Runination 2.0 Double IPA Stone Brewing

Beer # 482 Ruination 2.0 Double IPA

Brewery: Stone Brewing Company


Type: Independent Brewery    Est.:  1996

Location: Escondido, California, United States of America

Beer Style: Double India Pale Ale DIPA

ABV: 8.5%      IBU: 100

Format: Brown Glass Bottle  Size: 650 ml

Cost: $8.40 CAD     Purchased At: LCBO

stonebrewing

    @stonebrewing

The ninth-largest craft brewery in the USA, Stone Brewing was founded in San Diego California in 1996 by Greg Koch and Steve Wagner. Beer Advocate Magazine has named it the best brewery in the world twice. They are the brewers of the World Famous "Enjoy By..." series the most famous being their "Enjoy By 4-20" for obvious reasons. Tonight's beer is the new version of their Ruination Double IPA which was the first Double, West Coast IPA that was brewed year-round. The new version is packed with a huge 100 UBU's worth of hops and is left unfiltered for a pure taste.

Onto our ruination... 

pours a hazy medium gold with a short off-white head made up of small bubbles. Aroma is ripe with fruit, Lychee, peaches, hints of guava and passionfruit and a slight background of pine. First sip is attack of the killer hops! Wow, piney and bitter with hints of medicine and marijuana. Sweet fruit lingers through. The malts come out later with bready caramel notes. Long lingering citrus on the finish. A definite West Coast IPA. Aeration is all about the hops, very green, citrus deep sweet and spicy malt with hints of whiskey.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 

Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Re-Order:  6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Experience: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL


Final Thoughts:
This is a huge beer. If you are just starting out tasting craft beers... let this one sit for a bit. That being said if you like you beers stacked with hops, bursting with pine and citrus get this beer. It truly is a unique and wonderful West Coast IPA.


Cheers
CJT

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Bonus! Accidentally Aged 10 Bitter Years Black Oak Brewing Company

Ten Bitter Years Imperial IPA Cellar Aged

Black Oak Brewing Company

Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada
Independent Microbrewery Established: 1999
Imperial India Pale Ale 8.0 % IBU: 83
ABV Brown Glass Bottle 750 ml.
$6.95 (Canadian) At the LCBO

Twitter: @BlackOakBrewing


Ok. Yes I found another lurker hiding in my basement, and the saddest thing is I do not know exactly how old it is. I remember as far back as last January but it could have been there longer. So I am going to say it has been aged somewhere between 9 months and 2 years. I was surprised myself when I was met with a still slightly fruity and complex nose as I opened the bottle and even more pleasantly surprised when I tasted the amazing beverage it has transformed into.

Black Oak released its Ten Bitter Years for its tenth anniversary in 2010, but it has been a regular beer ever since. I had bought it before to blog, but It was so good I just drank it without making any notes. So sheepishly I went out and picked up another bottle and it disappeared into the basement to not be seem for some months.

Let's see how it fared.

Pours a dun gold colour with a still fluffy head made up of small bubbles. Caramel, licorice, spices and turbinado sugar dominate the nose,
slightly smokey malt finishes it up. First sip is all whisky with some softer notes of caramelised apples and pears, hints of brandy, and toasted anise seeds. The middle is very hay-like rich clover and alfalfa hay almost heady. hints of wood and vanilla with some light smoke and tinges of burnt sugar. The finish gives us some singed orange peel. Aeration gives us notes of Irish whiskey with hints of ripe melon and mango. Ever so slightly piney on the finish and somewhat resinous.

Final Thoughts

Wow this beer has help up so well and taken on another dimension from it's original fruity, piney, bitter ale. I love the complexities that have come out in the malt as they aged, like each note of a chord being struck individually and amplified.The woody, whiskey notes in the beer are so savoury and phenomenal.  I may want to actually repeat this process... I may have to do a tasting of Ten Bitter Years, and then save another bottle for one year to compare notes properly.

Cheers

CJT


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Beer #276 Pacific Jade Wide Body IIPA Barnstormer Brewing

#276 Pacific Jade Wide Body IIPA

Barnstormer  Brewing

Barrie, Ontario, Canada
Brewpub/Brewery
IIPA 9.3 % ABV 
14 oz Pint
$6.25 (Canadian) At the Sawdust City Brewery Saloon (Guest Tap)

Twitter: @BarnstormerBeer

A quick trip out to the pub revealed to me this little gem. A nice IIPA with a good kick of alcohol. Barnstormer really is the little Brewpub that could, some excellent beers come out of this Barrie Brewery... I wish we could get more up this way.

Onto the tasting.

