Is Knee Deep trying to become the Alpine of NorCal?

Wow, I had no idea. I thought they were still contract brewing.

Then what the hell is their excuse for their price point? That alone keeps me away from their beer.

Yeah, a handful of their beers are good, but not that good. Better off sticking with Lagunitas for 1/3 to 1/2 the price.

 

"Success" aside, Knee Deep is nowhere near Alpine-level in terms of quality. Alpine exists on God-tier.

 

Drake's actually has a chance to be the Alpine of the north. But it would require them to stop making their regular IPA, Denogganizer, and Drakonic, make Aroma Coma and Prieta year-round, and relocate into the mountains.

 

i haven't had anything from drake's that i would characterize above "pretty good," and most of their beers are quite a bit behind that.

alpine is in a separate class entirely, and i'm not just saying that as a homer.

 

Have you had Coma or Prieta? They're the only single IPAs I would contemplate putting up against Duet or Nelson.

 

Kern is Alpine v2. Boneyard is Alpine v3.

 

That's a good comparison.
Also, 1500 > Alpine Ale
Hopocalypse IMO is better than Pure, but that one can definitely go either way depending on the person.

 

yeah, those are the "pretty good" i was referring to. i don't think they're comparable to nelson or duet.

 

I don't think they are *yet*. I think they have the potential to be. I think they're right on the money in their use of hops on their more modern beers (Hopacalypse among them), but there's something they need to figure out with either the malt, yeast, or (impossible) water to hit the mark of excellence Alpine can hit in their best batches. I'm not saying they're there. I just think they have the most potential to scratch that itch for me when I don't have access to Alpine.

 

Societe can scratch the Alpine itch for excellent IPAs.

 

Knee Deep is one of those breweries whose apparent popularity mystifies me. I have been thoroughly underwhelmed by everything I've had by them, and it's expensive so I stopped bothering.

 

Knee Deep is the next Gordon Birsh, or something.

 

Speaking of Drake's, anybody know if they've gotten their bottle dating machine on-line yet?

 

Are Alpine's infected barrel aged beers on God-tier too?

 

Classic Alpine hater post. Would read again.

But for real though, this thread is about hoppy beers.

 

Is Lagunitas trying to become the Alpine of the Bay Area?

 

At least somewhat. I got a bottle-dated 6er of IPA about a month ago.

 

I am not an Alpine hater at all. I think Alpine (like most breweries) have their good and bad beers. Yes, this thread is discussing hoppy beers, but to call Alpine “God-tier” is asserting something quite lofty. Can a brewer be “God-tier” with known infection issues? Hell, aside from their barrel aging issues I have had infected bottles of Captain Stout and Alpine Ale (which is a hoppy beer, so relevant). I even e-mailed Pat about the bottles and his response was basically “it happens, next time you are at the pub I’ll buy you a beer”. To be honest, I have never been to Alpine (I will get down there someday) but I have tried a variety of bottles and growler fills. I guess I don’t have the same mentality that a majority of SoCal BAs seem to have - that Alpine can do no wrong. They make solid beers, they make some duds, and everyone is entitled to their opinion, but mine is far from “God-tier”. Just because someone doesn’t "worship" Alpine like some BAs seem to do (I still respect them as a brewery), doesn’t make me a hater at all.

 

I would have to say Aroma Coma and Hopocalypse from Drakes is some of their best and newest ipa/dipa's. And Hopocalypse should be out real soon.

 

Every time someone posts anything critical at all of Alpine that guy calls them a hater. I think he's delusional.