Alpine Beer Company Good

Formerly brewed at Alpine Beer Company (CA)
Style: Barley Wine
Alpine, California USA

Date: 12/01/2006
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewfest, Strong Ale Fest

opaque dark orange, fine beige head, big sweet fruity aroma with a peachy apricot character, rich malt flavor, well balanced with earthy hops, dry but with lots of fruity character, a few esters floating around, good but not great

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.3/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **+/4

On tap @ the San Diego Strong Ale Fest. Poured a medium to dark, hazy golden color with an averaged sized head. Aromas and tastes of brown sugar, malts, and fruits. Sweet. Wow, 17% - I wouldn’t have guessed that at all. This was my last tasting on Day 1 and picked a very good beer to close it with!

On tap at the 10th Annual San Diego Strong Ale Festival: Pours a hazy copper mahogany with a lightly-lacing light tan head. Sweet, complex caramely malty oaky aroma has a good dose of grapefruity hops. Body starts sweet and caramely with some tart fruity oaky notes and a smooth, drier toasty finish that hides the whopping 17% abv pretty well.

Draught, Toronado. Body is medium amber. Aroma is moderately hoppy (apricot, resin), moderately malty (cookie), with notes of sherry, wood, alcohol. Flavor is heavily sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is moderately sweet, lightly acidic, moderately bitter. Medium to full body, velvety texture, lively carbonation, moderately alcoholic. A little disjointed/unfocused in the aroma, but rich and balanced well. Doesn’t seem like 17%.

10th Annual SD Strong Ale Fest: Poured a hazy deep amber color with a small off-white head. Very sweet and fruity aroma. Candy aroma with notes of sugar, grapes and apples. The malty sweet flavor had a good amount of vinous character. Mildly tart. Semi-dry finish and a silky mouthfeel. The alcohol was very well hidden for the ABV.

Tasted at the 2004 Pizza Port Strong Ale Fest. Orange gold color. Small head. Aroma is citrus, oranges, brown sugar and a hint of oak. A full-bodied barley wine. Malts are fruity and sweet,citrusy wuith hints of oak. Caramel flavors all over the place. Crisp and clean. There is no real evidence of the 17% alcohol. Nice BW. Will be AWESOME with some aging. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly sweet.
2x Barrel Aged Good On tap at O’Brien’s. Pours a medium amber color. Small sized white foamy head. Aroma is brown sugar, wood, bourbon and molasses. Medium to full bodied barley wine. Malts are caramel, with lots of brown sugar, some oak and lots and lots of bourbon. Very smooth tasting. There is a touch of alcohol bite, but it is really subdued for the 14.1% alcohol. A very dangerous beer, hides the alcohol very well and it nice and smooth. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly sweet. 9-4-8-4-17

SD Strong Ale ’04. Murky orangish color with a slighly foamy head. Aromas of light peach, caramel, and sugars. Taste is more of the same. Sticky sweet flavors of tangerine, piney hops, caramel, oak and cocoa. I never would think this was 17% at all. This is going to be a monster.

(Draft: 2004 Strong Ale Festival, Pizza Port in Carlsbad, CA. Day 1, Beer 3) I had the honor of tasting this at the brewery several weeks before this festival, before it was "ready" for its debut, thanks Pat! And what a successful debut it is! Right out of the gate, a strong aroma of lucioius ripe canteloupe grabs you. What a unique and amazing nose. Some smoke develops later, but it’s hard to tell in these tiny taster glasses. It tastes very fruity and sweet, and the moderate hoppiness provides nice balance, not trampling the fruit. Alcoholic for sure, but doesn’t seem anywhere close to 17%. Smooth, rich, coating palate with no alcohol burn. Light amber color. Small off-white head has good retention, maintaining the same level until the beer is gone, and depositing a fair amount of patchy lacing, pretty impressive for such a high alcohol beer. Just an outstanding barleywine, especially for such a baby, and I’d like to do a side-by-side session with some of my favorite barleywines to see where this one stands. Probably near the top.