Alpine Nelson 2020

I don't think it's ever brewed at Alpine anymore. If you go drink Nelson or Duet at Alpine, you're drinking the Green Flash beer.
Some of the beers brewed at Alpine do have that old school Alpine character, and it's kind of amazing to behold -- the last canned batch
Keene Idea comes to mind.
On a side note, typing a BA post on an Android phone is pretty frustrating.

 

No. They really were that good. Anyone who had them fresh, from bombers back in the day will tell you.

 

Wish I was able to have tried them. I enjoy the current offering so I am sure I would have loved the original.
Cheers

 

I had one in Feb 2014 just like this bottle and it was Incredible! Cheers!

 

According to the folks in the alpine thread there were beers being brewed and packaged up at the alpine facility. Was nelson not one of those?

 

Saw a fresh (04/22/20) hoppy birthday 6-pack today

 

Only the monthly special releases are brewed in Alpine, unfortunately. Beers like this (none of the classic stuff -- Duet, Nelson, Hoppy Birthday, etc):
https://alpinebeerco.com/beer-club/
The word on the street is that the Alpine brewer was let go a month or two ago, so time will tell if the beers brewed in Alpine are still worthwhile.

 

They no longer distribute to MA, correct?

 

Didn’t know this had happened. Very sorry to hear it. Spoke with Shawn on a visit to the brewery last summer. Seemed like things were going ok for them, and the beer I had from that trip (the draft only stuff... brewed at the original location) had that “vintage Alpine” character.

 

I think it's more like people can't get past the Alpine brewed to Green Flash brewed move!! The beer seriously fell off a cliff when Green Flash took over (same for Duet) and continued to suck for at least a year afterwards. Maybe all is good now, haven't had it in some while.

 

Alpine was a mandatory stop when road trippin' from Phoenix to San Diego back starting in the late 2000's as their IPA's were ahead of most of the market in those days. Original Nelson and Duet were wonderful but unfortunately was different for me when GF starting brewing them. I do have to give GF credit for doing a very good version of Hoppy Birthday as i remember saying to myself they have this recipe dialed in like the original brewpub!

 

Short version: not good.

 

I miss Alpine, A few 6ers used to leak down to SWFL but it has been many moons since.

 

Maybe you are correct, but you wouldn't know it given the reviews

 

Had Nelson for the first time in 2009. Stopped at the brewery and was able to get growlers of Nelson, Duet, Exponential Hoppiness, and Pure Hoppiness.

It's hard to over-state how influential those beers were on the subsequent 10 years of US craft brewing. Nelson was one of the first IPAs to to lead to the current hazy trend, and Duet (along with Sculpin around the same time) was really the gold standard for the Neo-West Coast style that is still alive and well. There are probably a hundred IPAs that equal or surpass them now, but those beers really didn't exist back then.

I had a Nelson 2-3 years ago on tap and it wasn't exactly what it used to be but it was a very good IPA. They struggled a lot at first to scale it up but they eventually found a good groove. I'm not going to comment on their current status.

 

The OG West Coast IPA was so good. Even when the market changed I still drank it. It’s sad as GF used to be great but made changes for the worst as opposed for the better. Can’t recall the last rime I’ve had a GF beer other than Alpine Beers.

HFS and windows up are very good.

 

Since you are a commercial brewer could you please provide further details here? Is it as 'simple' as brewing x barrels vs. y barrels that is the issue? Or do the differences in the specific brewing process and configuration of the Alpine Brewhouse and the Green Flash Brewhouse play the bigger role? And then there is the aspect of the brewing team at Alpine vs. the brewing team at Green Flash? Or...?

Cheers!