well judging by the aroma. I don't detect any yeasty notes or alcohol. A messy aroma of moderate strength. The emphasis is in the wrong place and there doesn't seem to be any balance - but hey, it's Stone.

T: Some wretched grapefruit with an overly sweet malty foundation that really destroys all balance - especially in the third act, where I'm left with a milky rotted tangerine character that lingers off the finish. Blech. Some nice juicy citrus up front, but it's quickly destroyed by the poor malt build. I don't know which pale malts they selected, but they're not doing it for me here. Amarillo or columbus would have been much better hop choices. Hop character lacks diversity, depth of flavour, or evocative quality. Overdone caramel contributes to the third act nightmare. Butterscotch. Cream. It's like it becomes a crappy saison in the third act, but without the accompanying spice - just milkiness and caramel malt. Alcohol does come through, but it's well hidden for the most part - and besides, it's the least of the problems here. To be honest, the flavour isn't that bad in the opening act; the grapefruit is a bit more overt and the maltiness hasn't gone rogue yet. But the balance - both structurally and in terms of flavour - is wretched. Another mess from Stone brewing. Pineapple hits on the climax. Maybe some clove? Who cares. It's complex without any balance or subtlety; any homebrewer can dump a bunch of ingredients in, but it takes a master to control them. This tastes like a homebrewer got control of some fancy toys.

Mf: Smooth. Wet. A bit creamy - a strange and out of place attribute for an Imperial IPA. Good carbonation - a highlight of this beer. Presence on the palate is poor; it overwhelms. I wouldn't say it ruins; it's just a mess dumped on your tongue.

Dr: Another mess from Stone that fails to impress. I wish I loved this like others do, but to me it's just more testament to the ineptitude of Stone's brewers. Why I keep buying their beer I don't know. I guess I keep hoping I'll come across one that's great. I definitely wouldn't get this again; more for all of you. I'll be sticking to Alpine's IPAs. To this beer's credit, the ABV doesn't come through as much as you'd expect; I'd peg it for about 8% if it were a blind taste. I wouldn't call it drinkable, but I won't have any trouble killing this bomber alone. Disappointed. I hope the Enjoy By waiting in my fridge is better.

Low C-

Serving type: bottle

02-27-2013 05:11:16 | More by kojevergas

Brad007

Vermont

4.48/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Pours a nice copper gold with a one-finger head into my glass. Very nice colors for the style.

A citrus uppercut devastates the nose with plenty of spiciness and pine.

Ditto on the taste. Tastes like hop juice with a wallop of grapefruit, spice and pine. A fucking palate wrecker!

Around the court, in the net, nothing but bitterness! It warms the throat thoroughly.

This is certainly a step up from traditional Ruination. I give it high marks.

Serving type: bottle

07-02-2012 01:08:12 | More by Brad007

stakem

Pennsylvania

4.43/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Draft offering served in a nonic. It was an awesome experience last month to see this get wheeled into the local bar and get put on tap within seconds of arrival. Awesome that the serving temp was ideal straight from the getgo with no need to warm up. The brew appears a clear copper color. A tan creamy cap sits atop supported by streaming carbonation.

The smell is herbal as all hell with pine and citrus. A light tropical quality runs throughout with a hint of sulfur. Underneath toasty grain and a fusel touch of alcohol mix things up and a cheesy grain note towards the back evolves as it warms up.

The taste is toasty grain with a huge hop presence. Flavors of herbs, pith, pine, resins are upfront. There is a very nice tropical friut flavor present before the onset of the alcohol. The hop flavoring is really noteworthy. It displays a wide array of flavor without crushing your palate with bitternes.

This is a heavier than medium bodied brew with a modest amount of carbonation. A very nice tribute/anniversary brew that I would pick anytime over the normal ruination. After coming down of a week long ruination kick where i was drinking the normal brew just about every day, this anniversary is a real superior treat.

Serving type: on-tap

08-02-2012 15:32:11 | More by stakem

Georgiabeer

Georgia

4.43/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A nicely hopped up version of the regular Ruination, with some more alcohol to boot. Drink it fresh! Those lovely hops will fade quickly and you'll lose the fresh herbal notes and resinous qualities of the beer. Right now, you get a blast of citrus and stinky herbs in the nose and then more of the same in the taste with a long bitter finish that is redolent of pine. It's definitely a hop hit, but as big as it is, it's balanced and has a developing flavor profile that runs the range of double IPA flavors. Really well done.

