Stone Ruination 2.0

Brewed By: Stone Brewing Co. in Escondido, California

Purchased: 22oz bottle bought at Whole Foods in Chicago, IL; 2015 (Enjoy By 07/05/2015)

Style/ABV: American Imperial IPA, 8.5% 
Reported IBUs: 100+

Earlier this year, Stone announced that they were killing off their Ruination IPA. No one in California blinked, and Tony Magoo smoked a bowl. But Stone's Ruination is back. Version two point oh. About Stone:

Stone Brewing are one of the more prominent breweries in the American craft brewing scene. They were founded in 1996 in San Marcos, California, and moved to Escondido, California where they recently expanded their operations. Stone was founded by Steve Wagner and Greg Koch. Koch has a reputation among the craft beer community for voicing his opinion, not putting up with shit, and standing behind his beer. Also...farking woot and fizzy yellow beer is for bitches. 

The Ruination 2.0 is brewed with Centennial, Simcoe, Citra, and Azacca hops. And the rest is pretty much Stone.txt. 

Stone Ruination 2.0

This has clear golden-orange tones, with dotted carbonation and a sea foam white head that is hanging around like your loser kids and leaving webs of lacing that would impress Peter Parker and Peter North. Kudos to Stone for putting on the Enjoy By date, but I feel like this is going to a very different beer in July. I would not want to be popping this on July 5th.

Stone's Ruination/RuinTen/Enjoy By series all have a similar vibe with dank hops on top of aggressive, sugary caramel malts. The Ruination 2.0 smells like a departure with a thinner, cracker malt base, and lots of tropical fruit hops. I'm getting mango, pine, honeydew/melon, peaches, passion fruit, some resin, pine, pine sap, and some sweet hemp. The nose is fairly subdued, and leans towards the hops.

The taste matches the nose, which a nice departure from the insanely sweet hops and insanely sweet malt/caramel base that Stone was delivering in their Ruination/RuinTen/Enjoy By. This beer wears its 100+ IBUs, with an intense hop note that cuts right through the beer that is raw as hell. I don't even know what it is...I've never tasted it before in a beer. I'm guessing it is from the Azacca hop? I'm getting a ton of melon, pine, shades of peach/mango, some resin...and that sharp hop note. It's kind of earthy, and kind of pithy....if I had to reach for a description, I would compare it to tobacco, grass, lawnmower trimmings, or unsmoked weed in a bag.

This is really solid, and a welcomed departure from the sugar bombs that Stone has been cranking out for the past few years. This reminds me of Stone's IPA, which has held up well over these years. This is medium-bodied, and doesn't feel too bitter or too boozy. Palate depth is good, with long duration that cuts into nice dryness. This never gets too woodsy/woody/dry, but you definitely feel the punch of the pine and the 100+ IBUs. This is moderately complex. The thin malt profile is welcomed, with lots of melon and sweet fruit up front that gives way to bitter pine and resin and hemp, with nice drying on the back. Also, this is affordable. Nice. 

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'll toss this a Light Above-Average. I would buy this again, and I think Stone nailed this beer. This is a big, hoppy, hop-forward Double IPA. The malts don't get in the way of this experience, and this isn't sweet. I would pair this with strong, spicy foods. 

Random Thought: DAE DARK LORD DAY?!?! I'm so happy I will be embracing my warm bed, the forecast calls for rain and cold. 

Stone Enjoy By 4.20.15 IPA

Brewed By: Stone Brewing Co. in Escondido, California

Purchased: 12oz bottle from a 6-pack bought at Bottles & Cans in Chicago, IL; 2015 (Enjoy By 4/20/2015)

Style/ABV: American Imperial IPA, 9.4% 
Reported IBUs: ?

It's hard to believe it has been a whole year since I drank Stone's Enjoy by 4/20/14 IPA. About Stone:

Stone Brewing are one of the more prominent breweries in the American craft brewing scene. They were founded in 1996 in San Marcos, California, and moved to Escondido, California where they recently expanded their operations. Stone was founded by Steve Wagner and Greg Koch. Koch has a reputation among the craft beer community for voicing his opinion, not putting up with shit, and standing behind his beer. Also...farking woot and fizzy yellow beer is for bitches. 

4/20 BLAZE IT LIKE TONY MAGOO

The 2015 4/20 Enjoy By is a dark orange or deep gold color, depending on the light you have. This one looks clear/filtered in the glass, but my hunch is this is conditioned and Stone just knows how to get clear looking beer. There's lacing and a white head and all that crap as well.

