Brewed and bottled by the Stone Brewing Company, Escondido, San Diego County, CA. Bought at HEB in Cinco Ranch and drunk at home in Katy, TX while relaxing and reading the newspaper before dinner.
The web site: http://www.stonebrew.com/ruin/
The web site says "So called because of the "ruinous" effect on your palate! This massive hop monster has a wonderfully delicious and intensely bitter flavor on a refreshing malt base. One taste and you can easily see why we call this brew "a liquid poem to the glory of the hop!" Those who seek, crave and rejoice in beers with big, bold, bitter character will find true nirvana in Stone Ruination IPA! 7.7% ABV, 100 IBUs"
The bottle adds "ru.in.a.tion \n - The art of ruining or the condition of being ruined, a severe state of damage, destruction caused by wrecking. The moment after the first swallow all other food and drink items suddenly become substantially more bland than they were moments before. By the time you develop a taste for this IPA, you may find that you are permanently ruined from being able to enjoy lesser brews. good. we freely admit to doing this. on purpose even! people are sometimes crazy enough to thank us for this assault. To which we reply. "You're welcome."
Out of the smoldering ashes of the Stone anniversary IPAs the Ruination IPA is born. Rising like the Phoenix comes this over-hopped jewel bringing with it not the acrid sting of smoldering embers but the abundantly pungent aroma of hops. Bountiful hops. Glorious hops. If you are not already a confirmed hop head, if you have not already converted your palate to the glory of the righteous joy that the miraculous little green flower brings to the senses, then this is NOT the place to start, for it will bring you nothing but shock. All its richly layered subtleties will be for nought.. Intense hop character will only be perceived as binding and blinding bitterness. Does the experienced hop lover perceive this in a different way? Well, yes and no. The matriculated imbiber is not numb to the rambunctious rush of bitterness - indeed that is a major element of its allure - however they are also able to look beyond to the well spoken yet understated malt presence. The aromatic alcohol tones. The swirling meld of naturally occurring complex flavor compounds courtesy of our little friends known as "brewers yeast cells" God bless the yeast, the malt and the hops."
Hmmm. An interesting soliloquy. But it doesn't do anything to convince me that excessive hop character mars the taste of a beer. Sure some people like this taste, but not me.
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