Alpine Beer Company Exponential Hoppiness

Brewed by Alpine Beer Company (CA)
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Alpine, California USA

Growler shared at Columbus Tasting 7 - Poured amber with a fair offwhite head and some lace. Aromas of grapefruit, and pine mostly but there was some pineapple and maybe even a little apricot underneath. Flavor is Grapefruit and Pine upfront but there is a good amount of malt beneath and when you look for it you can find the caramel and toffee notes beneath. Finishes in typical west coast fashion though with some great bitter hops. Medium body with good carbonation and a nice crisp and clean mouthfeel. Great brew!

Thanks to bgburdman for the chance to try this beer. Growler shared at the C-bus tasting. Huge citrus and pine hop aroma that is expected of the big west coats double ipas. The flavors are lots of citrus and hop bitterness...very over the top but I loved that about it. Good stuff and another excellent west coast ipa.

C-Bus 7 Growler shared by bgburdman: Pours a clear copper color with a white head. Aroma, citrus, pale malts, and some piny notes. Flavor, pale malts up front, citrus, grapefruit, pine. This stuff kicked ass.

Growler - big thanks to WeeHeavySD for this bad ass beer. Clear golden color with a decent size head. Aroma is monstrously hoppy with huge piney, mega-sour citrus, and other assorted hop aromas. Taste is monstrously hop-heavy with lots of big, piney and super-citrus hop flavors. Thick, yet smooth, this one really delivers a quality hop-forward flavor and feel that compares favorably with the Plinys - well done. A really good example of what a D/IIPA can be.

Handbottle. Thanks to Cbkschubert for sending me this one. Poured a dark orange body with nice head. Hoppy aroma, lots of citrus, some other spices as well. Flavor is sweet with hops and a really nice malty backbone to it. Decent carbonation and a thick syrupy mouthfeel. Overall this was really smooth and could not believe it was 10.5%, was not even tasted. This is a great IIPA.

Thanks to WeeHeavySD for the growler

Aroma: This beer reeks of hops, the aroma jumped out of the growler the moment it the cap came off. The glass holds plethora of sugary pink grapefruit, over ripe tangerine and pine forest floor after a good rain. The smell is overly fragrant but not really aggressive.

Appearance: An unassuming brash copper with a clean feel. Almost no bubble movement inside the glass, only a few strays. Head is full and fluffy, an attractive antique white.

Flavor: Begins with a lot of the same qualities as lemon iced tea; almost pungent and herbal on the front of the tongue, bits of apples around the sides and lemon bitterness across the back. An almost cheese like characteristic comes in next, surprisingly attractive for such a poor description on my part. Citrus moves in next with the same buttery grapefruit sense that the Pure Hoppiness possesses. It creeps around the back sides of the tongue and gently lays down a blanket of soothing bitterness. Finishes murky, almost damp and mossy with hints of kiwi and under ripe green grapefruit.

Palate: Medium body, somewhat hard with just a nip of carbonation sting.

Overall: Very nice with a curious and unique flavor. Not an overly complex or deep beer but quite enjoyable none the less. Highly recommended to hop heads

Growler courtesy of WeeHeavySD. Pours a clear golden orange with medium thick white head. It might be in part because of the freshness of this but the aroma is just amazing! Citrus and pine dominate with some hints of grass. Nice sweet citrus flavors upfront, some caramel, finishes with a slight bitterness. I couldn’t detect any alcohol in this at all. Very smooth mouthfeel, medium carbonation, but leaves a stickiness afterwards. Very nice IIPA.

Had thought once this was as good as Pliny, but a side by side at Toronado showed it lacked a bit in the aftertaste. Damn good beer.