That being said, what did I find when I ripped open the box from Reno, NV?

Heck if I knew.  Buckbean really embraced stark minimalism on this one.  Two, shiny silver cans with nary a jot of text glimmered from within.  Coors has got nothing on these silver bullets!  I emailed the brewery prior to drinking to inquire as to what exactly was contained in the cans.  Maibock.  Maibock can be a great brew this time of year, but I’ve had a few craft versions of this German style brew that were utterly disgusting.   The point:  It’s an easy style to screw up.

But in all objectivity (yes the beer was free, no I won’t pander to the brewers feelings) Buckbean nailed it.

I’d just finished cutting the grass.  Then I had to bathe the kids (virgin eyes beware).  It was hot (95 degrees).  I don’t have central AC.  A beer was in order.   Upon pulling the silver bullet out of the fridge and into the humidity, it instantly was covered in sweat.  Having just cut the grass, my sweaty odoriferous body was already bonding with the beer.  It pours a golden brownish bronze and is a bit hazy.  The odor is fairly hoppy, citrusy, and there is even a slight acidic sour fragrance.

I’ll be honest.  I probably guzzled the first five ounces, and man, was it good.  In fact, it was great.  I found myself liking this Maibock for a peculiar reason.

It tasted like homebrew–bottle conditioned–homebrew.  Now that’s a flavor that’s hard to quantify.  The beer reeks of raw fresh yeast goodness.  It tastes like the way a sack of fresh grains smell.  I don’t know if this was can conditioned or forced carbonated, but it tasted like the former.

For a Maibock, this beer really has a sour apple cider feel to it.  There are flavor profiles that remind me a bit of estery Belgian yeast strains (which is unusual, since Maibocks are lagers).  The beer has a nice hoppy kick to it that really balances it well.  I am not sure what the ABV, but I’d be willing to bet it’s at the upper end of the scale…maybe in the 7.2+ range.

Bottom line, is the beer is good, refreshing, and would be a “buy again” beer if Buckbean’s distribution made it this far.

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It’s amazing what I’ve not tasted in this beer before, but I gave it another try and, to my surprise, it was bursting with all sorts of subtle qualities underneath.  Granted, most of you are not as good at tasting as am I, so I’m expecting you not to pick it up and snub my pretensions.

The Pour: Although, by all empirical data, this beer looks to be a very light straw and pale yellow with little substance, taking a closer look will reveal the real depth of the this beer’s color schemes.  Of course I have to admit from the start that my eyes are actually filled with natural prisms, so I can readily break what appears to be colorless light into rainbows.  I noted an iridescent myriad of vividness that appeared like the confluence of heaven and earth.  The only comparison I could make would be a psychotropic trip on lysergic acid diethylamide, which made me regret that you all have normal human eyes.  Have you even actually seen before?  You’re like Neo in the Matrix.  Anyway, I suppose you believe the head fades quickly on this beer but, of course, you would be wrong.  If you really look deep into the glass, you will see happy baby sea horses and protoplasm frolicking in a veritable sea of marshmallow skies. But look closer still and you will note that this a blacker than night Baltic Porter with a tawny tan cap much like aged sepia photo of distant human relatives.

The Nose: It may seem like there is not much going on  in this beer except for the few aromas that are typical of almost every AB—I mean, Inbev product.  I assure you that there is more than meets that eye, as my own keen observing eye has noted.  The brew smells so richly of mahogany that Ron Burgundy would be reduced to jealous tears.  I noted an asparagus nose on the brew as well.  However, it was not normal asparagus that caught my attention; I immediately recognized that this was captive asparagus from Tanzania.  From the nose, it appears that it had the same quality of asparagus that complete four years of indentured service while working in a three ring circus of rescued animals.  Additionally, some of the sulphur tones on the nose reminded me of the way the earth’s crust smelled while it was in its liquid form, before it cooled several billion years ago, which I still smell in the air, so I know the aroma.  Other notes were James Dean’s cardigan, Donkey Lips from Salute Your Shorts, Kramer’s hair gel that he used during the first part of season four of Seinfeld. Dodo feathers from Cloud-Koo-Koo-Land intermingled with Lost City of Atlantis’s mineral earth.  Bud Light also smelled how I imagine the hair of Confucius would taste: wise.  Yep…I just described a beer as smelling wise.

