Hola people! Today has been a fairly even keeled day for Pope Crisco, filled with an early outing to have his mother’s car detailed, an early afternoon of getting a few loose ends tied up, and a fairly pleasant interview this afternoon, that hopefully will turn into a job that pays well and appears to be a fun place to work.
This evening my wife made a wonderful salmon with barbeque rub and a quinoa salad, and now I have what promises to be a quality beer in Stone Brewing Company’s Ruination IPA that boasts on the bottle that it is “a liquid poem to the glory of hops.” Given the brewery in question I have little doubt that it wont live up to the claim, but the proof is in the beer.
The beer pours a wonderful straw color, with a healthy amount of stark white head formation, only slightly less aggressive than the last beer I had from this brewery. Lacing is equally impressive.
Scents of grapefruit dances with a nice bready smell, both balanced against each other on the nose.
With the first rush of beer on the tongue the grapefruit flavor of the hops are on the forefront, bringing a nice dry, citrus bitterness. As a crescendo of bitterness builds, just before the point of sharpness becoming overwhelming, a nice malt backend subverts the creation of acridity and brings out a nice warm sweetness and additional orange zest essence.
I do have to say that Stone’s Ruination is perhaps one of the best American IPAs that I’ve had to date, finding a means to create a super hoppy beer, but reigning it back just before it leaps off the cliff of drinkability and enjoyability.
Prost!
I brew and drink beer, smoke pipes and cigars, eat till I’ve had more than my fill, and escape in pulp rags till my eyes turn buggy. I don’t claim any expertise in any subject other than the chase of my own earthly pleasures. I write to help others find their own pleasures so that together we will decay in spirit with these lesser pursuits.