Serving type: bottle

07-29-2012 21:47:46 | More by Georgiabeer

thagr81us

South Carolina

4.35/5  rDev -0.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Enjoyed this one while sitting around the pool on the 4th in the sun! Served from bottle into an RJ Rockers shaker. Poured golden yellow with a one and a half finger white head that subsided to half a finger fairly slowly. Maintained phenomenal lacing throughout the glass. The aroma was comprised of sweet malt, pine hop, grapefruit, citrus, grapefruit hop, and citrus hop. The flavor was of sweet malt, tropical fruit, grapefruit, citrus, citrus hop, and grapefruit hop. It had a medium feel on the palate with medium carbonation. Overall this was a fairly great brew. I have always been a big fan of the regular version, so when I saw this one, I HAD to try it. It definitely did not disappoint. For them to have raised the bar on an already great brew, I have to give them a lot of credit for that. The alcohol is NOWHERE to be found on this one which is quite scary as easy as this was to down. A definite must try from Stone if you have not done so already. Would love to try this one Randalized (hint hint local bars).

Serving type: bottle

07-06-2012 14:46:45 | More by thagr81us

Huhzubendah

District of Columbia

4.28/5  rDev -2.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Bottle split with Darrell. Thanks buddy.

The beer is orange with an inch of dense, white head. Plenty of sticky lacing left on the side of the glass. The aroma is large and in charge. Pine, grapefruit, malt, booze. An in your face beer from Stone. The flavor is a bit hot, with pine, malt, and booze, followed by lighter notes of citrus. Caramel malts lead the way for some subtle grapefruit tartness. Medium to full bodied and sticky on the palate.. Overall, this is really tasty, but not something I would consume in quantity. Indeed, this is a palate ruiner.

Serving type: bottle

08-13-2012 01:10:52 | More by Huhzubendah

largadeer

California

4.13/5  rDev -5.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Appearance: Pale burnished amber with great clarity and head retention.

Smell: Much like regular Ruination, this is citrus heavy and resinous with big grapefruit, orange and pine hop notes. There's a bit of tropical fruit in here too, presumably from the addition of citra, which works well with the moderate level of malt sweetness. I also pick up a bit of rosemary. Alcohol is plainly noticeable, but it's not at an offensive level for a beer of this size. There's little actual malt character here, more just a layer of sugary sweetness.

Palate: Sweet citrus and tropical fruit - grapefruit, tangerine, pineapple. Feels pretty raw and boozy, but it's very palatable nonetheless, assuming you've got a palate for huge, unabashedly alcoholic hop bombs. It's sweet, but not overly so given the massive ABV. Sharp alcohol and high IBUs dry up the finish nicely, which becomes more herbal and astringent.

Overall: This bears little resemblance to regular Ruination, which has always struck me as a very dry, light-bodied DIPA. Regardless, this is very enjoyable for what it is: a massively hoppy, bitter and boozy monster of a beer.

Serving type: bottle

06-22-2012 02:36:43 | More by largadeer

Stinkypuss

Pennsylvania

4.18/5  rDev -4.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Stone Brewing
RUINATION 10th Anniversary IPA

LOOK: Clear orange colored brew with a soapy white foam leaving a web of lace on the glass. Appears like a resinous, sticky icky IpA.

SMELL: Big time tropical fruit, almost like fresh squeezed pineapple juice. Just a little bit of grapefruit, pine and resinous notes.

TASTE: Lots of earthy hop bitterness, grapefruit rind, and alcohol. Enamel stripping bitterness, muted tropical flavors. Oily citrus comes through, and a honey-sweet malt flavor is barely there with the onslaught of hops. The alcohol is well integrated and subdued, cut by the hop bite. Like a spiked pine and citrus soda, if such a thing could ever exist. This beer gets better the more you drink it, I'm diggin.