How else did it smell?  Bud Light smelled like Plato’s cave, like, Socrate’s line of argumentation, like the Shire.  Which reminds me, it also smelled sweeter than hobit-meat to an hungry orc.  It’s better than Entwash and twice as magical.  I remember Mark Twain reminiscing about how great Southern food was while he was in Europe; he describes about 200 foods, and I caught many of those aromas in this beer—although, the pies he describes were the heaviest aromas.  This was balanced out by the Blue Wensleydale cheese qualities, Kopi Luwak coffee (this is the famous poop coffee), and honeysuckle glands pickled in new Fruit of the Loom tank tops.  What an amazing nose on this beer!  I hope this helps you to see why I’m not reviewing more beers in depth.  Can you imagine if I really told you what I smell on the nose of an imperial stout?  Last, but not least, there was the distinct smell of Quarks.  Of course, I smelled the nucleus, protons, and neutrons of the beer atoms as well.

The Taste: All my superior tasting might went into this beer.  Again, at first glance, you might believe this to be an exercise in vapid insipidity, but I assure you that the subtle flavors are amazing.  The first taste was Mr. Ed’s horse blanket and Flipper’s nostril with a hint of the dorsal fin thrown in.  Pre-neo-lithic sandstone and ammonia-treated limestone contributed to a superb Charleton Heston sweat quality that would have occurred between “Planet of the Apes” and “Macbeth.”  Purple New Hampshire  Syringa (a.k.a., lilac) and runners’ aglets were also prominent.  In addition, the malts hinted at 84.45721% pure Turkish hazelnut extract. When I sipped the beer I was also reminded of Guatemalan worry dolls and Mycenaen pottery that I’ve licked on several occasion.  The latter were housed at a museum in Athens, where I was allowed to touch and lick anything the museum owned.  Finally, Banshee eyelashes and antiquated written Irish limericks (don’t even think that the word Nantucket is part of the equation) rounded out the full and wonderful character of Bud Light.

Overall, there you have it.  Bud Light is more than meets your eye, nose, and mouth.  My earnest desire is that this will help build your tasting skills, make beer much more approachable, and lessen the pretentious approaches that the neophyte has toward tasting beer.

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Having been on a bit of a “session beer kick” I was glad to see that St. Patrick’s best, a session bitter,  had an ABV of 4.2%.  It’s a bit risky for a brewery to send out a session beer for review for two reasons:  1) Flaws are more apparent than saw a morbidly hopped and malty Imperial IPA, and 2) the craft and beer blogging scene typically rates these brew lower than the monster ABV beers.  Legbiter is a 4.8% (also a session beer) that would be considered a golden ale.

Just because the beer is free for sampling does not mean it gets preferential treatment during the review, as that would be a severe disservice to the brewer.  So how about these brews?

St.Patrick’s Best Ale

As you can see from the picture, the brew looks like what it claims to be:  a bitter.  the color is a pretty orange red with brown tints.  It is crystal clear and sported a half inch head that dissipated pretty quickly with moderately pretty lacing.

The aromas are not intense, but pleasant.  It smells like a classic English bitter.  Sweet and malty, hints of grain, mild hop aromas that aren’t too piney but rather lemony, and a nice fruity yeast aromas that reminds you grapes, raisins, and plums.

The beer has a nice texture and light feel in the mouth.  I was expecting a bit more hop presence or for some resiny Golding qualities to be the initial flavor, but instead it was a very toasted and biscuit flavors along with some pretty forward diacetyl qualities.  The caramel qualities gave way to some pleasant floral and bitter flavors.