You are here for the dank aroma and the hops and this delivers. This drops dank/phat hops that veer into hemp, pink peppercorns, bubblegum, intense resin, pine, and some nice citrus. This has that thick, Ruinition malt base, with caramel and sugars galore. And this drops some peach ring candies, ala my favorite Revolution beer of 2014, the Unsessionable IPA. 

This is dank but not a lot has changed since last year. This is still a blissfully straightforward West Coast Imperial IPA. This blasts your palate with massive amounts of sugar, resinous hop oils, guava, orange, candy citrus, grass, kumquats, and hemp.

This is still super drinkable at 9.4%, with a well-carbed medium-body and good depth and complexity. This doesn't do anything far out of the Stone wheelhouse, but you appreciate that it exists. This leans towards the sweet, dank hops, and Stone pretty much delivers.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm still stickign with my Strong Above-Average. If you see the Enjoy By beers, pick them up. Especially around 4/20. 

Random Thought: MMM IPAs.

Stone Enjoy By 04.20.14 IPA

Brewed By: Stone Brewing Co. in Escondido, California

Purchased: 22oz bomber bought at Sheridan 'L' Longue in Chicago, IL; 2014

Style/ABV: Imperial IPA, 9.4% 
Reported IBUs: 102

"Devastatingly dank." Or, 420 flame the bundle, baguette. About Stone:

Stone Brewing are one of the more prominent breweries in the American craft brewing scene. They were founded in 1996 in San Marcos, California, and moved to Escondido, California where they recently expanded their operations. Stone was founded by Steve Wagner and Greg Koch. Koch has a reputation among the craft beer community for voicing his opinion, not putting up with shit, and standing behind his beer. Also...farking woot and fizzy yellow beer is for bitches. 

I've previously dabbled with Stone's Enjoy By series, and needless to say, I'm quite the fan. With that said, today is 4/20, so it seemed like an appropriate time to crack into one of these big, dank, hoppy, Imperial IPAs.

Stone Enjoy By 04.20.14 IPA

In appropriate 420 fashion, this one pours into a flaming orange body. The body is semi hazy like your room after several bong hits, and there are carbonation bubbles rising upwards with sweet bubbly action. This one kicks up two fingers of sticky, hop-fueled head, and there are golden-orange tones everywhere: in the body, the head, and the holy spirit wutttt. Bright light confirms the same stuff, and the lacing is griping on tighter than a stoned teenager hanging on to the armrest during a routine speeding stop. This is the West Coast look that Sam Adams was trying to go for, I think.

The aroma here is dank as hell. There's huge pine, citrus, resin, hemp, and that smell you can only get if you sniff a hippy's jacket or go to a Grateful Dead concert. There's a really nice grassy character on the aroma, flirting with straight up lawnmower trimmings to legit hemp and weed, with tons of underlying resinous citrus, a little caramel sweetness, and a kiss of malty cracker/biscuit. Again, this is what I envision when I dream about West Coast IPAs.

This is a blissfully straightforward West Coast Imperial IPA, and I mean that in a good way. There's tons of resinous, dank, hoppy goodness in the taste...I'm getting big guava, apricot, orange, kumquats, pine, grass, hemp, seedy hemp, weed, lawn trimmings, and some resinous and bitter grapefruit. There's a little push of bitter grapefruit rind and woody resin, and lots of underlying caramel sweetness. There's a touch of biscuity/cracker malt, but this is a hop bomb through and through.

At 9.4%, this is super quaffable. This is a medium-bodied, refreshing beer. Yeah, it's dank and boozy and big, but the bitterness is offset by nice sweetness and the huge West Coast hops provide much needed drinkability. Palate depth is spot on for the style, and complexity is good. It's a great take on the West Coast double-IPA, but nothing too far out of the ordinary. Just a good beer, best consumed fresh. Up front: Lots of sweet hops, citrus, marmalade, caramel sugars; the mids hit grassy notes, more sweet hops, huge dank hemp; the back end starts to dial up some resinous bitterness and grapefruit rind, and you get kisses of cracker/biscuit. This is fantastic and pretty much defines Stone.

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

This is a very Strong Above-Average. I really like this series, and I would not hesitate to recommend this or pick up another Enjoy By. These beers are great, and they pair well with American bar food, spicy Mexican food, wings, grilled meats, and anything that an Imperial IPA can go against. I'm a fan of this series, and I think this is one of Stone's better gimmicks. 

Random Thought: Nothing celebrates the resurrection of J-C like 420 blazin' it.