FEEL: Full bodied, a bit syrupy and sappy, moderate carbonation. The oils from the hops completely coat the palate, and dries it up. Truly living up to the name I am hereby ruined. Another casualty of West Coast hops.

OVERALL: This anniversary beer is a celebration in its own right. Great hop flavor, well masked alcohol, and enough bitterness to make the average beer drinker cringe. For those who love hops, this is for you.

Serving type: bottle

11-14-2012 19:57:13 | More by Stinkypuss

OWSLEY069

Pennsylvania

4.95/5  rDev +13%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Pours a clean orange-ish to yellow in color with a light tan head. In the aroma, big, gritty orange citrus hops. In the taste, big, aggressive orange citrus hops, with a small alcohol note in the end. A mellow hop bite and a medium bodied mouthfeel, with a dry orange citrus hop and a small alcohol not in the aftertaste. Big hops, small alcohol, that is hop a imperial IPA should be!

Serving type: bottle

07-23-2012 16:52:38 | More by OWSLEY069

Slatetank

Pennsylvania

4.23/5  rDev -3.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Thanks so much to my brother tenderbranson69 for gifting me with this for my birthday -tasted during our birthday tasting -enjoyed chilled from a tulip.

The color is a deep golden with good clarity, lightly hazed with thick white cap. The smell is a mix of pine with some tropical fruit odors, possibly pineapple with a hint of alcohol and light sweet ester. The feel is intense, lots of bitterness, lots of oily hop and moderately carbonation with generally dry body and subtle alcohol influence.

The flavor is great I love how the extra dry hopping adds to the perception of intense hoppiness based on the aroma, lots of piney grapefruit and light tangy hop flavors with subtle tings of pineapple and grass with mostly fruity accent from the yeast and peppery tinge from the hops accentuated by the alcohol which is there, but not oppressive. This is another great hop forward offering from Stone I am glad I got to try this amped up version of Ruination which is a great double IPA in its own right.

Serving type: bottle

07-17-2012 13:57:14 | More by Slatetank

dirtylou

Washington

4.43/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

22oz bottle

appearance: silk-screen bottle - busy as usual. served in my great lakes chalice - bright orange-amber body, light beige ring.

smell: hoppy? fresh aromatic citrus, green hops, boozy caramel malt

taste: ruination is a pretty solid beer, but this amplified version is great - a terrific hop bite with a nice bitter finish. ruby red grapefruit, blood orange and sugar, pineapple, lemon rind. The recent sub-trend in the IPA world is alarming - when will the IBU's end? well, in this case, it works.

mouthfeel: strong, bitter, but amazingly having some hint of balance

overall: great stuff

Serving type: bottle

07-15-2012 23:06:35 | More by dirtylou

kylehay2004

Florida

4.35/5  rDev -0.7%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A: 2.5 finger off white frothy head with nice lacing on a crystal clear golden with slight amber hues body, perfect really.

S: very strong and full nosed flavor with floral and citrus hops, mostly grapefruit, tangerine, orange, mango and pineapple. slight oak mustiness, again, perfect really.

T: Flavor goes more to the piney and resiny side of an IPA. Alcohol is there but less noticeable as you drink this one. Bitterness is about as much as I can handle before it is too much to make it a good beer. caramel, citrus, grass and light herbal notes as well.

M: medium body and moderate carbonation. A little sharp.

Overall: Very nice beer. If the pine was just a little milder it could be a 4.5 or 5 there as well. It hurts the drinkablity really. Still a must try brew.

Serving type: bottle

07-17-2012 00:50:18 | More by kylehay2004

DefenCorps

Oregon

4.05/5  rDev -7.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Bottle from the Village Pump, $7.49. I've been waiting for this.

A crystal clear copper with a dense, off-white head with solid retention but surprisingly little lacing, this looks nice. The second and third pour from the bottle, OTOH, have very nice lacing.

The nose is a big, fruity hop assault. Not as awesome as regular Ruination simply because it is maltier, but the alcohol is well-hidden. Fruity, pulpy oranges, grapefruit and papaya round out the nose. For having used a pound of Citra per barrel in the dry-hop schedule, this smells surprisingly muted, and the Centennial doesn't really lend the floral notes you'd expect. Minty alcohol, caramel, toasted biscuit and more fruity hops round out the nose. Excellent.

