Alpine Beer Company - Exponential Hoppiness

"Expo" is a triple (!!!) IPA that is 11% ABV. Yes, it's a whole lotta IPA. It's a very limited release from Alpine, which is a tiny brewery in a tiny town (Alpine, CA) a bit east of San Diego. You won't see it outside the brewery (or eBay...) and they're threatening to not even bottle it anymore, so we'll see what the fate of this beer is. A friend was able to grab one for me down there, which is why I was lucky enough to be able to review it today.

 

Appearance: The beer is light in color and pours flaxen gold. It isn't until the glass is more full that you start to notice its red tones. It's definitely cloudy, and the head doesn't top 2 fingers, but there is definitely some lacing left on the sides of the glass.

Smell: Pine, tropical fruit. It's earthy, floral, and fruity. Surprisingly, this 11% beer brings no heat to the nose. I'm very pleasantly surprised!

Taste: This is how I remember Pliny the Younger tasting last year (February 2011): very strong hop character, with a solid backbone of sweet grain. Fruits are very present, including notes of mango, peach, and apricot; the fruit notes are all on the sweeter side. There is a bit of earthy pine, but the lingering taste is bready grain. There is no alcohol burn, even once the beer warms up. Again, for an 11% IPA, this is shocking.

Mouthfeel: It's a bit syrupy and thick in the mouth, not the most refreshing mouthfeel, but certainly appropriate for the boldness of flavor and the style. If it were possible to make it lighter, that would be incredible, but I'm so in awe that I don't taste alcohol that I don't care how thick the beer feels.

Overall: This is a QUALITY triple IPA. I alluded to this earlier, but I was disappointed with the reigning deity of triple IPAs -- Pliny the Younger -- this year. It drank kind of hot and lacked balance. This batch of Expo, on the other hand, is hoppy as hell, but it somehow still doesn't come across as overly aggressive. This is definitely a beer that all hopheads should try if they can get their hands on it. It is pretty sought after as it is, but for me this holds its own with Younger and should rank up there with it. Younger is currently the #1 beer in the world on Beer Advocate, but I'd put money on Expo holding up in a blind tasting.

5/5

Blog Notes

I'm going to try to fancy up this blog a bit. Legitimize it, or something. A new layout would be nice. I also am going to try to add a little more helpful information about the bottles of beer, other than tasting notes. I was a little better about this earlier on but have gotten lazy and just started writing the style and ABV. I've also been debating posting more about beer-related events I attend, but for now I think I want to stick to reviews. Anyway, if anyone actually reads this thing (allegedly I have ~600 hits right now, but I think probably most of them are me) bear with me while I make changes.

(Yes, that is a bottle of Rare Bourbon County Stout in the photo. I got a small taste of it, and I can say without reservations that it is the best bourbon-barrel aged beer I've ever tried. It will be a near impossible task to get my hands on a full bottle, but I'd sure love to.)

Founders - Double Trouble

DIPA, 9.4%ABV
Double Trouble is available during the first half of the year wherever Founders is normally distributed. I received it through a trade as Founders doesn't make it out here to California.

Appearance: Bright, clear gold with an orange tone. Looks like honey. Very little head though, and it recedes to nothing, with no lacing left on the sides of the glass.

Smell: Primarily tropical fruit -- especially mango -- with hints of grapefruit and orange zest. There is also a strong sweetness from the malt, and some grassy and bready character as well.

Taste: For me, this beer tastes exactly how it smells. The mango and grapefruit are strongest, but there are hints of orange. The mid-notes include pine, grass, and grain, and then the alcohol is definitely present in the finish. Overall the beer is pretty balanced; the hops are not extraordinarily dominant, considering that it's a DIPA. I would prefer to have a less prominent alcohol burn at the end, though.

Mouthfeel: Pretty basic -- medium bodied with a moderately dry finish.

