Stone Brewing Co. - Ruination 10th Anniversary

Stone says: "Stone Ruination Tenth Anniversary IPA was created as an homage to the almighty hop. As the celebrated Stone Ruination IPA approached its 10th birthday this June, we knew we had to do something special, so we cranked it up from 7.7% to 10.8% and used twice as much hops–a whopping 5 pounds per barrel, including a pound each of Citra and Centennial in the dry hop. The results were GLORIOUS, but don't take our word for it. The only people more bitter than those who don't get any... will be those who do."

Ruination 10th is a limited release beer that is, presumably, only going to be available until they run out of stock of the batch. Fortunately, Stone has pretty wide distribution across the US, so nearly everyone should get a chance to taste this. 

Appearance: Dark hazy copper, with a thick, creamy head that leaves rings of lacing around the sides of the glass.

Smell: Rich tropical fruit, a hint of caramel malt, citrus, and earthy resin on the back end.

Taste: The bottle says "ruining palates for ten years" and this beer absolutely lives up to that. There is huge hop flavor: grapefruit and orange rind, mango, and delicious, earthy pine. Despite the massive hop character and big ABV, there isn't much harsh bitterness or heat here.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied, but lightened by the substantial carbonation that feels perfect for the huge flavors here. Neither very oily nor very dry, it accomplishes a light-to-medium feeling. It's somehow refreshing, despite being a massive beer in every way.

Overall: I am really impressed by this effort from Stone. Huge flavor, but not harsh, and the flavor is packed with delicious fruity character. The mouthfeel is not exceptional, but it holds its end of the bargain in not making this beer feel too heavy on top of its massive flavor. I'm definitely planning on picking up another bottle of this -- Stone's pricing is extremely competitive, and there are very few beers of this caliber out there that are likely to be as inexpensive as this one is. Overall, highly recommended.

4.5/5

Hill Farmstead Brewery - Society and Solitude #4

Hill Farmstead says: "Our experimental Double IPA experience continues. Hybrid Imperial IPA... Think Double Citra Meets Double Galaxy. 8% abv"

This is my second and last Hill Farmstead brew from a recent acquisition, and like all of their beers, it's extremely limited in quantity and availability. Further, I am not sure what the status is with these "Society and Solitude" batches, whether they are one-offs or experiments that they may repeat at a later date. As I'll get to in my review, I really hope they make this again, because it's amazing!

Appearance: Hazy bright orange with a creamy head that tops out at about two fingers in height. The head leaves web-like lacing on the sides of the glass.

Smell: Crisp grapefruit and mango, a touch of sweet grass, very slight notes of caramel, and a touch of clean hop bitterness and floral aroma.

Taste: Bright, juicy citrus and sweet earthy character over a solid malt backbone. Flavors of tangerine and pineapple are at the forefront, with some mango contributing a sweetness that is not sticky or overwhelming. The earthy and floral notes come through toward the back end of the palate to provide balance to the fruity sweet character.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied and creamy but not slick or oily. The carbonation level on this feels just right. Dry, but not extra dry finish.

Overall: This was really great. I think I prefer it to the Double Citra that I had most recently. It is a bit more balanced, and the bitterness at the end is much less medicinal or astringent tasting. There is a wonderful range of hop characteristics present here. I wish I had gotten more of this, since I am not sure if it is going to be brewed again, but I feel fortunate to be able to have tried it while it was available.

5/5

Hill Farmstead Brewery - Double Citra

Hill Farmstead's website says: "An American Imperial Pale Ale bittered, flavored, and dry hopped exclusively with Citra hops from the American Pacific Northwest. 8% abv."

I've talked a little about about Hill Farmstead before; it's the teeny brewery in rural Vermont that produces fantastic, sought-after beer. I have in hand today their Double Citra, a beer of theirs I've been dying to try. Kern River Brewing Company's Citra DIPA is my favorite beer, and as a fan of Hill Farmstead's offerings and respect for their small, quality-focused operation, I have been anxious to taste their version of a citra-hopped DIPA. 

Appearance: Hazy golden orange, with a dense 1-finger foamy head that leaves tight rings of lacing around the sides of the glass.


