This was my first time trying this and I will start off by saying this is a decent beer. I didn’t dislike it at all but my expectations of a beer rated 100 on ratebeer and 97 on beeradvocate was a bit higher. I did like the excessive bitterness but there was something in the malt-flavor that was kinda off-putting. If I had to describe it, I would say it had a very pungent honey without the sweetness. I was expecting something smoother on the malt side. Maybe I had an old batch or something but it was almost as dominant as the bitterness and hop flavor.
I drink that beer a lot and it’s one of my favorites. Not sure what the flavor you are getting is from the beer has a very simple recipe 95% 2 row 5% crystal 15l then Columbus for bittering and centennial for whirlpool and dry hop. There should be a best before date on the bottle up by the neck, maybe it was an old bottle.
In my opinion, those sources you’re quoting are way too eager to give ridiculously high ratings. I’ve seen ratings in the high 90s quite a few times for beers that I thought were good, but nowhere near that good. I think there’s just a huge push in the craft beer industry to keep the hype going and going, and to try to topple the macrobrewers off their thrones. It’s all fine to me that good beer is getting the attention it deserves, but I sometimes get tired of how precious and esoteric the beer world is getting. I mean, some of these newer beer review magazines and blogs don’t even seem interested in reviewing anything that isn’t some funky barrel aged/sour/imperial/Belgian-fusion/chocolate/whatever creation, and they don’t even want to hear about plain old pale ales and stouts any more. And the prices on some of these beers are getting totally out of hand, too. I love beer as much as anybody, and I like to support the craft beer business, but I’m still a working stiff, and I cannot afford to drop $10-15 for a 22-ouncer every time I want to try something new. I’m afraid the craft beer business is just going to implode after a while from all this self-aggrandizement and price hiking. It is just beer, after all, no matter how much I love it, and for the price of a couple of those primo experimental brews from a micro, I can just make a batch of my own and make it just how I like it. Anyway, I’m rambling on :blah: and I need to stop. I guess you just caught me on a topic that kind of irks me a bit.
Ruination is a great beer, it always has been. But it first came out when beers like it where quite difficult to find. Especially from the middle states to the eastern shore. It remains to be one of the easiest to find yet most hoppiest double IPAs on the market. I wouldn’t say there’s hype around the beer anymore, because everyone has already had it.
Noting all that, I still buy a bomber every few months because it’s a great double IPA.
Ruination is one of my favorites - it’s a tribute to what can be done with a simple grist and hop profile.
I was under the impression that Magnum hops were used for the bitter.
Ruination is my favorite IIPA, although I’ve only had it on tap twice, and have purchased bombers twice.
My house IPA is based on what I thought was the Stone clone.
14# 2 row,14 oz cryst10, 2oz magnum 60min, 1.5 oz cent 15 min, 2oz cent dh. Wl002 yeast. 5gal batch.
(I use 16# 2row because my efficiency sucks, and Wl007 because I prefer the results after much experimentation.)
I’m a sucker for any beer with Centennial hops! I love Stone, but I never drink it…It’s like Rouge beer, rarely on tap and very expensive at the grocery store.
I really think the 4 pack I tried was just really old cause it just didn’t seem balanced. I couldn’t exactly put my finger on it. I bought this again recently and it was MUCH better. Definitely in my top 5 IIPAs.
[quote=“Scrumpy”]I was under the impression that Magnum hops were used for the bitter.[/quote]According to Mitch Steele (“IPA”, pg 282), Columbus at start of boil for 62.5% of IBUs and Centennial in the whirlpool for the rest. If you can get Great Western 15L, try that instead of the 10L, too.
Pfft! What would Mitch Steele know about that beer! oh…right. Great book btw
Thanks!, I will give the columbus a try. Cheaper hop for me anyways. I use the 10l because it’s what is available locally. Go you think I would notice a difference with the 15? I will pick some up next trip to the big city.
