Alpine Beer Company Pure Hoppiness

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

Bottle, home. A superb DIPA, and an essentially perfect execution of the style. The beer pours a fair medium orange-gold with an okay white head. It looks good enough, but it’s not particularly special in any way. Appearance-wise, this could be any of a number of DIPAs. Then again, who cares about appearance when this beer has it where it counts? The aroma is dominated by an enormous candied grapefruit rind note. Sweet wildflowers and pine needles kick in the rest of the round, full hop presence. It’s hard to describe exactly what differentiates this beer from other DIPAs. The aroma has the same general hop palette, but the notes are simply bigger, fuller and better. It’s like the difference between a great piece of fruit picked right from the tree over something from the supermarket. The flavor is wonderfully dry. There’s a bit more malt presence than Pliny the Elder, but it’s a rather similar beer otherwise. There’s a dry yeast note that makes the feel a bit rough, but I’m just nitpicking. This is a fantastic beer. I only wish that Alpine would distribute it more regularly to Northern California.

Appearance: Pours a clear amber gold with a dense 1/2 inch white head. Aroma: Huge grapefruit, flowers and dank bud. Also a bit of spicy malt. Taste: Big grapefruity hop, pine and spicy pale malt. Mouthfeel: Medium bodied and fizzy. Overall: An awesome glass of hop extract with fiz. Not very sweet, not very malty, just a ton of tasty hops. I love it!

Smooth, hoppy, but balanced. I’m a hophead, so I prefer the exponential hoppiness, but this is a top ten beer.

22 oz. bottle. Pours a clear orange amber color with a small white head. The aroma screams West Coast IPA with big citrus and tropical fruit with supporting pine,floral hops. This is supported by a sweet malt presence. The flavor has a base of sweet malts and caramel, but is all about the hops. The orange/grapefruit citrus intermingles with tropical fruit notes, pine, and herbal hints. Moderate bitterness throughout with a dry finish. Medium bodied. This is as easy drinking as any DIPA I’ve had.

Bottle. Cloudy orange/gold, with a larger head. Aroma of citrusy hops. Flavor os hops, oranges, sugar, and alcohol. Medium body with a tart finish.

Generous sample before the Sexual Chocolate release. Bright amber pour with white head. Love this un-fancy label. Lovely huge fruity, citrusy hop bomb. Fresh, crisp, and refreshing. Crisp palate. Delicious.

On tap at San Diego Brewing Co. (San Diego, CA): Pours light copper. Aroma more on the fruity end for it’s style; grapefruit, orange zest, apples, pine, and caramel. Flavors of toffee, caramel, floral hops, and citrus. Drinkability: Full on juicy-bitter! Pairing: Rich carrot cake. Rebuy: Yes. #284 on 19022010, DG.

A: A very nice looking copper amber color with a small white head and very nice lacing. S: This beer is aptly named. This is a very fruity IPA featuring lots of grapefruit, mango, and pineapple. Some pine and malt round things out on the finish. T: Not nearly as fruity as I would have expected from the nose. There are still some good grapefruit notes, however. This one is very piney and bitter, which I love. The bitterness keeps the malt pretty much out of the picture, which is, again, fine with me. M: A very crisp feel on the tongue, which is helped by amble carbonation. D: Yet another solid IPA from the folks down in San Diego.