Overall this was a decent brew, a good session beer.  I’d prefer it to quite a few popular American renditions of the style, but it was a tad too sweet in my opinion and could have used a bit more bitter citrus qualities.  At the same time, I wouldn’t rush out to buy it again.

Nate’s Rating:

Overall Satisfaction: ★★¾☆☆ 

Among otherBitters: ★★½☆☆ 

Legbiter Ale

First off, great name for a brew.  I wouldn’t say that Legbiter poured with a bit less head than St. Patrick’s best, and was a bit more vibrant and yellow/orange, looking like a copper penny in color.  Ample carbonation dotted the underside of the head.

The aroma was quite like it’s sister beer, just a bit more intense, and I’d say hoppier, which surprised me.  All the elements of an English ale were there:  Caramel and toffee, bready and biscuity, hay, grass, mild coffee aromas, sweet candy, and dark fruits.  At the same time there was a slight american vibe in the sense that there spruce and grapefruit qualities.

This beer is quite quaff-able.  In fact, I found myself drinking if pretty quickly.  It’s pretty well balanced.  The beer is very fruity…it tasted like a pear and plum.  The malt backing isn’t super sweet but again reveals the  caramel and diacetyl notes I look for in a beer of this style.  I wouldn’t call this beer bitter, but at the same time you can really taste the hops, which are sort of North American in flavor as they were in the aroma.

Overall I’d call this a job well done.  I enjoyed the beer and if I were in the mood would purchase it.

Nate’s Rating:

Overall Satisfaction: ★★★¼☆ 

Among other English/Irish Pale Ales: ★★★☆☆ 

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The Pour: Trust me when I tell you, that, if you get this beer, let it settle and cool for a day or so.  I imagine that perhaps too much yeast or unfermented raspberry got into the bottle we drank because the cork started coming out on its own accord.  (The only other brew I remember doing something similar was the Gueuze from Hanssens I drank; it contained Mead, so those sugars made the cork really pop.)  Once the bottle was open (good thing it was thick), it was too late.  The Amorosa was gushing out.  Fortunately, we acted quickly and saved most of the brew (we probably lost an ounce or so).  At any rate, we gently poured our brews into a couple glasses and noted that the body was very reddish with some brown tones.  It was hazy, as the style should be.  Amorosa also had plenty of floating bits (the high co2 must have really stirred it up).  One of the lovely aspects of the brew was its prominently pink head.  My glass held the head well, but the goblet did not.  Either way, it still looked like a very drinkable beer.

The Nose: For those of us who like sour beers and sour stuff in general, this beer has the mouth-watering aroma that simply makes one begin to salivate in Pavlovian anticipation.  The prominantly tart raspberry stood beside acetic (vinegary) and lactic qualities, creating a beautiful nose.  A hint of sweetness seemed to be present and was a nice counter-balance to the woody sourness.

The Taste: As anticipated, there was a touch of residual sweetness in the brew, which almost certainly (along with the carbonation level) kept the higher than average 7% ABV in check.  Alcohol was well-hidden behind raspberries that gushed like opening bottle.  Drinking Amorosa was certainly more like eating a fresh raspeberry than a Lindemans.  (However it’s not quite as sour and tart as a Cantillion, for instance.)  Also, the seeds of the raspberry added their own distinct tones to the brew.  It seemed like raspberry through and through.  Slight bits of fresh lemon peel also graced the sour and slight bitter aspects of the brew.  The wood flavor and dryness were apparent but not over-powering.  A delectible sourness, tartness, and smaller acetic tones made this a wonderful beer.  On the back, the lambic tones really came through.  Paired with raspberries, the lambic was really emphatic.

Overall, this was a very tasty take on a framboise that seems like authentically drinking raspberries.  The sours with the touches of sweetness were harmoniously balanced.  The only flaw that I saw was the fact that the carbonation was so high.  I’ve seen that this is a problem across the board…I’m sure the next round will be spot on.  Still, like all other Lost Abbey brews, it’s good.