Overall: A lot of people seem to like this beer, but I actually wasn't a huge fan. Don't get me wrong; it was decent and solid, but compared to some other DIPAs I've had, I wasn't blown away. As I've mentioned a million times, I really do like very hoppy DIPAs, and this one didn't really hit me hard with hop character. That, combined with the alcohol at the end, made this not a personal favorite. Still, the flavor notes were nice and I'd drink it again if I had the chance.

3.5/5

Mammoth Brewing - 2011 Owens Valley West Harvest Lager

American pale lager, 6.8%ABV
I picked this one up at Mammoth Brewing, and I'm not sure how far outside of the brewery it was distributed (if at all.) It's my understanding that this is currently a one-off, but they were pleased with their results and may attempt another batch this year.

Appearance: Clear light honey-orange. A nice full, thick head that leaves thick lacing on the glass and is retained by a foamy film on top of the beer.

Smell: The aroma is great: floral, with notes of sweet honey and tall grass. It smells fresh, light, and inviting, and there is the slightest note of spiciness at the end.

Taste: Subtle floral hop character, some nice earthy notes, spiciness that reminds me of freshly ground black pepper. There is also an interesting umami flavor here that I can't really place, but it rounds out the subtlety of the rest of the flavors by adding some underlying richness.

Mouthfeel: This beer is creamy and smooth, with medium body that feels silky in the mouth and some light carbonation. It doesn't finish dry at all, but the flavors are so light and crisp that I am not bothered by the heavier finish.

Overall: I was really pleasantly surprised by this beer, as I'm not really a lager drinker. For one thing, it's several months old, but really hasn't degraded at all. Flavor-wise, something like this would never be as powerful as my go-to styles of IPAs and stouts, but there was a great complexity and balance among the subtle flavors here that was a beautiful thing. Overall, this was an excellent showcase from Mammoth Brewing.

4/5

Bell's Brewery - Hopslam Ale

DIPA, 10% ABV
Hopslam is available in the winter in Bell's usual distribution circuit, which doesn't include California. I received this one as a trade.

Appearance: Copper colored, without much head or lacing to speak of. It's very clear though, and not with much visible carbonation.

Smell: I really smell the honey in this! The hops grant citrus and tropical fruit aromas, but overall the hop aroma isn't as strong as might be expected. The sweetness is more forward.

Taste: The hops lend grassy flavors, as well as sweet fruit and floral characters. There is a touch of alcohol, but not overwhelming. The honey comes after the sharper taste from the hops and mellows the bitterness, but it doesn't lessen the overall impact of flavor and taste. It finishes a bit sweet from the malt.

Mouthfeel: Carbonation is really nice here. From the pour it seemed really under-carbonated, but it actually has a light effervescence that makes for a pleasant mouthfeel. It's very light in the mouth, in contrast to the bold taste.

Overall: This doesn't really drink like a DIPA. It's pretty well balanced between the hop bitterness and malt sweetness, and though I can taste the alcohol a bit, I wouldn't have guessed that it's 10%. This is a very nice beer that I enjoyed a lot, but I think in the end my bias is still that I want stronger hop character from DIPAs. This one finished a bit sweet for me; I wanted the hop character to linger a bit more.

3.5/5

Bell's Brewery - Two Hearted Ale

IPA, 7%ABV
Bell's brews Two Hearted year-round, but it's not available here in California so I had to trade for it.

Appearance: Rich orange-gold. A thick head that leaves moderate lacing on the sides of the glass and is retained as a thin film of bubbles on top of the beer.

Smell: Powerful tropical fruit -- mango, pineapple. Some orange as well, and a backbone of sweetness. If you breathe deeply enough, you also get a dank earthy quality which is nice and breaks through the sweet fruit.

Taste: Lemon, orange zest, dirty pine and grass, biscuit. The balance here is pretty nice. The hops showcase their flavors upfront, but the malt backbone is solid and you are left with a pretty drinkable sweet bread quality.