Smell: Ah, citra -- bright orange/tangerine and grapefruit, with some tropical mango notes. A bit of "dankness" and resiny pine come through at the back end. It's all bright, fresh fruit with a bit of solid earth underneath, crisp and lovely.


Taste: It tastes like how it smells, which is fantastic. The bright citrus and tropical fruits are there, and there is a little bit of grain on the finish. There is also a bit of residual hop bitterness that, when combined with the warmth from the alcohol, does result in a tad of astringency, particularly as the beer warms. It's not unpleasant, but it's there. 


Moutfeel: The beer has some nice weight to it on the tongue, and a bit of perceived oiliness from the hops, but it still finishes relatively dry. I've mentioned before that I like that dry finish in my IPAs, so for me, this is great.


Overall: This was a really fantastic beer, and as an avowed disciple of citra hops I was probably bound to love it. Since I implied a comparison with Kern's Citra, I think I do have to give the edge still to Kern. This is for two reasons: 
1) This might be entirely my perception, but I think Kern's Citra is a bit more balanced than the Double Citra I'm drinking today. Though the taste of the malt backbone isn't perceptible, the sharp bitterness of the hops and the aforementioned astringency don't really occur on the palate in Kern's brew as they do here. 
2) Homerism 
Direct comparisons aside, this is still an excellent beer, and one I will go out of my way to get again.


4.5/5

Brooklyn Brewery - Black Chocolate Stout

Brooklyn says: "This is the famous Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout, our award-winning rendition of the Imperial Stout style, once made exclusively for Catherine the Great. We use three mashes to brew each batch of this beer, achieving a luscious deep dark chocolate flavor through a blend of specially roasted malts. We brew it every year for the winter season. It is delicious when newly bottled, but also ages beautifully for years."

The Black Chocolate Stout is a 10% ABV imperial stout that is brewed during the winter season. This is the 2011-2012 batch, that I received through a trade with someone in the NY area.

Appearance: Dark opaque black with a dark brown head, which in person was much darker than it appears in the picture. The head poured to almost 2 fingers in height and took awhile to recede. Not much lacing or residual head, but there is a thin foam layer that sits on top of the beer.

Smell: Rich, dark chocolate, slight bitterness, and a trace of fusel alcohol.

Taste: Chocolate forward, with traces of roasted, bitter coffee and sweet grain. A slight flavor of dark fruit is there too, but true to the name, it's mostly bittersweet chocolate.

Mouthfeel: Smooth, creamy, medium-bodied, and a dry finish. On the lower end of the carbonation spectrum, but it's nice. It almost feels like it is on nitro out of the bottle.

Overall: Other than the heavier aroma note from the fusel alcohols, this was a well-balanced, tasty chocolate stout. The chocolate really did shine, and elements like roasted grains and slight balancing hop bitterness didn't overtake the chocolate notes and aromas at all, which is what should be expected from a stout that emphasizes its chocolate character. This is overall a beer I would seek out again, but not a very complex stout as it was very chocolate heavy.

3.5/5

Hair of the Dog - Blue Dot IPA

From the website: "Blue Dot Double India Pale Ale is named after planet Earth, the only blue planet in this universe, and brewed in honor of Earth Day, with organic Pilsner malt, rye malt and a combo of intense hops."

Blue Dot is a 7% ABV "rotating" release, and this is from the "Spring 2012" batch. It's pretty widely available in Southern CA when it's produced, so I was able to grab it easily at the local beer shop.

Appearance: A flat straw color, pretty cloudy, with zero head. Toward the end of the pour from the bottle, I tried pouring straight down the middle to get some foam action, but I got nothing. It looks really under-carbonated -- pretty disappointing.

Smell: Sweet, slightly floral, but not a lot of hop character. There is a hint of cracker/biscuit, and a note that almost smells like milk.

Taste: A little bitter, and a little hot tasting (meaning alcohol is noticeable.) It's kind of flat, though -- not a lot of fruit or other bright hop flavors. Again, there is some biscuit and a bit of a resin note, but the flavors are muted and heavy. Even the bitterness, which must come from the hops, is heavy-handed without being bright or contributing some kind of flavor.

Mouthfeel: Thick and smooth, but a little oily. I think it is, in fact, under-carbonated a bit. More would have lightened it up considerably.

