Alpha Deuce IPA
Riepstine's Pub

 

 

Pours a nice golden color with a white head.

In the nose is apricot, biscuit and caramel malt, pine, and a nice floral bouquet.

Taste is apricot up front balanced by bitter grapefruit and pine giving way to almost slick malt backbone with biscuit and caramel notes. Finishes dry with pine and floral notes.

Poured into a 13 oz Weyerbacher tulip glass not sure when it was canned. Pours a nice slightly cloudy orange, with a one inch sticky white head that leaves behind some nice lace.

Smell is apricot, biscuit, caramel, earthy hops, pine, and a little grapefruit.

Taste follows nicely very balanced, a fairly large malt backbone upfront with some apricot mixed caramel and biscuit and leads into some pine and grapefruit in the slightly bitter finish.

Mouthfeel is a little bigger than medium, moderate and almost creamy carbonation, maybe a touch dry, and you would never know this was clocking in at 8% ABV.

Overall this is a very balanced and nice DIPA. I think this would be a great starter DIPA for someone who is on the fence for the style. Thanks @jzeilinger once again for another nice tick.

 

 

A - Vibrant copper gold color, very clear, and a massively thick, frothy lacing ring, moderate carbonation.

S - Balanced aroma with light caramel malt and light spicy citrus malt. A 3.5 score is generous, it's very light to almost nothing.

T - Light caramel biscuit malt sweetness up front and then gets buried with piney resin and citrus spiciness, finishes with a lingering pine/citrus bitterness and a touch of floral. The alcohol pokes through the mix just a little bit but not enough to detract from the flavor.

M - Big medium body with creamy carbonation on the tongue.

O - This is a diamond in the rough. Never heard of these guys before (was in the area on business) and this is a rock solid, balanced D-IPA. I bought the last two (4) packs on the shelf at the Williamsport Wegman's and wish they had more. Next time in town I'll be stopping by the brewery.

The CANQuest (tm) is gaining traction again, thanks to my moratorium on buying more beer and winnowing down (especially) the Bottle Backlog as well as all of the CANs that suffer as a result of unintended CANseuences.

From the CAN: "'Where It's All About The Beer!'"

The Crack! revealed yet another brimful craft CAN & I began to weep tears of joy. A gentle Glug raised a finger of foamy, tawny head with limited retention. Color was Golden-Amber (SRM = > 5, < 7) with NE-quality clarity & so I was immediately joined by the Gelt Gang of Mammon, Midas & Croesus, come to get their fill. Nose was cool and minty, like standing in a pine forest during the winter and taking a deep inhalation! My sinuses opened wide & thought of Mentholatum when I was a kid. Forget a Breathe-Right strip, that (& this) will get you breathing real good! Mouthfeel was medium. Taste was solid pine tar with just a hint of caramel malt. Whew! I am a self-avowed hophead but this came on like a freight train out of left field (to mix some metaphors)! Shazam! Holy Hops, Batman! It was big with cooling mint and the finish was like being outdoors on a snowy morning - cold, cool, minty, beautiful. We talk of clean lagers with nothing to hide behind, but this was not hiding anything, either. It was hops, hops & more hops, top to bottom, side to side, front to back. I CAN guarantee that it is not for everyone, but if you do not mind an unapologetic onslaught of hops, you will dig this! I may need to lay down (or at least, take a break).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poured from a bomber into a tulip glass.

L: Pours a clear deep amber color. 2 fingers of creamy white head that fell pretty rapidly. Nice lacing.

S: Evergreens and floral hops. Pine notes dominate.

T/F: Nice hop forward brew. Evergreens and citrus hops nicely balanced by the biscuity malts. The crisp bitter finish lets you know that you're drinking an IPA. Moderately carbonated and slightly chewy.

O: Very nice and sessionable IPA. Good flavor and balance, and this was a nice local pickup and a very solid Pennsylvania take on the style. Riepstine's... we shall meet again.

Poured from a can into a custom grip shaped pint glass: color is hazy dark gold/copper, head is dense with fine bubbles and presents about 1 inch thick, head lingers well and leaves lazing on the glass.

Smell is fairly clean, hops are piney, intermingled with citrus rind.

Taste is big, bitter, hoppy: malt is clean mostly hint of caramel and toast, hops then takeover with bitter pine, citrus rind, light earthy and herbs, then just heavy pine and mint like quality. I've had this beer many times - mostly on tap, some from a growler and now from the can. The flavor has been quite different nearly every time. The unfiltered quality has lead to some variation in freshness from what i can tell, but at its base it is a quality dipa.

Mouthfeel is somewhat smooth after the initial quaff then the bitter, sharp flavors become more pronounced and focus on the tongue.

Overall a good beer, solid flavor, big bitterness. I'll have to say its a bit better as fresh as you can get it, but the canned version is a solid substitute.