Mouthfeel: Kind of thick, but it actually finishes pretty dry. All in all, nicely done here.

Overall: The true hophead may be underwhelmed, as balance is the name of the game with this IPA. As someone who likes very hop forward beers myself, this wouldn't be my top pick. If I were trying to introduce someone to IPAs, however? This would be a great choice. This type of balance requires skill in brewing and I can definitely respect that.

4/5

Fegley's Brew Works - Hop'solutely

Imperial/Triple IPA, 11.5% ABV
I received this as an extra in a trade. I don't know a lot about this brewer or this beer, but it's an east-coast brew.

Forgot to take a picture again. My bad.

Appearance: Bright, clear gold, slightly tinged with red/orange. Quite a lot of visible carbonation and a decently thick head that mellowed out over the span of a few minutes.

Smell: At first it's all booze and astringent hops. A little off-putting. I went back in for a second sniff to try again, and got more mellow floral notes underneath the strong medicinal blast.

Taste: A little more citrus here, and more floral character, but alas -- it's still way too boozy to be remotely balanced or even pleasant. The hops take on a sharp medicinal character and combined with the heat from the alcohol it just becomes a hot mess.

Mouthfeel: A bit oily and saplike. Not unpleasant, but I was so overwhelmed by the taste that I didn't really stop to evaluate the mouthfeel as I was sipping.

Overall: For me, not a winner. A failed attempt to do a really big IPA in the manner of the eminent Pliny the Younger, but it lacks balance and the interesting subtleties of hop character that are present in its much more successful peers. Not recommended overall, but as on the reality TV shows I watch, points for not being safe and boring.

2/5

Half Acre - Daisy Cutter

American Pale Ale, 5.2%
Daisy Cutter can be found year-round in its distribution market. I received it through a trade because we don't get it here.

Appearance: Hazy, pale orange straw with minimal head. Nice visible carbonation.

Smell: Citrus -- orange and grapefruit. Sweet but not sickly. Overall, the smell is very hop forward and has some earthy dankness to it in addition to the citrus notes.

Taste: Much like the smell, but a bit sweeter. The malt is a bit more present here, but overall this packs a lot of great hop flavor into a nearly-sessionable beer. Citrus and sweet grass come through again here, as well as some slight toasted bread character -- but it's slight. This is overall very hop-forward.

Mouthfeel: Really great. Light on the palate, despite the big flavor, and a nice dry finish.

Overall: A really impressive pale ale. I love that it comes in a can; in fact, I'm really starting to lean into the "everyone should can" camp, especially when it comes to pale ales and IPAs. This was a slightly older can of Daisy Cutter, and it still tasted pretty fresh. I'd love to get some more of this for Coachella, which doesn't allow bottles inside...

4/5

Sierra Nevada - Ruthless Rye 2011

Rye IPA, 6.6% ABV
I picked up Ruthless Rye at Red Carpet in a 6-pack. It's a winter offering with pretty good availability.

Appearance: Medium amber, lightly carbonated, thick head with pretty decent retention and lacing.

Smell: Rye, grain, caramel malt and overall lots of bready character from the yeast.

Taste: Primarily earthy flavors -- grain, grass, bread, and some sweetness as well. The hops are present but not dominant. The flavor contribution from the hops seems to be primarily pine and earth. It tastes maybe more like a rye pale ale than an IPA.

Mouthfeel: Pretty nice, actually. Medium body and a nice, dry finish. It's very crisp and clean drinking.

Overall: Another drinkable, solid, reasonably priced offering from Sierra Nevada. It's a bit high in alcohol to be an all-day sipper, but it could drink just as well in the summer out on the beach as it does in the winter with a hearty dinner. My only disappointment is that it's not quite as hoppy as I would like it to be on top of the strong rye/grain flavors. Calling it an IPA had my expectations up a little bit for some strong hop flavor, but it didn't really deliver. Other than that, I really recommend this beer if you like the idea of a rye pale ale.

3.5/5