Pure Hoppiness - Alpine Beer Company

zac16125

South Carolina

4/5  rDev -8.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

22oz bomber into a snifter
no born on date but picked up from the brewery less than 2 weeks ago

A big thanks to harink for sending this long time want over as part of one of my all time favorite trades (Pure Hoppiness, Duet, Nelson, and BA Speedway!).

A: Pours a clear dark amber with almost reddish hues and just a thin sliver of sea foam white colored head. The small amount of head that is present dissipates quickly but manages to leave a good amount of lacing down the sides of the glass.

S: Aroma is a huge tropical fruit sweetness that can be smelled well before you put your nose anywhere close to the glass. There are also some dank hop characters and an almost astringent alcohol-like presence.

T: Taste is somewhat muted at first with generic hops notes followed by some piney bitterness on the finish. Once it warms a bit it gets better with other flavors coming out including citrus rind, lemon zest, a touch of booze and some caramel malts. Piney bitterness becomes more prominent at it warms, as well. This certainly tastes like its stale, doesnt taste fresh at all, even though it was picked up from the brewery less than 2 weeks ago and at the same time as both the Duet and Nelson, which both tasted super fresh. Still tastes good, and improves as it approaches room temperature, but still a let down from what I was expecting.

M/D: Pretty smooth, appropriate carbonation, full bodied, big drying finish leaves you eager to take the next sip. Drinkability is good.

O: Overall, this was good, but certainly didnt live up to the hype, and was a pretty big disappointment (especially after recently having Nelson and Duet.) I am curious as to how fresh this bottle is, because from start to finish it comes off as stale. Yet another reason for breweries to bottle date their IPAs/DIPAs! I'm glad I got to try it, but next time I seek out Alpine it will be for one of their many other strong offerings. Of the three Alpine brews Ive had in the last week Id rank them as follows: Duet -> Nelson-> Pure Hoppiness.

Serving type: bottle

12-20-2012 15:33:42 | More by zac16125

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A: Slightly hazy, golden-yellow with a big, foamy, soapy, off-white head that leaves great lacing and decent retention. Gotta admit I'm a little disappointed after Duet being so good-looking. But I'm partial to unfiltered beers.

S: Amazing nose with a proper pour. My first pour was bad but halfway through the pint, a good swirl builds the head back up into a tall, fragrant pile of bubbles. Some sweet malt in there but this is all piney, resiny, woody hops. Sharp and pungent. Incredibly floral and fruity if you dig your nose in after a good swirl. But the sweet, reminiscent-of-honey malt keeps this tuned towards Imperial IPA. The hop is a beautiful thing.

T: Much sweeter than Duet. A more resiny and piney hop presence but the pronounced and lingering malt presence sets this apart noticeably. Much more balanced than Duet. Should I even be comparing the two? I just drank Duet but this is a IIPA, after all. Slightly boozy. Has all the qualities of the style. This is a big brew. Tons of hops and IBU's that leave the palate pretty worn out after the whole bottle.

M: Has that filtered feel to it. A more tingly, carbonated body. A very slight cloying aftertaste, surprisingly. Apart from all that, this is exactly what an Imperial IPA should be.

O: You really gotta let this beer warm up. Becomes exponentially better, as expected. After reading about this beer on Alpine's website, it sounds like an insane amount of hops were used. The IBU's are definitely really high and it's very "West Coast." Very unique and delicious beer. This should definitely be the last beer of the night.

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