Overall: I'm not impressed, which is unfortunate. People rave about this beer, but after all of the excellent DIPAs I've had, this one is very mediocre. I may have gotten a bad bottle, or maybe this batch isn't up to par, but I'm currently unsatisfied and not too sure what the hype is about over this one. I'll try it on tap, perhaps, to give it another shot.

2.5/5

Founders - Imperial Stout

Founders says: Brewed with ten varieties of malted barley, this stout is smooth as silk, yet complex and rich in body. Serve this guy at cellar temperature. Put another log on the fire, sit back, and enjoy the friendship of this ultimate winter warmer.

This one I got in a trade from Chicago. It's available from Founders in January, and doesn't quite have the same hype as some of Founders' other stouts, so my understanding is that it's a little easier to get than some of their other seasonal offerings, as long as you're in their distribution area. I've been hearing rumors that Founders is going to start bringing some of their beer out to California, and we have seen a few kegs out here for special occasions. I don't know what the deal is or if it's even true, but if we can get any of their beers at all that would be great.  They are really fantastic at imperial and barrel-aged stouts.

This imperial stout is 10.5% ABV.

Appearance: Dark, dark brown, practically black. Pours like motor oil, with a mocha-colored thin layer of foam on top of the pour. There is a little bit of lacing left on the sides of the glass, but it eventually slides down and rejoins the foam layer.

Smell: Licorice, chocolate, coffee, with hints of leather and smoke.

Taste: Smokey dark chocolate, slight undertone of anise and tobacco. Rich, but not too heavy. Very roasty overall, and a bit of bitterness, which I like, since it cuts through the oilyness of the chocolate and tannin flavors. There is no trace of the alcohol, even as the beer warms.

Mouthfeel: Outstanding -- smooth and creamy, not sticky or viscous. Medium to full-bodied.

Overall: This was a really great imperial stout, which can be a really heavy style. This one definitely had body and a ton of flavor, but it's not sitting too heavy on me or filling me up too badly. I love how well they were able to mask the alcohol on the palate. This isn't a style I usually prefer, but this is a great beer and I'd be happy getting this in a trade again.

4/5

Hair of the Dog - Adam (Batch 80)

HotD's website says Batch 80 was bottled on 02-16-10. About the beer: "Adam is a recreation of a historic beerstyle. Originally made in Dortmunder, Germany, it was the first beer [HotD] produced when [we] opened Hair of the Dog. Rich in flavor, Adam is best served as a dessert beer. It is great with chocolate or cigars, or just a warm fire and good company. It has 10% alcohol by volume and 50 IBUs."

Regarding Hair of the Dog distribution and Adam availability, my understanding is that HotD distributes mostly to the west coast, with some limited distribution back east. Adam is probably their "flagship" beer, and it's brewed year-round and is pretty easily acquired wherever one gets Hair of the Dog.

Appearance: A little lighter in the glass than comes across from the photo, but still a very dark chestnut brown. I did a very gentle pour on this so as not to disturb the yeast which had settled to the bottom of the bottle, but I got practically no head on this. There are thin patches of tan foam that shift on the top of the pour, but that's about it.

Smell: This beer smells very, very sweet. Toffee, caramel, a little bit of smoke, and vanilla. There are also notes of dark fruit, like fig.

Taste: Rich, sweet notes of chocolate, toffee, and dark fruits. There is a bit of warmth from the alcohol, but overall considering the ABV and heavy impact from the strong flavor notes, this beer is remarkably well balanced and complex. It also doesn't taste very oxidated after 2 years of age, which is nice.

Mouthfeel: It's pretty thick and slick, but actually finishes pretty dry, which is nice. It's definitely a sipper, overall though. It's very rich both in taste and in body.

Overall: If you like old ales as a style, this one is great. But it's definitely not an "easy-drinking" or very refreshing beer -- it's like dessert. 12 oz is about all I'd be able to drink of this before I started feeling overwhelmed, and truthfully, I could do just as well with about half. But none of that should be an indication that I don't like this. As I said, it's incredibly smooth and complex and tasty. It is a departure from the hoppier styles I usually prefer, but it's good to expand my horizons.

4/5