My first review of a craft beer, so go gentle.
Brewery: Stone Brewery
Place of Origin: Berlin, Germany
Imported by: Brewdog UK
Strength 8.5%
Hops: Magnum, Nugget, Centenial, Simcoe, Citra and Azacca
IBU 100+
Purchased at: Booths, Poulton-Le-Fylde
website: www.StoneBrewing.eu/Ruin
Price: (lost receipt, oops)
Description on Can:
"Monumental in Hops, Imperial in intensity"
We craft this West Coast style double IPA to celebrate all characteristics of the hop - its beauty and poetry, its boldness and migh. Hop bursting brings out huge piney, citrusy and tropical flavor. Since 1996, our goal has been to brew blod, big-character craft beers. Along the way we've earned a reputation for being one of the most creative, artful and passionate breweries on the planet.
Cans are better, period.
Cans are infinitely recyclable.
More environmentally responsible.
And better for the Beer
Review,
The Can.
Black and Gold Can, Really eye catching with a demon and the phrase "A liquid poem to the glory of the hop" on it. along with the name, brewery and strength. the can has a matt finish. Really attractive.
The Beer.
Pours well to a two finger head, a cloudy beer, maintains a decent head all the way down. It leaves a decent Lace on the side of the glass as you drink it.
The Aroma.
The first aroma you get is a sweet peachy aroma, followed by pineapple, which comes through the longer you inhale it, you can smell a slight alcohol smell, that warms the nose. underneath it all is the aroma of tropical fruit and the scent of pine forests.
The Taste.
On first mouthful you are hit with pineapple and grapefruit notes followed on the middle tongue by tropical fruit, and finally at the back of the mouth, and the aftertaste the pine flavouring comes through creating a pleasantly bitter aftertaste. The alcohol warms as it goes down, and is slightly invasive, considering its only 8.5% however not enough to really interfere with the enjoyment of the taste or aftertaste, and the warming effect is comforting rather than harsh. The more you drink the smoother it gets. There is a slight grittiness, and the beer itself is slightly cloudy, but for many cloudy style beers add to the flavour and the bitterness, and add another level of taste.
In conclusion
This beer is very drinkable, with all the notes and complex flavors, it should be confusing and clash, but it doesn't, it just works, and is a perfect beer for either summer or winter.
I feel this beer would go well with a cheese board, and is strong enough to to cut through even strong cheese such as blue cheese. I think it would also go well with a sweet fruit salad as the bitterness would counter balance the fruits sweetness. The cloudiness of the beer may not be for everyone, and i wouldn't suggest this to a new craft beer drinker, due to the bitterness of the hops, it is however a very good beer,
I would give this beer 7/10, losing a few points for the slight grittiness, and for the slight alcohol taste, which i was'nt expecting on a beer under 10% but all in all a very good beer.
thanks for reading!
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