Pours a dark amber with an off-white head made up of tiny bubbles. Nose is hot alcohol malt and caramel hints of tropical fruit and pine.  First sip confirms this is a 9.3 % beer. The alcohol is very present at the start. As is a sweet and smooth malt flavours. Very rich with lots of caramel. Some residual  sugar vanilla and a touch of licorice. Aeration brings out the heat of the alcohol and it bites the tongue a bit. However it is still very smooth for such a high alcohol content. Light hints of wood and cinnamon finish the beer off.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 


Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 5/6  PASS
Re-Order:  6/6  EXCEPTIONAL
Experience: 5/6 PASS

Final Thoughts:

Quite a bit going on in a little glass. Lots of complex flavours, but still quite smooth despite the high alcohol content.

Cheers

CJT

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Cleaning out the Cupboards

Back Again.... did you miss me?

After a long drawn out and somewhat tiresome summer (that dragged over into fall...) I return to my blog to hang my head in shame as I have not paid it much mind recently. This is actually a big month here at Pint Jockey Headquarters. Five years ago this Sunday (November 8th) is the fifth anniversary of my first post. Sadly I often miss my own anniversaries because of being busy at work... being a chef we start into Christmas parties right about now. However this year I plan on celebrating... with a beer or two and a few posts to boot. However, That being said I have to clear off my desktop and post a few beers I tasted but never managed to finish posting. So here is a a quick three teaser of some of the summer beers I tried to write about for you...

Beer # 240 Panache

Stack Brewing Company

Sudbury, Ontario, Canada

Independent Microbrewery

Twitter: @Stackbrewing

Cedar aged American Pale Ale 
4.5% ABV Aluminum Can 473 ml (16 oz).
$3.00 (Canadian) At The Brewery

Back again with another craft beer from Stack Brewing in Sudbury Ontario. Sadly when I picked these up I didn't get much information on them


Pours a slightly hazy dark gold with an off-tan head made up of tiny to small bubbles. Aroma is woody, mossy, grassy, and slightly fruity. Some pineapple is evident. First sip is very light, drinks like a session APA. some fruit, mostly tropical, pineapple and bitter orange. Cedar is an underscoring note light and refreshing on the back of the palate. Aeration warms up the cedar giving it a bit more of a sawdust smell, some resinous hops and a long finish of bitter orange peel.


Impression: A Solid 5/6 

Lovely little beer. Cedar works very well with beer, especially the APAs.









Beer # 241 1606 Winewood Series Barrel Aged Stout

Sawdust City Brewing Company
Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada

Independent Microbrewery

Barrel Aged Raspberry Stout
5.7 % ABV Brown Glass Bottle 750 ml
$12.95 (Canadian) At the brewery

Twitter @SawdustCityBeer

pours a very dark brown with slight hints of red and chestnut. The head is dark tan and made of very fine bubbles. The Aroma is leather and wood, some cedar, red fruit, and slightly molasses sweet. First sip is smoky sweet with lots of oak, sweet berries, slightly tart, some cranberry. Some tobacco, raisins, and coacoa powder. Aerations gives us a slight whisky nose, with some grapey astringency. Mouthfeel is cream












Impression:   6/6 

Hands down this was the beer of the summer. After ageing for 10 months in wine barrels with the periodic addition of fresh raspberries, this beer was a flavour bomb, but very easy drinking. I could sit all night and slowly sip a pint of this.



Beer # 242 Revenge of the Ginger IPA

Double Trouble Brewing
Guelph, Ontario, Canada

Independent Microbrewery

Flavoured IPA (Australian Pale Ale)
6.2 % ABV Aluminum Can 473 ml
$3.00 (Canadian) At the LCBO

Twitter: @HopsandRobbers


Pours a red tinted clear amber with an off white head made up of small bubbles. Aroma is fresh ginger, or Jamaican Ginger beer, sharp and citrusy. Rich malt in the background. First sip starts out like a ginger beer, some zing which calms down into a malty robust IPA. Some elements of a red ale especially in the malt profile. Some caramelisation, some residual sugars. The gingerol gives a pleasant tingly mouth numbing feel, and the herbaceous hops lend a nice bitter green taste to counteract the heat of the ginger and the sweet of the malt. Aeration gives off a warmth that fills the body, there is some grassiness, and some hay. The finish is earthy, mineral, and slightly sticky on the lips.

Impression: 5/6

Not a beer I would drink often but a good flavour profile nonetheless. I would actually like to cook this this. It screams beer butt chicken to me...



























There you go... I am caught up again it is time to move forward. A new year dawns here at Headquarters let's see what new beers await.

Cheers
CJT

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Twin Pines IIPA Sawdust City

# 226 Twin Pines IIPA

Sawdust City Brewing Company

Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada

Independent Microbrewery
Double IPA 
8.8 % ABV 10 oz Draft (296 ml.)
$6.50 (Canadian) At the brewery

Twitter: @sawdustcitybeer

When this Brew House hits 88 Brews you're going to see some serious shit...

