Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Stone Ruination IPA

Brewery: Stone Brewing Co.
Location: Escondido, CA
Style: IPA
Brewery Website
Rating: A

Up next for review is the Ruination IPA from Stone. The Ruination is deep gold in color with a touch of amber. It has a bit of haziness that reminds me of fresh-squeezed lemonade. The Ruination IPA pours with a clumpy, 2-finger thick, off-white head. On the nose, the Centennial hops jump right up your nostrils and hit you with a wallop of white grapefruit. (This, my friends, is a good thing.) The overall aroma is straight-ahead citrus with just a touch of yeasty bread and some sweet notes way in the back.

On the palate, there is a fruity hop bite. The hop flavors run the gamut from citrus/grapefruit to pine and hop-resin. Overall, the flavor is well balanced between the bitter hops and aromatics. There is a touch of sweet, grainy malt, along with some cherry, plum and alcohol notes. There is a long, clinging finish of bitter hops with some hop fruitiness. There is some slight astringency, and an overall light-to-medium body that I find to be enjoyably smooth for all the hoppiness.

Stone has another winner on their hands with the Ruination IPA. This is one for big-time hopheads to savor.

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