The palate opens bruisingly bitter with rather pungent orange peel, grapefruit zest, oily orange zest, tropical fruit (mango and papaya) and mild pine. I can't overstate hop much citrus oil character is present on the palate, it is rather hilariously over the top (and fitting of the name IMO). So dank and resiny! Mild sweetness is present on the mid-palate, but is is complemented (and then dominated) by the hoppy flavors. Mildly boozy on the finish with a blend of pleasing bitterness, a moderate alcohol bite and a little toffee, this beer is a riot on the palate. The only other beer that I can think of that is so over the top is the older batches of White Knuckle (circa 2008). Medium in body with a medium-low level of carbonation, this beer feels nice on the palate. Kudos to Stone for brewing such a good TIPA and making it so widely available.

Serving type: bottle

07-21-2012 00:30:14 | More by DefenCorps

nickfl

Florida

4.7/5  rDev +7.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

A - Pours with one finger of off-white foam on top of a hazy, copper colored body. The head settles fairly quickly but leaves nice lace.

S - A really strong, green hop aroma of pine and sweaty hops with some bready malt in the background. Smells like a handful of hop pellets.

T - Sweet malt and huge loads of pungent, pine hops up front. More pine and sweaty hop in the middle with toffee and bread malt character. Finishes with overwhelming hop flavors of pine, orange, and pepper.

M - Medium-thick body, moderate carbonation, and a sweet finish.

D - Wow. This is the hoppiest beer I have ever had. More than Pliny, more than hopslam, just ridiculously over the top. I could smell the hops as soon as the cap came off the bottle and it only got stronger from there. It smell more like hops than a handful of actual hops does. It also comes across as slightly more drinkable than regular Ruination since the extra malt and alcohol helps balance the saturation level of bitterness. Absolutely worth trying and while I know this won't ever become a year round offering I would certainly buy it again if they ever make another batch.

Serving type: bottle

08-04-2012 02:33:11 | More by nickfl

FosterJM

California

4/5  rDev -8.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

1351st Review on BA
Bottle to CCB Snifter

Thanks to Callmecoon for sharing

App- A very clear orange with yellow streaking throughout the glass. A nice small white head was there and dissapeared rather quickly.

Smell- Super hoppy with a bitter quality behind it. Wasn't overly floral or citrus as I was hoping for. Solid aromatics, just a bit thick with pine and resin to back it up.

Taste- Suprisingly dank for a hopped up version. I was thinking this was gonna be like a Citra subsititute but behold that didnt happen. Clearly it was more malty version and amped up ABV. A little one sided for me. It was good, not great like I expected.

Mouth- A fuller medium body with a ample medium carbonation. Residual pine and malts without a lot of that citrus note I was looking for.

Drink- It was good, wasn't great. I did grab another bottle to give it a shot in a better glass and more calm setting. (I might update this one)

Serving type: bottle

06-16-2012 23:58:45 | More by FosterJM

smakawhat

Maryland

4.45/5  rDev +1.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Poured from the bottle into a tulip glass and also a nonic pint glass, best before August 23rd 2012.

What a looker this brew is. A serious crystal clear red amber, VERY red orange, with an off white head thick and clumpy. I love this body color, it's like a very bold Bitter Valentine or Lagunitas Sucks, but better in appearance. Gets some killer lacing on this brew and she's a five.

Nose is a great hop aroma. Some wonderful citrus notes from the tulip of citrus, orange zest, apricot, faint dank soil earth. It's a smorgasbord in there all kinds of great hop stuff, even some good herbal tea mixing nicely with the orange and citrus hop angle, just great.

Yup it's ruination alright, big time, and it's all hops and all that and a bag of chips. A good sugar thick body which carries the hop oils nicely, a little bit sweet, but a great controlled lingering blast on the finish of apricot and tropical mush. Bitterness is quite controlled on this one, with a slow push in the aftertaste. Nicely carbonated, mouthfeel is solid.

Overall just another great Stone brew. Lots of fun to be had for the hop crowd. Nicely put together. Love that body color and transparency.

