Alpine Beer Company Duet

Brewed by Alpine Beer Company (CA)
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Alpine, California USA

Growler from the brewery on release day, consumed the next day. Hazy gold-light orange with a sticky white head. Ripe apricot, sweet grapefruit and lots of tangy nectarine in the aroma. Like a tangy hop-fruit salad. Almost no malt in the flavor, just pure fruity and spicy hop flavor. More bitterness in the finish than Nelson, though still not strongly bitter. Medium-light body with a dry finish. More of a classic fruit hop profile than the grapey nelson, but very tasty. One of the most drinkable IPAs that I’ve ever had. Alpine is owning the IPA segment right now with a handful of amazing examples that all have their own flare.

Draft. A dark golden beer with a thin orangey head. The aroma has notes of sweet malt, hops, grass, and grapefruit. The flavor is sweet with notes of malt and grass - giving it a feeling of chewing on fresh hops. Nice body.

Toronado SD from cask. Big rich thick with a touch of yeast and sweetness. Nectar of pine and hops. Couple clicks higher for the regular version but still a treat to try this from Cask. Velvet with nice length. More mid west tropical type hop characteristics. Couldn’t do but a pint but every so often this is great stuff.

Growler courtesy of JessetheHutt shared with the usual suspects at the Brick Store. Pours a light clear amber with a solid soapy white head that lasted a longer than I expected for a growler pour and left decent lacing. The aroma just about knocked me over when I opened the growler. Big, thick, resinous pine hops just jump out of the glass with a hint of bready malts in the background. As it warms a little, the Amarillo hops really start to join the party with oranges and grapefruits mostly. The taste is dominated by the sweet tropical citrus up front with pineapple, oranges and grapefruits. The malt backbone is there but hardly noticeable as the finish brings the pine hops back to leave a resinous bitterness that builds up after each sip. The mouthfeel is medium bodied and pretty sticky with hops that tingle the palate. I really liked this beer as it has tons of hops and plenty of bitterness but remains extremely drinkable. A great beer.

From growler .Pours clear orange with medium fluffy white head. that disapears into thin white head ..Aroma fresh hops piney, citrus grapefruit. medium body decent carbanation finishes crisp and clean with just the right amount of bitterness.

On-tap at PPSB a few months back. Pours clearish, light orange/yellow with a moderate white head, good lace. Smells light citrusy and grassy hoppy. Tastes light and very bright citrusy and lightly grassy. There’s a hint of a malt backbone in there as well. Medium body, good carbonation.

Tap at Solana Beach, which was good because I missed the brewery’s open hours. Aroma is a nice floral, hoppy combo, but the fun ended there. Flavor was grainy, bready and more like a plain A than an IPA. Too English for me, and underwhelming.

Growler from doubleo, thanks Kyle! Clear pale golden with a 1 1/2 finger off-white head, down to a thick creamy head before long. Aroma of skunky herbal hops, grapefruit rinds, and a tinge of pine. The faint malt backbone is biscuity. The flavor is skunky and piny with very little malts to be found. Bitterness peaks at a 5 in the dry finish. Moderate carbonation with a light to medium body. Maybe it was the 16 Grit that I just had, but this one seems a little overrated to me.