Ruination IPA

Brewer: Stone Brewing Company
Style: Imperial IPA
ABV: 7.7%
Country: USA, California

Stone brewing company is known for their bold and powerful beers. Not for the faint of heart for sure. The Ruination IPA proudly proclaims itself to be "A liquid poem to the glory of the hop." In that sense this brew certainly does not disappoint. This beer is listed at 100+ I.B.U.s (International Bitterness Units, yes thats real) which puts it past the theoretical limit of the unit. If you don't like hops, prepare to be knocked on your ass.

It pours out a cloudy gold which leaves a thin head which vanishes rapidly. Looking in the glass, I could literally see tiny bits of bitterness floating around. A sweet aroma gave a hint of honey and grapefruit.

The first sip yielded a nice, medium body with a touch of sweet malts and grapefruit. This was nothing more but a tease before the beer bent my mouth over and had its way with me. A big wave of piny, bitter hops exploded and stuck around. The dry and bitter aftertaste lingers and lingers and lingers. Did I mention that this stuff was bitter.

My wife tried a sip and said that it was so bitter it made her dizzy. This is serious business. Don't plan on drinking any other beers after this one if you expect to taste something other than bitter hops.

This backs a punch and is a great beer: a solid A

Photos by: http://marleyphoto.oliad.com/