Beer Geek

I have somehow gotten it into my head in the past year or so that I want to become a beer expert. I'd honestly think it was cool if I became a beer judge. Not that I have any urge to judge competitions but I want to know everything about beer. I brew off and on. I'm not particularly skilled in it but by the nature of home brewing everything I make is good, even if my son does drool in the wort. With that in mind I recently decided to make it a goal to try all 100 beers on the Beer Advocate top 100 beers list. You may have to create an account to view the list. Today I cracked open a bottle of Stone brewing company's Ruination IPA, Found at beeradvocate And at BevMo because I'm pretty sure you'll need an account to see the beeradvocate review. While I am not generally a fan of the IPA I am attempting to broaden my horizons. I started out with Sierra Nevada pale ale which is actually a California pale ale. THE California pale ale to be precise, not that it's the best rather that it is the one that defined the style. So all CPAs are judged against that one. Pretty cool huh? That in mind I Pulled my Ruination IPA out of the fridge, a tall 1 pint 6 bottle, dark brown with a medium brown label and fairly dark green lettering. I've always been pleased with the appearance of the Stone brewing company's label it's distinctive gargoyle either glaring at you from their more traditional labels or leering at you from a bottle of Arrogant Bastard ale. Why I have never been sucked in by the intriguing appearance of the bottle I do not claim to understand. The sensory experience of the beer started when I held this bottle in my hand to pop the cap off of it. The brown that comprises most of the label is a gritty sandy texture that immediately captured my attention. While not unpleasant it took some speculation to determine the origin of the captivating draw it held over me. The feeling as I run my fingers across the bottle manages a strong enough resemblance to running your fingers across a chalkboard to begin to raise the hairs on the back of your neck while falling just short of that sickening almost painful sensation of all the muscles in your cheeks and the back of your tongue spasming that is created by the real thing. Indeed describing the sensation bothers me more than the feel of the bottle. While it seems even to myself as I write it a stupid thing to include it is a great way to wake up the senses when you are about to embark on the rather complicated and not entirely expected journey that follows. With that not unpleasant but surprising experience behind me I cracked open my Ruination IPA. The aroma is pretty hopy as you would expect from an IPA that bills itself as "Ruination" though in their defense the name refers to the effect it will have on your palate rather than your sense of smell. I still prefer Sierra Nevada's aroma though I have yet to find any beer that matches that. I don't know if it's the variety (cascade hops) or the quantity or the method. I'm still learning. Ruination pours a beautiful deep golden which is pretty clear considering that most craft brews aren't going to want to filter out every possible flavor the way that the domestics like to. It forms a great thick white head that is a joy to behold but could use a little better retention. (1) Overall a very good presentation. Moving on to the bit that most of you will likely be anticipating I slipped some of this concoction across my pallet. It was fairly quickly out of the refridgerator so probably a little colder than I should have been tasting it. It's a big bottle and I figured It's hit a more rational temperate before I finished it. First impressions being what they are I will make it a point not to evaluate a new beer this way in the future. This is not a beer to be ignored. At 100+ bittering units I was not as shocked upon first sip as I expected to have been. What I was pleasantly surprised to find however was a hopy bitterness rather like that friends 3 year old that hides behind her mom when you arrive at the dinner party and has to be bodily removed from your leg before the evening is complete. It didn't hit me with a vengeance rather it poured on with a vengeance and once I was covered, like honey it was not eager to depart. You may remember from a few paragraphs ago that I am not a "Hop head" the moniker attributed to the followers of the high bright bitter tones imparted by the small green flower known as the hop. If all IPAs where like this I may learn. This may have a bit to do with the "sneak attack" the hops perform but I believe it is rather the skill of the brewer. This is not a glass full of hop. The malt flavors while dominated by are not overpowered by the hops. Following closely on the heels of the wash of hop flavors that came over my brain came a large and welcome smile. The character of the beer is definitely dominated by the hops though they do not obliterate the rest of the beer. There is a strong malty undercurrent in the beverage that manages to show it's head before the lingering hop completely dissipates imparting a complicated malt