Duet
Alpine Beer Company

12oz can. Can bottom is stamped 'BEST BY 04/17/23 BATCH 033B'.
Mostly clear, pale gold colored body. One thick finger of white head, but this retreats quickly to a puffy cap and ring. Leaves behind partial walls of lacing.
Aroma is as advertised with pine, citrus, and a true note of cedar.
Taste has a solid malt base over which hops express flavors of generic citrus and pine. Sweet and woody cedar also. Slight bitterness picks up in the aftertaste.
Medium mouth feel, with a drying aspect. Very good carbonation.
Savors as a classic IPA in the West Coast style.

Pour deep yellowish-orange with a white head that lingers long. Smells mildly of pine and citrus. Tastes heavily of hops, but delicately balanced with sugar sweetness. Mouthfeel is dry and a tad too bitter. Overall, a beer that should be a IPA standard.

 

 

Pours a cloudy straw yellow with a thick long-lasting white head that leaves generous lacing. Aroma is faint, citrus and pine. Flavor is bolder than the aroma. Feel is medium bodied and could use a bit more carbonation IMO. Overall, a decent enough beer.

 

This episode involved emptying two twelve ounce cans into a clear glass liter mug. The pours produced an overabundance of white foam on the top of a bright and light amber liquid. This one is about as translucent as any beer with a reasonable color can get. The aroma is mostly of hops, resinous and piney in character. It's not particularly rich. There's much less hop bite to taste than expected. What is there mixes poorly with whatever starch combination was used. There's an unpleasant, almost soapiness to taste until the finish. At least then, the Simcoe hops kick in and provide some clean and dry bitterness. All that foam and no glass lacing bears witness that this is short on body for an alleged IPA. On a positive note, the 7% ABV is nicely delivered. That should complete the compliments.

 

Appearance: Pours a hazy, orange-yellow body with a modestly-sized, foamy, white head. Light lacing.

Smell: Pulped citrus supremes, pith powder, stonefruit juices, an unctuous drizzle of pine sap and a grassy herbaceousness.

Taste: Kicks of with a lean, light biscuit-innards maltiness, with things going pretty dry and pretty bitter quickly. Pithy citrus, a charged grassy element and a touch of PNW pine resin rounded everso slightly by pineapple and peach. Staunchly bitter making for a nigh austerely dry, potently bitter finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium carbonation.

Overall: Not bad.

Golden orange with chill haze and a one finger white head. Nose is orange, tangerine, and some sugar. Taste follows the nose with a nice bite of grapefruit, orange, and tangerine pith and flesh followed by a short hint of pale malt. Body is light to medium with similar carbonation. Ends with a bitter citrus nuttiness. Overall not a bright as I thought it would be but solid characteristics. Maybe an older can? Cans says best by 12/22/22 and I’m opening it 9/2/22. Not sure how old it is?

A well balanced citrusy IPA with a mixture of Pine and cedar notes. Displays a lighter orange color with nice head and nice citrus aromas. From the first sip you can taste the citrus, which was soon followed by the pine. This beer paired well on a warm day and was easily followed by a second. Exactly what I remembered from a west coast IPA.

 

 

Really solid beer. I had this one a few years back - it seems a bit different from what I remember or just what I expected in a West Coast IPA, but really a great beer. I have rounded my 'overall' up since my lower scores are probably more of a personal preference vs. a fault with the beer. I downgraded in the look and feel dept - looking ('hazy') and feeling ('juicy') like a NEIPA is not a positive for me. I was hoping for a crisper feel and clearer look. Nonetheless, I loved the foamy pour, the piney smell, and a real nice level of maltiness that tames the hoppy-ness. There's no doubt I would have this again.

 

Old school West Coast IPA. Piney and bitter with some citrus elements, backed up by a silky, full mouthfeel. Pours a bright coppery orange with a thin, persistent head. It's possibly being overrated here due to the pleasure of drinking an actual West Coast IPA and the sentimentality of a beer style that first introduced me to craft beer (and which I forced down in horror at the hoppy bitterness of it all!).

Cheers

Very piney full ipa. Stronger flavor than most. Too much of a piney after taste for my liking. 1 is enough. All around the taste is good strong but the aftertaste is what lessens the score for me. I am a bigger fan of the Nelson and og lemon haze styles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wonderful beer. Piney aroma along with citrus. Also has an earthy vibe to it. Taste pretty much follows the nose. Earthy pine dominates. Medium body and carbonation on the feel. This is an outstanding representation of what I would classify as a West Coast IPA. I use to be able to get this beer at Total Wine in Virginia in bottles. Then it disappeared. Now I can get it only in cans which is better than not at all. It has become my everyday go to session IPA although the cost continues to go up. Still well worth a try.

Very piney and floral hops with a moderate bitterness. Some tropical fruit and citrus too. Lots of hop character. Finishes clean and with a malty sweetness.

 

Looks beautiful. Golden orange with about one finger of head and solid lacing as it goes down. Smell is pine along with citrus. Also has an earthy vibe to it. Taste pretty much follows the nose. Earthy pine dominates. Medium body and carbonation on the feel. This is an outstanding representation of what I would classify as a West Coast IPA

From a 12oz can dated 3/5/21 into a weizen glass.

Pours a translucent light amber color with about a finger and a half of white head. Average retention, decent lacing.

Smell isn't overpowering but definitely picking up nice tones of grape, berry, apple and light citrus. Pine and earth linger in the background.

Picking up some grape in the taste but also a decent amount of pine and resiny bitterness.

Slightly thin mouthfeel but sticky. Medium carbonation. Bitter resiny aftertaste.

Overall a really nice WCIPA. Excited to find this freshish (~1 mo) in these parts.

 

 

 

12 oz. can (01/06.21) poured into a pint glass with a slightly hazy golden color, quickly receding off white head and minimal lacing. Smells of pine, citrus, grass and some malt. Taste is similar to aroma with grapefruit, pine, earthy hops and malt to balance the bitterness. Medium body with good carbonation and a touch of alcohol. Overall, a good balanced citrus/piney IPA.

 

 

 

 

 

 

10/31/15:
Beautiful. Gorgeous. Clear, bright golden, lovely chalk white head.

Perfect. Lemon, lime, grapefruit, ...pine and citrus aplenty. Yeah, man.

Taste: yum. All kinds of hop delights. All the best. Mmmm. Lush, luscious, full-on fruity and fantastic. Loads of citrus and touches of tropical. It's so good. It's ....it's wonderful. It's exactly right. Everything is right right now. It's all good.

They know what they're doing out in Alpine, California.

Damn it, this is a good beer and I can drink it. You should, too.

Hey, there's some stuff on the label. Let's read it: "A West Coast IPA that features Amarillo and Simcoe hops "in harmony," giving a bright, floral aroma. Duet is nicely bitter with the perfect amount of malt concealed behind the hoppy goodness. Immensely drinkable, amazingly nimble on it's feet."