I'm not going to reiterate my overall opinion (for which I have already written about in an accompanying editorial about Fruit-Enhanced Beers). You can read that for yourself by clicking on the link HERE.
But this particular beer is the epitome of beer-flavored fruit juice. It doesn't taste like an IPA. It doesn't even taste like beer.
That's all I'm going to say about this beer.
Watch the video.
In this tutorial I will show you the way that I de-label my used craft beer bottles so that they are clean a ready to use for my home brewed beer. I will use only three tools
Hot Water
Razor Blade (Brand new) (Do not use an old blade)
Wet Rag
Yes. De-labeling bottles sucks! But, unless you want to pay ridiculous amounts of money for case of empty bottles, then this is a necessity for home brewers.
I've tried this many different ways, but the procedure that I detail below (and in the video) is the best, most efficient way that I've found.
Fill your sink with hot tap water (While at the same time filling your bottles).
This allows the hot water to make contact with both sides of the label as well as weighs down the bottle so it doesn't float.
Once all of the bottles are filled, fill the remainder of the sink with hot water until all of the bottles are covered sufficiently.
I can usually fit about 12-16 bottles in my sink.
Allow the bottles to soak for at least 10 minutes
Longer with yield better results.
Peel the labels off then re-submerge for another 10 minutes (or so).
Use this time to put the rag in the water. You want the rag nice and hot.
Carefully, use the razor blade to scrape the glue off.
Use the wet rag to wipe off any residual glue.
Place the bottle upside down to drain and dry.
Pointer: Be aware that some craft beer companies use different glue types. And because of this, the difficulty of removing the label and glue can range from super easy to nearly impossible.
For Example:
Sierra Nevada and New Belgium are super easy.
Thomas Creek is probably one of the most difficult. It's almost like they use super glue to put the labels on. But if you have some patience and a sharp razor blade then you will get them clean.
First off, I'm not a fan of the session IPA style. However, this was a glowing example of said style. I've had many other examples, and this is, by far, the best, most flavorful example. It still tastes like a watered down IPA. But it's still the best example.
If you like this beer or even want to try it, be prepared to buy an entire 12 pack of cans in the form of "Terrapin IPA Survival Kit." Because that's the only way to buy this.
This faux-filtered beer is everything you'd expect a good double IPA to be. Hoppy, resinous, powerful. The malt was in the background, just as it should be. You are not going to say, "Hey. The malt and hops are so balanced." You are going to say, "Damn that's hoppy!!"
I was very surprised and very impressed with this beer. This is the first time I've ever had a Green Flash beer. And if all of their other beers end up sucking, at least I know I love this one.
There were some addition numbers but I don't know what they mean - 816163 (I quoted the wrong thing in the video because it was very difficult to read. I had to get the right light on it to actually see it)
I was quite impressed with this beer. For only $6.49 (regular price) at Target, I thought I would be getting a ho-hum, no-nothing IPA. But on the contrary. This was quite a good beer. I've gone back and bought it many times since. Don't pass up this IPA. You will regret it if you do.
At first, I was excited to try this interesting-sounding beer. A sweet potato milk stout. Sounds good, right? Well, unfortunately that is about all that was good about this one. All I'll say in these comments is that it was "WA-TER-Y". Watch the video, and see for yourself how I thought this beer fared.
For the style, I was very underwhelmed by this beer. Compared to the original Ruination (Yellow Label), this does not hold a candle.
This is a West Coast IPA version of the original.
First off. This is a good beer.
But with that said, that's all it is. A GOOD beer. There is nothing special about it.
With the title of Double IPA I was expecting more. A lot more.
This has a very similar hop character as Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA. I'm not saying it tastes the same, but it has a similarly intense hop presence.
It's very malt forward. And not very hop forward (like you'd expect a Double IPA to be).
At 8.5% ABV, I wouldn't even consider that to be a 'DOUBLE' IPA.
Compared to the normal Runitation, this was is severely lacking.
It smells like it's going to be a crazy hoppy beer, but that's about where it ends.
For the style of beer (Double IPA) I gave this one a "B".
Was it good. Yes. It was fine.
But was it a good Double IPA? Nope!
I was pretty disappointed.
Note:
When I looked at Stone's website and I saw that there were 2 different beers with the name "Ruination", that's when I went, "Hmmm".
Apparently, this version; the 2.0, is a West Coast styled IPA. And my experience with West Coast style IPA's is that they seem to have a more subdued hop character in favor of a heftier malt character and bitterness.
So be aware of all of this when you are trying to decide.
I'm not going to reiterate my overall opinion (for which I have already written about in an accompanying editorial about Fruit-Enhanced Beers). You can read that for yourself by clicking on the link HERE.
