Alpine Beer Company Pure Hoppiness

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

Bomber. Poured clear, lighter orange with a short cap of beige head. The aroma picked up soft dried floral and grapefruity notes with slightly more solid caramel supporting it.. less power than anticipated, but this was very smooth and calculated. The flavor had sweeter, alcohol-laced caramel and bready notes at the core, surrounded by buildingfloral and orangey bitterness.. pine and orange ride out the finish. Medium-bodied and very, very dry on the palate.. a bit too much so to be truly enjoyable. Overall a solid beer.

1-26-08 bottle shared with lb4lb and MiguelMandingo on BA thanks to Padrefan98!
Amber with a white clean head and decent lacing. Soapy sweet hops smell. Nice hop flavor with some subtle earthy hints in there too as it warms. Quite drying to me - almost cotton-like the more I drank of it.

Bottles courtesy of Padrefan98 and this one in particular shared by MiguelMandingo on BA. Pour is rich amber colored in a snifter with a smallish white head. Smell is piney, hoppy and fairly aromatic fresh hops chock full of resiny goodness. Taste is much of the same with hop flavors leaning towards piney and resiny with a moderate bitterness and ample malt backing to keep it pretty balanced. For an IPA, it is quite strong, but for a DIPA, I’d say it’s extremely drinkable. Very nice beer all around and thanks again for Mike for sharing this great beer!

Appearance: Pours a clear, orange-yellow body with a thin, bubbly white head. Smell: Vague, faint maltiness allows to shine the pleasant, distinctive hop aroma of jam-packed with ripe citrus fruits and, to a lesser degree, pine. Sure you can find all of those components in any other IPA, but for some reason, Alpine beers are always a joy to smell. Taste: Mild cereal grain flavor and sweetness. Strong citrus hoppiness with tastes of grapefruit and tangerines - maybe even a bit of sliced papaya. Some resinous pine. Medium bitterness and acidity. Dry finish with a pinch of black pepper. Mouthfeel: Medium-thin body. Medium carbonation. Slightly oily mouthfeel. Drinkability: A fine beer that’s not overly bitter, has a very tasty hop profile, and drinks very easily considering the ABV.

pours gold with a HUGE white head. Aroma of grapefruit, hops, and pine. Sweet grapefruit up front in the flavor, with strawberry, piney hops, a citrus kick. Bitter finish. Way too carbonated for my liking, but not as syrupy as you would expect from the ABV. no hint of the alcohol in this one either. If they knocked down the carbonation a bit I’d give the palate 2 more points and kick the overall up a bit to make this a 4.0

OK, tried another bottle last night. Even fresher hop flavor and aroma, and the bottle wasn’t infected at all. Hurray! This beer rock!

Really excited to try this one on tap at O’Briens. Aroma was of citrus and pine; somegrass as well. Flavor was much of the same and was the essence of west coast beers. On the high side of the hop spectrum for the style. The citrus and pine worked well together and were balanced by some caramel malt.

NorCal December ’07 - Now this is a beer with some teeth to it. Wow. Big dank, musty hops in both the nose and taste. Huge pine character to it with that cat piss aroma lingering around underneath it all, escaping at every oppourtunity. The malt bill on this really is overwhelmed by the hops and doesn’t do much. It’s close to an IPA in that regards. Appearance is a beautiful dark gold color, clear with a nice fluffy white head. Mouthfeel is sticky, yet smooth. Flavors are intensely hopped, with notes of fresh tropical fruits, juicy grapefruits, pine and some subtle sweet malts. This is hoppy from top to bottom. About as close as you can get to be an IPA and not cross over into DIPA territory.

Pours a clear and golden orange with big creamy head with that retains nicely and laces some nice sheets. Smells of huge, fresh cut hops, grassy, piney, and actually a little spice from those hops. Taste is a delight. Fresh, multiple variety hops blast the buds followed by a hit of citrus rind and a nice malty finish that balances things out as if it were a perfect ying and yang. Medium in the mouth, no lingering bitterness. Drinkability is off the charts. I would call this an IPA of perfection, huge hops but the finish and drinkability is not a DIPA. A must try.