Alpine

Alpine Captain Stout

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Back in ye olde usenet days, you could start a holy war by asserting a preference for one starship captain over another. Kirk or Picard? These days, such a posting would be seen as obvious trolling or quaint geekery. This is what we aspire to at Kaedrin, so let’s get on with it: As a child of the 80s and 90s, Picard has always been my captain, and I never quite understood Kirk. Well, there’s certainly charisma there, a confident swagger and physicality that Picard didn’t get to demonstrate very often, but I’m a nerd, and Kirk never seemed particularly logical. Cool guy to have a beer with, but not a guy to lead your ship in a confrontation with the Romulans. As I’ve grown older, I’ve gained more of an appreciation for both captains. I’ve actually been rewatching some of the OG Star Trek series, and what I’m realizing is that Kirk isn’t that interesting on his own, but the thing that made that show work wasn’t Kirk alone, it was the trio of Kirk, Spock, and Bones. Their dynamic is what made the show great. Kirk didn’t need to make sense because he had Spock and Bones backing him up with various aspects of logic and rationality. Picard has elements of all three, presenting a wholly different experience (which is as it should be, otherwise TNG would have just been a boring retread). I’ve never much gotten into the other Star Trek shows, so I don’t have much of an opinion on Sisko or Janeway. Archer, though, always made me chuckle because Scott Bakula is such a terrible actor and I kept thinking they’d do a Quantum Leap crossover. Uh, Ziggy says you have to win the war with the Klingons before you can leap.

Of course, Alpine is talking about a local Fire Captain, hence the illustration of the Fire Truck on the label. What we have here is a nice little chocolate oatmeal dry stout, rocking the 6% ABV. Not the sexiest thing in the world, but damn this is tasty. It’s simple, so says the captain! Face forward, move slow, forge ahead…

Alpine Captain Stout

Alpine Captain Stout – Pours a deep, dark brown, almost black color with half a finger of light tan head. Smells great, roasted malt, chocolate fudge, some caramel, and maybe even some vanilla. Taste has a nice roasted malt character, a little coffee and dark chocolate, whisps of bitterness in the finish. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, not watery, but lighter than you’d expect, medium carbonation, smooth. Overall, it’s a nice little stout, pairs well with food, and it’s sturdy enough to stand on its own, even if it’s not an imperial monster. B+

Beer Nerd Details: 6% ABV bottled (22 ounce bomber). Drank out of a snifter on 7/24/15.

The labels of Apline beers say “Drink Alpine or go to bed!” Well, if those are my choices, send me more Alpine please.

Alpine Nelson

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Inspired by a 2003 trip to New Zealand (the image on the label is a bay from the Nelson region of NZ) where the owner of Alpine stumbled upon NZ hops (then not used very much in the US) and decided to make a Kiwi inspired beer. The hop bill is comprised of all NZ hops with Nelson Sauvin being a specific focus, though others are clearly in use.

This video mentions that the first hop addition is extra double super secret, the second is Nelson Sauvin, the third is Southern Cross, and the fourth is a combo of Nelson Sauvin and Southern Cross. There is a dry hopping period as well, but the hops used are unspecified (my not particularly insightful swag: Nelson Sauvin and Southern Cross). My impression is that Nelson Sauvin is an intense citrus, grapefruit, almost wine-like hop, while Southern Cross is a more mild, floral affair that would match really well with the rye in the recipe. I was very much impressed with Duet, so let’s see how Nelson stacks up:

Alpine Nelson

Alpine Nelson – Pours a clear, very pale, golden yellow color with a finger of white head that leaves lacing as I drink. Smells of citrusy, vinous fruit, grapefruit and the like, maybe something more floral and earthy lurking in the background. Taste has a beautiful grapefruit and vinous fruit character to it up front, followed by some rye spice in the middle, and a well balanced, light, dry bitterness in the finish. Great hop character without overpowering anything, and perhaps the first time I really get Nelson Sauvin. Mouthfeel is light bodied, well carbonated, and crisp, absolutely and dangerously quaffable. Overall, another spectacular IPA from Alpine. A

Beer Nerd Details: 7.1% ABV bottled (22 ounce bomber). Drank out of a tulip glass on 5/22/15.

I also managed to score some Hoppy Birthday whilst out and about because Alpine distributes here now, and it was quite nice (I didn’t take notes because I’m the worst, but it was very light and quaffable, great hop character, though not quite as potent as Nelson or Duet). I’ll also be checking out some Captain Stout at some point in the near future as well, and who knows, if they keep distributing out here, I’ll almost certainly be drinking more of their goodness.

Alpine Duet

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Of the west coast ballers of hoppy beer, Alpine seems to be among the top tier. Hushed tones and angelic choirs, I have been craving their wares for many a moon. I finally managed to snag a bottle in a cross-country trade, and then I find out that they’ve started distributing to Philly. Literally the day after I received this bottle of Duet in the mail, I spy a local beeratorium tapping 3 of their most sought-after beers. It turns out that Green Flash’s recent acquisition of Alpine has translated into more production and wider distribution. Go figure. If this bottle is indicative of the trend, it is a most welcome development!

The Duet in question refers to the two most prominent ingredients of this beer: Amarillo and Simcoe hops. Both are staples of the modern American IPA, but rarely have they been employed in such an efficent and downright delicious fashion. All of Alpine’s labels feature historically significant buildings located in Apline, CA, in this case, we’ve got the Alpine Community Church, truly a great representative of such a heavenly beer:

Alpine Duet

Alpine Duet – Pours a slightly hazy golden yellow color with a finger of fluffy white head. Smells great, lots of citrus, grapefruit, a little mango, some more earthy floral aromas pitching in as well. Taste starts off with a blast of sweet citrus that doesn’t really let up until some light hop bitterness course corrects in the finish. The hop character does get more complex as I drink, what was initially straight citrus gets more floral and maybe piney as it warms up. The bitterness is perfectly matched yielding a fantastic balance that most IPAs do not manage. It’s not a bitter bomb or anything approaching that level of bitterness (definitely less bitter than many beers), but there’s enough there to balance out the citrusy sweet hop and malt backbone. Mouthfeel is well carbonated, crisp, and clean. It is utterly, dangerously quaffable, and perfectly balanced. Overall, this is a superb IPA, delicious, incredibly well balanced, and just phenomenal. A

Beer Nerd Details: 7% ABV bottled (22 ounce bomber). Drank out of a Charente glass on 5/8/15.

Naturally, I have another beer on its way: Alpine Nelson. But I may apparently be able to dig up some others locally as well. Naturally, these folks have made a rather fantastic first impression in a pretty competitive category, so I’m looking forward to more.