Alpine Beer Company Pure Hoppiness

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

22oz bottle. Clear amber-orange colored body with a sticky head that sustains decently and leaves some streaky lace. The aroma is pretty forceful, with lots of grapefruit, orange, pine, and sweet mango. the flavor is much more hop flavor than bitterness, which caught me off guard at first. Then I remembered back to when I had exponential hoppiness, which was likewise flavorful and not too bitter; seems to be their style, and I like it. This is pretty ridiculously drinkable, but at the same time, the flavor seems a little light and muted. I’m getting a good deal of oily and resiny hops in the mouth, and just a kiss of honey sweet malt carrying it. Not really light bodied, but the oily feel that the ridiculous amount of hopping brings makes it slide quite slickly through the mouth. Alcohol is barely detectable; hardly feels like 8%. The finish is like hop flowers lingering lightly over your tongue. For a beer that is pretty much simply liquid hop flavor, I can’t see it getting much better than this, but is it so much to ask for a little malt?

Sampled @ O’Brien’s San Diego. So this one blew my mind!!! Truly one of the best IPA’s out there!!! Fiery smoke-filled brew like a lit-up hillside. Marshmellow head that sticks to the sides of the glass. Hophead’s dream...grapefruit, orange, lemon zest accompany pine resin. Caramel, toffee, and a touch of honey make this one sing. Oily, not syrupy...give me more!!!

Thanks to friend’s Mother-in-Law who lives in San Diego, this ended up in my fridge. Pours hazy orange with thick foamy head, with lots of lacing. Aroma is all about hops, pine, citrus, and something sweet, like berries. Picture perfect. Packs a crisp initial bite with lots of spruce, forest-like flavors, and a bitter finish, but not crazily so. Oily mouthfeel, but also a bit watery. Still, one of the best I’ve ever had. Alcohol is well-hidden too.

Finally knocking this one off my list thanks to Fordest. Piney, citrusy, C-hop aromas when you first pour the beer. Crisp red fruit flavors like some cherry and strawberry. As it warms the aroma turns to a little more caramel and malt. Flavor gets much sweeter and maltier. Very interesting experience. No complaints at all from this hop head.

I live in San Diego and this is one of the top 3 double IPA in town. It has a very impressive mix of well asserted hops likely with late Cascade additions. The thing that makes this an incredible beer is that it retains a smooth taste despite huge amount of hops being used. Is smooth like Pliny.

22oz bottle. What a nose! Crisp, refreshing and lively as hell. Spruce, wet springtime grass and a massive, zesty citrus component. Lime and lemon zest, tree bark, pine sap and just a hint of toffee malt. Pours a dark, thick copper with a huge, pillowy white head that refuses to die and leaves excellent sticky lacing. Flavor is intensely hoppy. Wonderful. Lime, spruce, wet wood. Almost like chewing flowers and perfume (?). There’s a decent cracker like dry malt component to balance out the massive onslaught of hops as well. Medium to full bodied with excellent carbonation and a resinous, bitter finish that lasts forever. Top notch and, next to Two Hearted, class of the domestic IPA field. Thanks a ton John!

Pours a crystal clear golden amber with a puffy one-finger head which dissipates slowly with solid retention and excellent lacing. As soon as I popped the cap, the hops jumped out of the bottle. Huge citrus aromas with grapefruit, orange and lemon zest. I did pick up some pine in the nose along with some faint bready malt sweetness. Very nice aroma. Not surprisingly, the taste is big on citrus hops as well. I got even more pine in the taste especially with the finish, which was nice and pleasantly bitter yet smooth. Creamy mouthfeel heavy on the hop oils and prickly on the tongue with the strong carbonation. This is one of the better DIPA’s I’ve tasted recently and I would drink this all night long if I could get it.

Bottle at toncatcher’s. Pours a clear golden with a small head. Light sweetness with a moderate bitterness. Quite hoppy with aromas of grapefruit and hints of pine. Sticky mouthfeel. Medium carbonation. Long bitter finish.