Alpine Beer Company OBriens IPA

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

Draft at obriens on russian river night. Pours a light copper color with a fluffy off white head, great lacing left on the glass. Tons of citrus and piny hops on the nose, flavor was bitter and hoppy. Finish was long and very sticky......great stuff!

On tap at O’Brien’s Pub 14th Anniversary Barrel-Aged beer night 1/15. A- Pours a clear strong orange hue, thin layer of white head sustains, creamy lacing on the glass S- Pure hops up front, mostly grassy with a touch of pine, crisp and fresh with a touch of malt in the background T- Initial taste is delicious, grassy hops with a very ’green’ and fresh taste, citrus and pine peek thought with a touch of chalk, delicious! M- Medium-bodied, oily texture coats the tongue, mild carbonation D- My second experience with this absolutely stellar single IPA, i love the hop profile and balance, very drinkable with low alcohol presence, I have heard this is a Blind Pig clone, here’s to hoping this proliferates!

Growler from Alpine - Pours a clear amber color with a medium size off white head. Nice lacing. Aroma is a nice mix of floral and herbal hops. Flavor is mostly hops with a bit of toasted malt sweetness to back it. Very smooth on the palate. Medium body. An excellent IPA.

Another growler shared by Charles (thickfreakness. Thanks dude!
Pours a dark clear orange color with a lasting beige head. Smell is big and hoppy and "green" with fresh melon and big pine like hops. Taste is piney, dry and hoppy, fresh, slightly "green", fairly bitter and herbacious. Medium to full mouthfeel and nice carbonation. Overall, this is a fantastic IPA. Really enjoyable beer.

Sampled from growler thin courtesy of cbkschubert. Good dry citrus vine aroma on the nose. Copper body with white head. Dry grapefruit flavor but had a juicy chewy factor in the mix. Seem to take away some the dryness found in aroma. Cool and crisp on the palate. Good stuff thanks Craig.

Pours into my 25cl tulip glass with an almost two-finger thick, pale tan colored head. The beer is brilliantly clear and is a concentrated copper tinged, rich amber color that shows a perfect, rich copper hue when held up to the light. The aroma is a mix of dank hop character (which is dominant) and fruity, tropical fruit accented citrus notes. Aromas of essential "hemp" oil, light pine tar, and a zesty-green herbal note are lightly balanced by notes of lychee, apricot, candied ruby-red grapefruit, and a touch of vibrant orange blossom. This really is quite the dank hop character, it remains quite smooth, but really captures the essence of sticking your nose into a dime bag quite well (that skunky herbal note is alive and well here).

Lightly sweet, but has an overall effect of being pretty dry. Hints of caramelized malt character add just a touch of grain character along with some light biscuit notes towards the finish. This is clearly an IPA though, as the hops are extremely dominant. Green hop notes, herbal character, hemp oil (though perhaps not quite as distinct as the aroma might suggest), green tobacco notes (this is quite strong actually) and a hop-fruit character that is much reduced compared to the aroma (noticeable notes of lychee and tart grapefruit). This has just enough heft to carry the hops, yet remain quite drinkable; this is as a good IPA should be. This has an expressive, smooth, yet ample bitterness from beginning to end that intertwines itself with the green, dank hop character.

This is perhaps the strongest influenced by its nearest cousin, hoppy IPA that I have ever had. If it wasn’t for the soft citrus components it would likely be too much. Despite the "herbal" influence, this still maintains a smooth, never astringent hop character that helps to make this quite quaffable. The aroma is definitely a bit more balanced a bit more between herbal and fruit components, and I certainly can’t help but wish the flavor did the same; though the flavor is far from objectionable.

A pungent, dank smell with a strong scent of herbs. Tastes like it smells. Delicious. No surprises here.

probably the best smelling beer I have ever had. but it does not continue onto the flavor. decent but not nothing special like the smell. nice but not the best.