flavor. Citrussy at the edges, sagey, woody and a touch nutty along with a host of other malty flavors I haven't even begun to learn to describe. At 7.7% the alcohol imparts a pleasurable warmth to the brew that magically combines the dominating hop flavor with the herbal flavors to impart an almost licorice flavor but in a way more akin to that song that you can't quite remember rather than something you might actually agree with me on. Overall I'd say a quite drinkable beer. With the lingering hop flavor and the 7.7% kick not the beer that you'd want to pick up for a game of darts but for an evening at home with friends this is a very fine choice. I would especially seek this one out if you can take about 5 minutes to just be completely astounded by the work of art that you are holding in your hands. Early in my tasting experience I decided that while this was a truly magnificent piece of work I probably wouldn't be drinking a lot of it. While due to the style and the intensity of the beer that does hold true I have to amend adding that there will definitely be times in the future when I will turn away from an old favorite to allow the Stone brewery's Ruination IPA to wrap me in it's warm hop blanket and settle me with a kiss on the forehead and a nice story by the fire. The bottle boasts the warning that "If you have not already converted your palate to the glory of the righteous joy that the miraculous little green flower bring to the senses, then this is NOT the place to start." I am torn thinking about this warning. While it is definitely something to consider I'm not sure if I would wait that long. I would say that if you have no idea what people are talking about when they say hop flavor I would not start with this beer. If you have an idea of the flavor that we are talking about but have yet to come up with an opinion on the matter or have determined that "Hop Heads" have something genetically deficient in their biological make up then I would say give this beer a go. Certainly pass if you're the type to spit out a sierra Nevada but if you drink that without a trip to the sink then I'd say head down to your local BevMo, Whole Foods or well stocked liquor store and set aside a nice evening at home. If you are a fence sitter in the hop debate this is defiantly a beer that could push you over; one way or the other. I would have to say this is the first time I have begun to understand what "hop heads" are talking about. Now more generally if you are looking for beer you've probably been to Beverages and More. If you haven't heard of it then I'm not sure I can help you. Basically it's positioned to do to the liquor store what safeway did to the local grocer. While you may already have your club bev card, another fine, fine place to purchase beer is Whole Foods Market. If you want a beer and they don't have it ask. They may be able to order it for you. Their shelf space has greater restrictions than their catalogue. This is especially important to note if you live down here in SoCal like I do. It may be the same elsewhere but so far I have had experience with about six Whole Foods. Four in NorCal and Two down here. The ones down here seem to carry more of the domestics. Honestly if I wanted a domestic I'd go somewhere else. I go to Whole foods because they carry a ton of craft brews, Belgians and other foreign beers. Maybe if we keep asking for the rare stuff they'll start to switch. Footnotes Now if you're wondering the same thing I've been wondering even after reading reviews of beer that included mention of good or bad head retention then I may have the answer for you. To compair the thing I've been wondering all this time is "Why the hell would I want good head retention? That crap is bitter and goes up my nose when I'm trying to drink the beverage in question." I think that this experience has been the first time I've understood. Now you pour a beer and you get a foamy top or "Head." That's pretty standard. It goes away, that is also pretty standard. Now for this beer as I was writing it but after I'd already formulated my opinions I went and read the beeradvocate review and it said "head retention could be better." I looked at my beverage and thought perhaps this was one thing that I'd have to just learn what other people looked for if I wanted to actually judge beer. Then I looked back and it all clicked. Now many beers the head disipates and you're left with floating bits of foam along the surface. This beer doesn't have that. It' gets the tiniest film of foam around the edge of the glass exactly the same way a flat beer would. The explaination I've seen around the importance of "Head" as it applies to beer has been that "presentation is important." and until I looked at this wonderful and captivating beer and thought "Hey, that looks flat" I have never understood it. I don't believe head retention applies to actually keeping the entire 3 inches of foam (vigorous poor + beer with good head) rather it applies to keeping the lingering head that might keep you from pouring the beer out if you couldn't remember which glass was yours.