Mike’s Rating:

Overall Satisfaction: ★★★★¼ 

Among other Lambic Ales: ★★★★☆ 

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The single bottle of barleywine set me back $5.99; a hefty price for a bottle so small (330 ml).  Why did I choose this?  I adore barleywines, even on a warm spring day.  They tend to be a more highly priced style (especially those that utilize first runnings) but generally I have found the adage “you get what you pay for” has some merit.

So I poured the Sweedish Barleywine into my brandy snifter (1/2 for me, 1/2 for my wife)…

The Pour:

The beer pours a hue that is red orange.  There is almost no head, but that can be expected from the style sometimes.  A typical barley wine usually let’s you know that is a barleywine with a bold display of viscosity.  Nils Oscar Barley wine did not.

The Nose:

I was drinking my beer that night by campfire, so I moved out of the way so as to focus on the aroma.  This beer was born to be mild on the nose.  There were absolutely no bitter hop aromas (i.e. pine, citrus, pepper) and moderate malt aromas that had to be concentrated on to be perceived.  I picked up on some mild toffee and plum notes, a bit of cotton candy like aromas, and bit of yeast aroma that came across like whole grain wheat bread.

The Taste:

As soon as the beer hit my tongue, I knew something was amiss.  First of all, as the pour suggested the beer is way too thin.  With an ABV of 9.5% it really should have demonstrated more silky syrupy aspects.  Then there was the flavor.  I guess I was expecting (presuppositions are bad) a Thomas Hardy’s-esque experience, but what I got was a maraschino cherry syrup experience.  The beer was very sweet–which I typically like–but in a bad way.  It tasted almost as if the brewer had used a bunch of demerara sugar after a low temp mash to get the beer up to brandywine style sweetness.  It taste very artificial.  While in a barleywine hops can be downplayed, there was practically nothing going on in the area of balance/bitterness.

The Fix:

The beer was not sink worthy, but still not very good.  So I lit up a cigar.  After a few minutes the peppery qualities that were tingling my tongue and lips from the stogy  made the beer much more palatable, providing a little artificial balance.  In the end though, I will not buy this beer again.

Nate’s Review:

Overall Satisfaction: ★½☆☆☆ 

Among other Barleywines: ½☆☆☆☆ 

To prove my coolness, enjoy the picture below:

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The Pour: La Divine poured with a hazy copper colored head and offered a small, finely carbonated, and only minimally retained head.  The carbonation wasn’t as high as I would normally expect a Belgian Abbey brew to be.  However, there was a touch of decent lacing the liquid level reduced.

The Nose: Sticky and sweet, that is the best way to describe the nose.  The aromas of a barley and wine were very present.  Actually, the beer reminded of half beer, half red table wine.  There was a certain youngness and freshness to the brew, like a young wine.  Of course the sweet candy sugar tones were present as well as a bit of fruitiness.

The Taste: Like the nose, the taste was very refreshing and a bit sweet.  The wine-like qualities were to the fore on the palate as well.  A fresh fruitiness, candy sugar caramel sweetness, and a barely pop all helped to hide the 9.5% ABV of the brew.  Surprisingly, La Divine really dried out at the end (again, not unlike a red wine) and left a long lasting impression.

Overall, this is my favorite Belgian beer but it’s hard to denigrate it for much.  It was balanced in its high ABV, it was satisfyingly fresh and dry, and it was a joy to drink.  If one criticism was far to make about the brew, I suppose that the level of carbonation could be bumped up a fair amount.  The pillowy head and full carbonation of Belgians was lackluster on this one.

Mike’s Rating:

Overall Satisfaction: ★★★★☆ 

Among other Belgian Ales: ★★★¾☆ 

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10 Commandments: I first tried this beer at Dark Lord Day last year.  I remembered thinking it was pretty good.  I know that Nate and my brother simply loved it.  It’s a seasonal brew, so, whenever the time came, I picked up a few bottles.  One to try and a couple to age for future use.  FYI 10 Commandments was $11.99 per bottle, which is not too bad a price for a 750ml bottle at 9% ABV.