I have been trying to get this post up for over a week. I always seem to be tasting this beer last and by the time I hit it my taste buds are in shock and don't want to co-operate (Bring on the light spring summer beers please!!) But finally I am getting around to finishing it. I have enjoyed it and I hope you do too.

So there is a story behind this beer, and it proves that the brewers at Sawdust city are my kinda people. (Beer brewin', beer swillin', movie nerds and I'm okay with that!) They named their original IPA Lone pine I assume to evoke some thoughts of the ruggedly handsome Muskoka region where they now have built their brewery. But it also happens to have a connection with one of the most beloved sci fi movies of all time, "Back to the Future."

As you can see (*Spoiler alert*) before Marty McFly goes back in time, the mall he meets Doc Brown at is called "Twin Pines" (picture right) and when he returns the mall is called "Lone Pine." Why? Because, when the time machine goes into the past, it runs over over one of the "Twin Pines" leaving just the one for the mall to be named after.

It was one of the first (in my memory) of little Easter eggs that directors started putting in movies to see if you were paying attention. There are others but this one was sort of a secret handshake for true movie buffs for a long time (then the Internet happened...). But the significance of that movie to the naming of our brew does not end there. Not only is the beer 8.8% ABV it is the 88th brew at the new brewery in Gravenhurst. And as all of us true movie nerds know... You need to be travelling 88 mph for the flux capacitor to work... and that's when the real shit happens.

Ok, so they know their movies... but do they know their beers, let's find out. Put on your headphones, set the time circuits for 1985, and turn on some Huey Lewis and the news:

Where we are going... we don't need roads... but maybe a pint glass...


Pours a dark peach colour with a fluffy white head made of small bubbles with massive lacing. Aroma is grainy with a deep background of tropical hops. Some grapefruit, some passionfruit. First sip is a light, bright, citrus and tropical fruit infused brew. Some effervescence on the tongue with some light malt and caramel towards the end. Incredibly smooth, alcohol is evident through the middle, slightly hot on the tongue. Plenty of green herbal hops some pine and a little resin. Aeration brings out a sweet caramel, with deep medicinal hops and some grilled pineapple.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 

Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Beer Style: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Re-Order:  6/6  EXCEPTIONAL
Experience:  6/6 EXCEPTIONAL

Final Thoughts:

This beer has become a favourite here at Pint Jockey Headquarters. There may be great sadness if they decide to stop brewing this one. All around a fantastic beer, and a beautiful compliment to it's sister brew the Lone Pine. (also a favourite here) Get it while you can, but remember... it's 8.8% too many and you may want to go back in time to fix whatever mistakes you made...

Cheers


CJT



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7 Hop IPA Rogue Farms

#213 7 Hop IPA Rogue Farms

Rogue Ales

Newport, Oregon, USA
Independent
Double India Pale Ale 
8.02 % ABV Brown Glass Bottle 650 ml.
$6.60 (Canadian) At the LCBO

Twitter: @RogueAles

Down again to Newport Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest. Rogue Ales is certainly one of the defining forces behind the USA's craft beer movement. Not only do they have a commitment to innovation, they have a commitment to organics, and have gone so far as to open a farm when they can grow the raw ingredients for their beer. That is where this beer comes in. The four types of barley that went into this brew were grown on the Rogue Farm; and not only that, The SEVEN types of hops that went into it were grown there too! This double IPA contains Liberty, Newport, Revolution, Rebel, Independent, Freedom, and Alluvial hop varieties (sounds like someone is waving the American flag... Or are trying to remember the names of the shuttles from the movie Armageddon... )

Freedom and Independence Shuttles

Whichever, Rogue is always good for a well balanced flavourful beer... let's see how they do this time.

Begin the Hop revolution!


Pours a dark honey colour with a short off tan head made up of small bubbles. Aroma is bright tropical fruit, grilled pineapple, honey, some florals, and brown sugar. First sip is deliciously malty  like a softer West Coast ale, but is bursting with bright green botanicals, plenty more fruit, and a light brown sugar taffy. Notes of pine, chamomile, tansy, as well as guava and passion fruit. Plenty of grass notes and some hay. Aeration brings out toasty malt and caramel and intensifies the herbal quality. Alcohol is evident but not overpowering, Lips are left slightly sticky.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 

Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 5/6 PASS
Re-Order:  6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Experience:  6/6 EXCEPTIONAL


Final Thoughts:

This is almost all you could ask for from a IIPA. A good strong malty character that complements a flavourful and complex set of hoppy aromas. The fruit and the pine balances well and no one aspect of the flavour tries to outshine the others... everybody just plays nice. If it were not for the 8.02 % ABV I could certainly drink this bad boy all day without complaint. However, Share this with a friend or pair it with some food: burgers, steak, ribs, pizza... this beer has you covered.


CJT


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