Alpine Nelson 2020

I have been enjoying these in AZ when I see them fresh, always a solid beer and tasting great.

 

I think people like to project their hatred of GF (people cannot get past the 6 to 4 pack move) onto Alpine GF brews.

Like you, I have read the reviews and they don't really align with the harsh criticism thrown at Alpine beers.

 

I drank a few during winter 2018, also in AZ. I thought those bottles were excellent. Maybe not as good as the draft I had directly at the brewpub in Alpine, but I imagine that was more the effect of being bottled and distributed than it was a difference in the actual beer. I can’t speak to where the beer is produced now or how it compares to the “OG”, as I didn’t get to drink it way back when, but it is one of my favorite distributed IPAs, for sure.

 

There is something to be said about anything tasting extra awesome when tasted within the environment it was produced in.

 

I had one recently and enjoyed it. But unless you took the drive up the hill and sat down at the small, checkered floor pub and had a pour, then it’s hard to really compare.

 

It was great to see this back in the store, in VA, again. GF screwed them hard when they bought them. I felt sorry for them. I don't feel it compares to the old bombers, but it's still one of my favorites. Duet as well!

 

The Nelson that people loved and raved about was brewed in Alpine. When the recipe was scaled up significantly and moved to Green Flash, the beer changed. There have been some batches that tasted close to the old Alpine batches, but for the most part, the beer became mediocre and overly bitter like most of what Green Flash does. Nothing about this story is surprising. If Nelson was still brewed in Alpine by the people who brewed it when it was great, it might taste like it once did.

 

The beer took a big drop off at first but over the last year it has improved to a really good ipa. Still not the same beer, could be bias. But not the same beer I’ve driven 3 hours for. Now when I drive to Galmis for dirt bike riding I pass by the pub and stop maybe once a year.

 

I had Duet back in 2016, no idea who brewed it. It was a nice beer but not what I was expecting based on “chatter”. The price also did not help, it was up there in price for back then.

I would try Nelson if I saw it. Rye, I’m in. I always enjoyed GF beers.

Enjoy

 

That was a Green Flash beer:

"In November 2014, Green Flash acquired Alpine Beer Company,..."

I was fortunate to drink one bottle of an Alpine brewed Duet; Matt Capone (of Capone's Norristown) acquired and gave it to me. That beer was absolutely wondrous! When Green Flash brewed Duet beer became available in the Philly area (2016?) those beers were just a 'ghost' of what that beer was as brewed by Alpine. A damn shame what happened here.

Cheers!

 

I agree. Back in 2010-ish I was fortunate enough to get Pliny the Elder, Alpine Duet and Alpine Nelson in a trade. Duet was a masterpiece (same for Nelson and Pliny obviously), I had never had a beer like that before up until then. It really was a perfect blend of two distinct hop notes and a really nice maltiness to it that complimented everything.

 

I only have ever had “OG Nelson” 10 years ago. I just drank the only beer that brought me back there. Zeelander from TG. It was the pure tangerine/mandarin orange that dominated Nelson in my memory.

 

I just went on Untappd to see if that beer was available near me, and sure enough, there’s some guy claiming this thing tastes like OG Nelson!

 

I might have been that some guy

 

I’ve had multiple cans in the past few weeks. Tasting great.

 

Its not just an alpine problem, when green flash expanded their beers went from very good-great straight to mediocre and overpriced

At this point I just glance.right past them (and in thia moment I realized why companies rebrand), its a shame what happened to them all around. They used to make some really great beers. Back when they had the clip art labels

 

I do see some Nelson from time to time, and may even purchase if fresh. But what I really want is for GF to bring back Rayon Vert. Free the Vert!

 

Old school Vert! Give me some Palate Wrecker while your at it!