Alpine hits the IPA heights with its Duet.
Alpine Brewing (Green Flash): Duet IPA
20170109 (Our Beers of the Day in January look back to some of our favorites of 2016)
We’ve increasingly seen even east coast brewers refer not just to “West Coast IPAs”, but “San Diego IPAs” as they try to identify their niche within the broad range of IPAs brewed in the US. We reviewed Alpine’s session IPA yesterday, but today’s entry is a full throated San Diegan 7% IPA and a great example of the style. Spicy Simcoe and fruity Amarillo dance their way through the taste on their way to the bitter end that you expect from this city where beers are bitter but brewers are not.
We tasted our first Alpine beer at a Fresh Hop tasting we hosted at Washington’s RFD restaurant, but it was it was never easy to find even in the San Diego area. Green Flash’s acquisition meant more capital for expansion and the ability to brew some of the Alpine beers at Green Flash’s much larger brewery. As a result, they’re increasingly easy to find – we’ve seen them on tap from Charlottesville to Harrisburg. The bartender at Charlottesville’s Beer Run, who knows a thing or two about beer, ranked Alpine’s Nelson as one of the best IPAs in the country. We prefer the Duet’s Simcoe/Amarillo skillful blend, but other than an occasional misstep with a fruited beer, it’s hard to go wrong with any of Alpine’s brews.
Rating: **** Value: ****
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