Nothing but an ale most masterful could claim this name. 7.7%. Light wine. It smells like opening a bag of hops pellets and tastes like licking one out. This is a BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEG brew and meant to be. If you do not like hops this is not the beer for you. If you can not contemplate beauty in the idea of having hops petals sprinkled upon your salad of leafy spring greens, this may not be the brew for you. If you like beer that hits your mouth like Tabasco with no pepper in sight, you may want to try it out. The bottle says:
Stone Ruination IPA. So called because of the immediate ruinous effect on your palate. The moment after the first swallow, all other food and drink items suddenly become substantially more bland than they were seconds before.The same could be said for spraying your mouth with aerosol Pledge or Minwax...and for the same reason. This is BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEG. Have I said that already? It is like distilling blue cheese down to a syrup and sucking down a pint of that. Intensity. Supersaturation of the hop acid. 100+ International bittering units. Right there. In my mouth. Here is what others say. Here is what the brewery says.
Wow.
Comments
Ben - October 15, 2004 1:45 AM
You taunt me with reviews of beer that can't be bought in Ottawa. You're an evil man.
Alan - October 15, 2004 9:54 AM
Four hours from Ottawa, Ben, just four hours...
'nee - October 15, 2004 2:12 PM
I thought it was two hours to Ottawa! Two!
Also, thanks to you, I had dreams about beer last night.
I'm not complaining (Dream-me has great beer sense), just sayin'. :)
Alan - October 15, 2004 2:28 PM
I was meaning four hours from Ottawa to Syracuse where Ruination is to be had on Erie Blvd. He is not getting any of mine...oh, yea. I only bought one. I bought another quart of Stone beer for another day, their Arrogant Bastard Barley Wine.<p>Beer and dreams are not unrelated as "hop head" actually refers to the effect of sleeping on a pillow filled with hops the scent of which creates vivid dreams. Over consumption of highly hopped beer - even if low alcohol - has the same effect. A few years ago, an experiment to that effect with a keg of my super light at 3.3% but massively hopped pale ale was undertaken by persons who will remain unidentified unless I can think of a way from profiting from it. It was quite remarkable. One of those sleeps you literally have to push yourself up from out of. My notes say I put 3.25 oz of goldings pellets in the boil and a 0.5 oz plug of compressed petals right into the keg. This might have been in the 70 IBU range according to one of the bitterness unit calculators the internet is infested with. A lovely way to spend 9 February 2001.
Ben - October 15, 2004 2:29 PM
4 hours if I had a car, which I don't. Curses. Perhaps I can find it in Georgia at the end of the month now that they've updated their alcohol laws to permit beer to be stronger than 5% alc.
Alan - October 15, 2004 2:31 PM
Each state has such wacky laws it is hard to tell. Good reportage of things ale-ish from there will be well rewarded.
Ben - October 15, 2004 2:44 PM
I'll do my best to sample as many brews from Sweetwater as possible. They're the best I've found so far down there.
http://66.83.181.250/db/sweetwater/web/brews.asp
Ben - October 15, 2004 3:16 PM
I have put in an order for Sweetwater's Festival Ale with my girlfriend. It's only brewed for one day every year so I'm getting her to pick me up a 6 if she can.
http://66.83.181.250/db/sweetwater/web/brews.asp?section=festive
"Well, the temperature is dropping and the days are getting shorter. You know what that means don't you? It's time for our WINTER BREW...
A full-bodied, high-octane brew capped off with our use of cinnamon and mace. This beer will warm you all the way to your bones. Brewed only one day a year. We only bottle 4200 liters, 550 12 oz. cases, and a handful of kegs, so get it while you can."
Alan - October 15, 2004 5:04 PM
Yum. A few years ago portland brought me some Shipyard Prelude. I suspect my next CNY run will be mid-December for the quota of barley wines.