The Pour:  Strange to say, this beer was a deep, dark color with an almost purple highlight to it.  Odd to look at indeed.  A nice, light brown, foamy and stable head sat atop this beauty.  As I sipped the glass, the lacing was evident and nice looking on the glass.

The Nose:  Given that this brew has rosemary in it, the nose certainly had remnants of that aspect.  Those herbal qualities on the nose were, I’m sure, enhanced by the character of the yeast, which was evident and powdery on the nose.  Raisons/dried fruits could also be noted and hinted at a sweetness that would balance the herbal character the beer promised to have.

The Taste:  If there was any doubt about the rosemary content of the brew, it was certainly resolved on the palate.  The rosemary taste was definite and pronounced.  As suspected, the raison quality, along with the residual sweetness, kicked in to provide a balance to the whole.  The combination of the elements from above gave the beer a perfumey herbal character that lasted for quite awhile.  Throw in a bit of iron-like metallic tones, vinous (wine-like) alcohol qualities, and a nice, dry finish, then you have quite a beer.

Overall, my criticisms of this brew would very likely be different if I didn’t like rosemary.  Actually, I’m not a huge rosemary fan, but it works for 10 Commandments.  If you really hate rosemary, then don’t buy this beer.  Yet, despite the fact that it could seem over-bearing in the brew; I really enjoyed it.  Perhaps the beer was a little drier than I would have liked, but I really don’t have much critical to say beyond that.  Definitely pick up this brew if you see it.

Mike’s Rating:

Overall Satisfaction: ★★★★¼ 

Among other Belgian Ales: ★★★★☆ 

Lost and Found: Having been deprived of Lost Abbey beers, I just kept things rolling along.  It’s hard to tell you how it will taste because the ABV seems to be variable.  For instance, Lost Abbey lists this as a 7.5% ABV ale while Beer Advocate has it as 8%.  The bottle I drank was 8.5%.  The only fair assumption to make is that the variance in ABV would change numerous aspects of the flavor profile. Describing a beer is already a challenge, but it’s even more so when there are such variances.  Perhaps others could fill in the other percents.  As for me, there is my review.

The Pour: Unlike some of the other problematic brews (at the time) from the Lost Abbey, this one had ample carbonation.  I knew this when the cork offered a big pop.  A tall, stable, light brown head emerged.  The fact that the body was pretty active helped keep the head firmly in place and provided lacing as the beer emptied.  I personally think Lost and Found was the color of a murky, hazy brown ale, perhaps something between a Sam Smith’s and Thomas Hardy blended together.

The Nose: Candy sugar tones and powdery yeast were immediately evident on the nose of the brew.  Residual sweetness took the form of caramel qualities, vinous (wine) like aromas, and dried fruits (raison).  A touch of iron hardness and hints of vegetable.  A bit of burnt smokiness was also present.

The Taste: The first sip testified that there was a bit of alcohol warmth to the brew, which combined with those vinous notes to give some wine-like impressions.  The dried and burnt fruit raison qualities combined with a nice touch of residual sweetness to balance out the alcohol heat.  I also noted a almost tart acidity and smoke along with metallic aspects.  The caramel candy sugar tones combined with the vegetable hints at which the nose hinted.

Overall, I think this is a good and complete beer.  The metal and vegetable qualities might seem off-putting, but I think they are preferable in a beer such as this.  From what I understand, Trappist yeast is used in this brew.  The metal and vegetable tones are entirely characteristic of these strains (in my opinion).  The grain profile with, perhaps, the exception of the wheat (the ostensible cause of the haze) is very characteristic of the grain profile for a dubbel.  Because of this, I think the flavors are consistent with the style of dubbel which has the above characteristics.  I personally prefer a bit more of a bready undergirding to a dubbel, but this is a good beer.

