Posted by: Tyler Rippeteau
July 21, 2012
Well, we have reached the midpoint of The Barleywine Project here at 20 Beer in 20 Nights, so for your halftime entertainment; here is another addendum to The DIPA Project – a review of Stone’s 10th Anniversary Edition of Ruination. I’m thrilled to have a crack at tasting this beer. The regular Ruination has become a favorite of mine since I first reviewed it last March. And since the original was a part of The DIPA Project, I figured it would be appropriate to add a review for the celebration of its anniversary.
The 10th Anniversary Edition is the same recipe as the original except a healthy portion of malt has been added to raise the ABV from 7.7% to 10.8% and two and a half pounds of Citra and Centennial hops per barrel have been thrown in for good measure. Sounds delicious.
ABV: 10.8%
IBUs: 110
Brewery Location: Escondido, California
Style: American Double/Imperial India Pale Ale
Average Beer Advocate Rating: A/4.46
My Beer Advocate Rating: A+/4.88
Current Number of Reviews: 234
Current Number of Reviews: 234
Brewery Description: Stone Ruination 10th Anniversary Edition
Bottled On: June 2012
APPEARANCE: (4.5 out of 5) Unlike the original version, the 10th Anniversary Ruination is not a straw-yellowish color; instead this is a nearly perfect shade of light orange. A large, fluffy white head sat on top for a good three minutes, not moving anywhere for the first two and then suddenly settling into a few small mounds of foam scattering across the surface. The fallen head leaves behind a good dose of lacing, but as the beer level recedes, the lacing becomes a little less impressive. This is a gorgeous beer.
SMELL: (5 out of 5) Big, delicious, grapefruit completely dominates here. It is clear that this is a 5 out of 5 in the aroma department. I love that grapefruit and a nice hint of pine, flowers and tropical fruits lingers beneath it. Wow.
TASTE: (5 out of 5) Ah, a beer that tastes like it smells - this generally makes me happy, especially when it smells this good. Again, grapefruit is out in front with a hefty dose of bitterness, followed by a bit of lemon. The Citra hops are shining through and as the beer warms, more of their complexity, the sweeter, tropical fruits begin to develop. These fruity notes combine with the extra malt to provide a very well balanced beer. In fact, it is one of the better balanced DIPAs I have ever had and rivals Pliny the Younger in that respect. Now, of course this is an unfair comparison, but the PtY never, at any point, during any sip becomes unbalanced in any direction. The 10th Anniversary almost gets there, but about three-quarters of the way through each sip the malty sweetness takes over a touch too much. That said, I think this still gets a 5 for taste. This is unbelievably good beer.
By the way, the finish is a bit less bright and a little more earthy, but it sets the palate up very well for more. Aftertaste is grapefruity.
MOUTHFEEL: (4 out of 5) The carbonation is fairly light. Lighter than I typically like, but with the sweet, stickiness of the malt, that may be more appropriate. While it is mouthcoating, the citrus provides enough dryness to clean the palate a bit.
OVERALL: (5 out of 5) This beer is most definitely still Ruination, and will still rip a novice’s palate to shreds, but to the hop head, this is luxury. As Homer Simpson once said “Sweet, merciful crap!” This is an amazing beer. Stone Brewing has completely outdone themselves. Either that, or I am just a sucker for more and more and more hops being tossed into a brew. It isn’t magic I guess, when you double the amount of hops of the hoppiest beer you make (5 pounds per barrel – at least one of which is Citra and one of which is Centennial) and load it with malt to balance, you’re gonna end up with a good brew.
This is definitely a better beer than Pliny the Elder and probably Maharaja. It also gives Pliny the Younger a run for its money, not something I say easily.
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