Alpine Nelson

I'm gonna stick to draft from now on. All 4 of my bottles were duds. Totally flat, an aggressive gorilla pour = no head at all. Tasted nasty too. Another BA had the same issue with 4 of his bottles too. Same problem as the PH batch last year.

On the flip, the current batch of Nelson bottles are the best I have had.

 

We apparently both live pretty close to the brewpub-ish. To keep consumption down it's just easier to go have a few points, some beer battered green beans and a sandwhich and bounce. I guess I might have some older bottles (gasp) of Duet in my fridge as they carb'd just fine.

I think Pure Hop must be older, the woman orded a DuHop and it was very malty, then she ordered a short duet and thought it was great. That's her favorite beer. Bad Boy was great as well.

 

Was anyone up there this weekend? I need to make a trip and want to know if they have any Nelson. I know that they bottle on Mondays.

 

Yes. Yes.

 

Save yourself money and completely avoid Pure Hoppiness until you hear otherwise. IMO it has been a waste of money going on 4 years or so. I haven't had a lot of luck with Alpine bottles in general for the last couple of years anyway (especially Nelson), I stick with growler fills.

 

I wouldn't be entirely surprised if the contract brewery is in Colorado, specifically, Oskar Blues wouldn't surprise me since they're already set up to package in the Alumi-Tek bottles (although they don't package in 22oz bottles) and completed a rather large expansion in 2012. Expansion of their Longmont facility, coupled with opening their facility in NC, implies that they might have capacity to offer to Alpine on a contract basis. It could be someone else entirely, but OB would seem to be at least a semi-logical possibility.

 

Hmmm...yeah I never put those 2 items together. One of the best parts about Alpine's tiny production was you knew those bottles were always super frosh. Your bottling date could have been that morning.

I don't know Oskar Blues production/shipping lag times but it would suck if these bottles sat in a warehouse a month prior to being shipped out. But...Oskar Blues can make an IPA, New Beligum can't so that's a positive sign. Unless these are to be brewed in NC. Nothing like a west coast IPA brewed on the east coast and shipped back.

 

Went camping last summer and the Pure Hop bottles were fucking fantastic, super juicy hops and fully carb'd. Considering all the beer goes through the same equipment, I wonder how they can have issues with 1 label and not the other. You'd expect issues regardless of what beer is being bottled. Either way, best bet is always sample at the bar and take a growler to go. Their prices continue to be killer.

 

Super was really good. So they know how to brew, they just don't use the right ingredients.

Truth, love their prices on both food and beer. Funny how some of the best IPAs in the world are also some of the cheapest. Between them and tap prices at Pizza Port, I don't usually bother going anywhere else for some food and a couple beers. BBQ and Fried pickles with Nelson or Bad Boy and Pizza/Beer Buddies/Veggies Hummus and whatever awesome stuff PP is serving - sounds like a nice weekend. This weekend, actually.

 

Seems like it's a hit or miss with the bottles these days. I will take growlers with me on my next visit.

 

I respectfully disagree.

PPOB and Alpine are both about the same distance from me. Just depends...do I go right or left when I hit the 8.

 

I thought it was the best hoppy beer NB has made, and had a lot of qualities of Alpine's IPAs. Fruity hops, mild bitterness that finishes dry, and a light malt backbone. While not completely up to Alpine quality (not much is), I did think it was a great option. In line with Lagunitas Sucks.

 

The problem is not just the bottling line. I have had a bottle of Nelson that was green colored because they must have tried to get every last drop. I have had several Nelson bottles that were hazier/murkier than the draft or that had poor aroma. Similar experience with Duet. I have only had one batch of Pure Hoppiness in years that should have even been called PH and it was probably the one you are talking about.

In addition, all of these bottles the last 2 years were purchased at the brewery after trying the draft versions because I had been having problems with Pure Hoppiness before that.

 

My tasting notes are about polar opposite: overly sweet, harsh bitterness, lack of nose/'juicy' hops. I put Sucks > Super every day including the 8th day of the week. It's obviously apparent Alpine didn't have anything to do with the malt selections.

Thankfully it sounds like Oskar Blues may be producing this and not New Beligum.

 

A buddy of mine just went there this afternoon. No special releases yet(expo), prob feb 18-22 and no pure hopp bottles. Nelson and Duet are bottled and ready for sale.

 

For what it's worth, my folks picked up a bottle today at a store in San Diego.

 

A bottle of what? and where? Nelson or Duet outside of Alpine?!

 

They got the "last bottle" of Nelson at Krisp - Best Damn Beer Shop.

 

FWIW, I spoke to Pat on Saturday and he said the recent theft of the brew tank would delay expansion. I had no idea the expansion would be, at least in part, contracted out.