Mike’s Rating:

Overall Satisfaction: ★★★¾☆ 

Among other Belgian Ales: ★★★½☆ 

Judgment Day: A good beer in its own right, this beer is maybe better known as being the basis for Cuvee De Tomme and (I’m not sure) Angel’s Share.  At an already hefty 10.5% ABV, this is a pretty big beer.  Of course, the attenuation level of 1.014 doesn’t leave too much sweetness.  At any rate, this is the biggest beer of the normal line-up.

The Pour: Judgment Day poured with a very deep brown, almost black color.  The bottle I drank had no head retention whatsoever.

The Nose: If this beer comes off as having a similar redolence to Lost and Found, it’s because it is very similar in structure, just an upped version.  Plenty of raisons on the nose along with hints of chocolate evoked a craving for some Raisonettes.  A burnt/smoke tone was, like Lost and Found, present.  Again, the vegetative qualities were noticeable.  Vinous port-like aspects were also readily present.  Yeast and, unlike Lost and Found, the wheat were evident.  Alcohol and residual sweetness factored into the overall complexity of the brew.

The Taste: The port alcohol qualities were evident immediately.  I don’t think the beer drank like it was too hot on the alcohol, but it was big.  A small hint of residual tenuously held the ABV in check.  Burnt, dry fruits, chocolate, and yeast hit very nicely.  The raisons and a notable biscuit tone, which was missing in Lost and Found was within the structure of Judgment Day.  Again, the Trappist vegetative qualities were in abundance.  Of course, the strain is proprietary, so I can’t be certain about what was in the mix.  I will say that the yeast aroma and flavor very much reminded of half Aventinus Wheat Double Bock, half eisbock of the same brew.

Overall, again, I cannot complain that this beer isn’t doing what it sets out to do.  It’s made in the Belgian tradition and it has the deep caramel of the dried fruits and special B malts.  It certainly is a tweak on a Belgian Strong.  I think maybe calling it a quad or a dubbel-dubbel works well.  Another excellent beer.  I’ve post about this beer before with similar thoughts.

Mike’s Rating:

Overall Satisfaction: ★★★★½ 

Among other Belgian Ales: ★★★★¼ 

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The Pour: As an Oatmeal Stout of 10.65%, this was a foreboding, black, and viscous ale.  Upon pouring, I noticed its dense body with a minor amount of quickly fading head retention.  The head itself was finely carbonated and brown…I wish it would have stuck around for the whole show.

The Nose: Whatever else may be said about Avery’s barrel aged beers, they are, at a minimum, very interesting.  The nose on this was no exception.  I noted a definite horse blanket/wet dog quality on the nose…natural bretts?  A sour juiciness was present, along with some balancing sweet touches. Bits of caramel and dry coffee countered hints of rum and alcohol warmth.  Very interesting and very nice.  The oats were minor but present.

The Taste: Upon the first sip of the beer, the barrel was evident.  Touches of smoke, a very small hint of Rum (more as the beer warmed), and a lactic sour milkiness were immediate characteristics.  A sour juicy oatmeal stout wouldn’t seem to work on the surface but it really worked well and interestingly for the beer.  The oats were chewy and filled out body (along with a touch of sweet), balancing the higher alcohol tones (which were a little vinous).  A dry roasted coffee finish along with rais0nish sherry and caramel tones finished out the brew.

Overall, the brew was very unique and interesting.  It seems that this trend in the Avery barreled beers is not going to change through the series.  Personally, I enjoyed this beer, but it’s probably not for everyone.  The sour milkiness might take the drinker back a bit.  It is, after all, a unique beer.

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The Pour: Black would be an accurate description for the color of El Camino.  In fact, stout-like in color is maybe the best descriptor.  The creamy, light brown, and very stable head added to the stout perception.  At any rate, I thought the beer was very nice looking.  A small amount of lacing occurred as I sipped it down.

