Alpine Brewing Thread

I wonder what the filtering process is at GF compared to at Alpine. The beers look so different for Nelson just by look alone with clarity. My friend posted this photo. I do remember being told by an Alpine employee a month or so back that they rejected a keg that was clear from GF, but when I was at the pub yesterday, the GF nelson was pretty clear again.

This growler fill is less opaque than the pub pours , but still doesn't have the murky orange that you get from bottles (and prior batches).

Funny trying Nelson three different times on the same day in Alpine and getting three different look/taste beers (Sorry no photo of the pub Nelson. Just imagine a much lighter/clearer pour than the beer on the right)

 

FWIW, the last batch of Nelson bottles I bought from a month ago were quite clear. Not typical Nelson cloudiness.

 

I think everyone is missing the point here. This has actually been very good for the customers and very little has changed. You still have to go to Alpine to get alpine. They are sometimes *out* of 1 of the big 3. But look at all the tank space it has freed up. Bad boy, keene and expo sitting on draft for weeks instead of days. Also, a new pub with indoor plumbing and more space . Only thing i could ask is that they would just brew some more baby face so I can have something to drink in this humidity .

 

FTFY.

Seriously, though, if you're an L.A. douchebag like me, not knowing whether the Nelson at the pub (or the brewery for that matter) is going to be GF or not makes a big difference. It makes it significantly less likely that I'll make the 5-hour round trip on a whim, which, of course, is just the way Pat likes it.

 

Maybe this was his grand plan all along.

 

If you go when they release bottles you will get the good stuff. Or ask for a taster. If it doesn't taste good crack one of the bottles.

 

Went on tuesday. Had the weirdest experience. Was at the pub first, the Nelson was basically clear and flavorless.

Went to the brewery at 12:15. B served me a sample, that murky orange. Delicious, confirmed with him that this sample was from the same as the bottle line. A few minutes later someone else helped me with a growler fill. Opened the growler last night, not quite clear, but closer to the pub nelson than anywhere near the bottle nelson. It was a decent beer, heavy on the rye ipa, but nothing like that exotic texture and flavor of nelson.

So I had 3 different Nelsons poured in the span of 25 minutes.

WHAT A DAY TO BE ALIVE.

 

I have not gone out to any of my local or not so local places to get Nelson, HB, Duet, etc. Knowing that its more than likely GF/ABC brewed. I can wait a few months to make the road trip down to Alpine. There are so many great beers in-between my Alpine visits. But I can't wait to make my next trip to the new location. That'll be Sept or Oct.

 

Nelson has always had a wide variability in appearance so I would not use that as a barometer of GF vs. Alpine brewed. Even from the same keg you might get some that are pretty clear and golden versus the murky orange. I believe they themselves have acknowledged that in the past too.

 

yeah but the flavor profile is very different.

 

Your comparison focused entirely on appearance. Yes, you mentioned "taste" once but that was it and you didn't expand anything on it.

 

expanded on it in the later post.

 

Let me see if I can clear a few things up and/or make this better or worse... I am the guy that waits on everyone of you that come through the brewery.

Let's grow up guys. Enough is enough. This horse is dead, decayed, rotten and beaten to death.

Please DO NOT come into the brewery and asked where the beer was brewed. We are no longer playing that game. That mentality left a few months ago. You will not get an answer to this question anymore and to be honest it's down right rude.

Taste the beer, if you want it buy and be happy.

Pat Korn is 100% right in there is a lot of confusion regarding all of this. You all have your opinions and thoughts on this, and that is fine. Just please enjoy what you have for what it is worth and stop spewing untold amounts of negativity.

I would like to believe that since I gave started at Alpine that I have made it a much more positive place to buy great beer with a lot better attitudes.

I am not hiding behind a name or talking trash. If you want to talk about it in a positive light then I am game. But for the love of God stop the nonsense. It's old, it's out dated and life goes on...

See you at the brewery for a beer.

Slainte,

BOBBY

 

While I agree with you about unneeded negativity... if there is incorrect information floating around, why don't you guys clarify it so we know what's going on? It's a bit frustrating as an Alpine consumer to be kept in the dark about what is actually going on half the time. Why is it rude to ask where something was brewed? Are the brewers feelings getting hurt? If you can't churn out consistent product from batch to batch, then of course customers will question the quality systems in place. This is business 101.... when customers can tell the difference from keg to keg, that means the quality systems aren't working. To say we can't question the fluctuations in appearance or taste says that maybe we shouldn't be buying the product. That's just my two cents, and I can tell you damn well if I bought a coke and it looked different every time, I would probably stop buying it. It's not just isolated to this situation.

 

How is asking rude? It's a simple question that helps the customer make a decision whether or not they want to make the purchase. Transparency is appreciated by consumers.

I agree this is a topic that doesn't need to be rehashed every damn day, but that's what happens when people have emotional attachments to things(even beer). Alpine was the one who put up the * and started the "game".

Not sure exactly what you're referring to in regards to "negativity"...just looks to me like a lot of conjecture. If you don't like what people are saying here, feel free to ignore. I ignore lots of threads that turn into nonsense.

 

What?

 

Here's the thing, I too am tired of this argument. Reading this forum for month after month...Both sides of it really, since there appears to be no end in sight. Personally as a huge Alpine fan, I find still sucks is when a friend in norcal or back east goes hey I had alpine at x event and man for all u talked it up it was really average... Meh oh well.

At this point as a consumer I do not buy growlers that aren't Keene/Bad Boy/brewery 1 offs, since I'm reasonable confident where they are coming from.....for now I know where all the bottles were brewed at. It is tough, awkward situation because frankly the stuff getting pumped out of GF is simply not worth my time and money especially if I am driving all the way to Alpine. If you don't want me asking where it came from then its a pretty simple decision....

 

I'll let others debate whether it's rude to ask where a beer was brewed, but I agree with this point for sure. You've always been super friendly to me, and I liked the smiley faces you used to put on the handwritten growler caps

 

Like I said... stop asking... order a taster and see for yourself... it's simple. This is the approach we are using and it's been very positive for us.

Work on my side of the counter when you are asked 5 times by the same person with a line 20 deep out the door, I can promise you its rude...

That's just my 2 cents...

 

Rude to who? The people in the line out the door? Are you saying that its quicker for me to order a taster/drink it/decide than it is to ask a yes or no question?

And if someone is asking you 5 times in a row, its quite possible that they are drunk and/or challenged. That is a different issue.