Serving type: bottle

07-18-2012 00:02:19 | More by smakawhat

Brent

Kentucky

4.45/5  rDev +1.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Ruination is simply a great beer. While anythign can be improved, you can only do so much. Here, Stone has notched up the hops and the malt, but the extent to which one can perceive the change is limited. Pungent citrus hops are, as expectedly, in your face from the start. Malt is a bit sweeter than the regular Ruination, with some cotton-candy stickyness in the background. A big beer that drinks very, very big.

Serving type: bottle

07-13-2012 15:56:50 | More by Brent

wordemupg

Alberta (Canada)

4.08/5  rDev -6.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

650ml bomber poured into tulip 17/7/12 thanks Masterski and Sean9689 for sending me the bottle

A hazy amber with enough clarity too see lots of tiny bubbles floating up too a tight two fingers of cream colored foam that retains well and leaves several thick tings of lace

S pine resin, grapefruit rind and a heavy blast of caramel, almost having a burnt brown sugar thing going for it. there's a little booze but not much for the strength, its pretty straight forward but smells strong

T more of the same really, big piney citrus with a shitload of caramels, it tastes very strong but not overly complex, more burnt brown sugar then the nose

M thick with great carbonation, bitter as bitter can be with a enamel stripping lingering aftertaste and not much evidence of the booze until a couple minuets after its in you

O its solid but I found it a little stereotypical, giant rind and pine with a big malty caramel backbone, I love overkill and this ones a good example of just that

shes a hoppy palate wrecker for sure, I liked it but It's missing just a little something to put it into the World Class. Great beer but I was surprised too see it poke its way into the bottom of the top 100 list

Serving type: bottle

07-18-2012 05:37:28 | More by wordemupg

woosterbill

Connecticut

4.15/5  rDev -5.3%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

On-tap at Prime 16; enjoyed side-by-side with Double Dry Hopped Ruination.

A: Clear, pale orange-amber body with nearly an inch of ultra-fine, creamy tan head. Great retention and lace. Stunning.

S: Intense. Pine and grapefruit are both front and center, with some deeper citrus fruitiness and some distinct Christmas tree resin underneath. Not too much booze. Terrific.

T: Surprisingly dull here, with some malt sweetness combining with the citrusy hops up front and the pininess relegated to pure bitterness on the big, boozy finish. It's really good, but not as stellar as the aroma.

M: Creamy medium body with moderate carbonation. A bit oily, but nice.

O: The aroma alone is worth the price of admission, but I really wish that hadn't ramped up the ABV quite so much - this beer should be all about the amazing hops, and the booze just became a distraction.

Cheers!

Serving type: on-tap

07-26-2012 00:53:34 | More by woosterbill

JoeyBeerBelly

New York

4.43/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

22oz bottle served in a tulip glass.

L - lightly hazed copper color with a off-white head that thinned to a ring leaving rings and waves of lacing.

S - citrus fruits squeezed over pine cones.

T - hops attack from the start right up until the dry, bitter finish.

F - medium bodied with mild carbonation giving it a smooth feel or maybe my tongue is numb from the hops(?).

O - right up there with the top beers in this style, too bad it's a one time thing.

Serving type: bottle

07-28-2012 01:29:00 | More by JoeyBeerBelly

DrDemento456

Pennsylvania

4.4/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Paid a bit more than I wanted (10 bucks) but this in no way harshed my expectations.

A - Very no filtered look with a hazy light amber body and plenty of carbonation (kind of strong pour) got me a full inch of head and nice sticky lacing.

S - Like other said the expected strong grapefruit and pine hops one would expect in ruination just doubled. Malts are amazing with sugar like gram cracker goodness.

T - What I liked best about this was how balanced it was. Hiding the ABV is something I enjoy with big DIPA's and this one had plenty of hop bitterness to do that. The malts do a wonderful job giving some sweet gram cracker body that keeps it from truly ruining your palate. Hops in the finish, I love it.

M - Medium to heavy but man drinkability is excellent.

Overall the bottle went rather quickly and it packed a good buzz. Not sure if I would prefer it to fresh ruination but for the style it was sublime.

Serving type: bottle

08-15-2012 16:05:24 | More by DrDemento456