The Nose: Given the El Camino was 9.5% ABV, it wasn’t a surprise to catch some of the alcohol notes on the nose.  Citrusy hops also dominated.  In this way, the beer certainly had Stone’s signature on it.  However, the hops were not simply the piney/grapefruity hops that I’m used to; they had a very nice orange peel tone to them.  A bit of char also stopped by to say hello.  Some roasty grains, coffee, and a hint of chocolate were present as well.

The Taste: There was a fair amount going on in the brew.  Like many of Stone’s beers, there was an immediate hop impression.  In this case, the orange peel citrus tones came through.  The alcohol warmth on the nose came through to the palate.  Roasty grains, bits of cocoa, and a (more than average for Stone) nice, residual sweetness helped prop the beer up. In tandem with the sweetness was a nice caramel pop and a bready backbone.  Hints of smoke, oak dryness, and a pronounced black pepper spice moved El Camino along. It finished with a dry, oak tone and herbal quality.

Overall, I liked the El Camino.  It was just a little bit disparate and busy starting out.  I think a 6 months to a year of proper cellaring would really let the brew shape into a more unified whole.  Lucky for me, I’ve a got a couple bottles with which I can do just that.  I would certainly pay the $3.99 for a 12 ounce bottle and try it if I were you…I wouldn’t tell it to hit the road just yet.  $4 is pretty negligible for a one time brew. If you try it or have tried it, what do you think?

Mike’s Rating:

Overall Satisfaction: ★★★½☆ 

Among other American Ales: ★★★¾☆ 

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Heresy, I know.

The bottom line is, while I enjoy a nice hoppy beer ocasionally, the “American Double IPA,” just isn’t my thing.  Sometimes when I am drinking one, I think to myself, “How many ways can my palate describe bitter, citrusy, hoppy, etc.”  While they all taste good, rarely do they taste great to me, and rarely do I find one even mildly unique.  When I do, I go out of my way to tell any and every one about it.  Also, when a beer’s bio emphasizes bone crushing hop content, it fetches a yawning reaction from so.

So that’s why I avoided the Ruination IPA till now, but have sought out many of Stone’s other brews that I have found delightful.

The Pour:

Ruination is an orangish golden color.  The brew looks a tad thinner than what I expect for a DIPA, but it leaves behind the tell tale sticky lacing from the remains of its two finger head.  What is notable is that the brew sports a bit of a haze,  which may be cool if it is indicative of wheat as an ingredient.  I love the the addition of wheat in hoppy brews.

The Nose:

How many ways can I describe, “whoah, this is one hoppy beer!”  Bitter.  It hasn’t touched my tongue and its already convulsing in my mouth in anticipation of the Pacific-Northwestern-in-origin hops.  The aromas of grapefruit and lemon zest occasionally allowed a glimmer of caramel malts.

The Taste:

Well, upon entering my mouth, I realize it is not as brutally bitter as I was anticipating, which is great.  I actually tasted the caramel and toffee malts.  I doubt wheat was used in this brew; the sweet, and delicately raw qualities of wheat seemed absent.  I’d guess a ton of 2 row and a bit of crystal malt were used.  The beer is actually balanced pretty well.  The medium body could have used a viscosity boost, and I’d preferred a bit more sweetness, especially in the swallow, but it was pretty good.  Fruity notes were limited to grapefruit, lemon/mine, and a slight cantaloupe flavor.  A bonus was the absence of astringent vodka flavors I frequently come across in DIPAs.

Overall Thoughts:

Ruination was quite good, and went down easy, but it was not very memorable to me.  There was no moment where I lost my head and sang love songs to the beer.   I’d definitely drink it again, but probably wouldn’t buy it again.  At $2.79 per 12oz. bottles, my palate guides me elsewhere.

Nate’ Rating:

Overall Satisfaction: ★★★☆☆ 

Among other Imperial India Pale Ales: ★★★¼☆ 

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