The last time I had a beer similar to OG Alpine was the Alpine/Mikkeller/Arts District Devil’s Triangle collab back in 2017. Them days is over, I’m afraid.
While memories fade, I found Green Cheek’s Permanently Temporary pretty close to Nelson. Given how things have evolved, in reality it’s probably more aromatic and less bitter. It’s a DDH cold rye IPA with Nelson and lager yeast. Not sure if you’ll ever see it again given that name.
Nostalgia tends to enhance the past and can cause us to dismiss the present. Alpine was fantastic! But, I believe there are plenty of options that are going to be just as good. Having said that, in addition to the world class beers, part of the appeal of Alpine was the chase, the drive, the growler fills, the bottle limits, the bbq, and all of the quirky idiosyncrasies that made Alpine so unique, all of which heighten our romanticized memories of our experiences there.
The replacement; i wont attempt to spell it out at the moment as i just killed off a small bottle of a black tuesday variant
I agree that the entire Alpine experience was very neat in its own right. But I truly believe that there is nothing else out there that touches their core 3 in Nelson, Pure Hoppiness, and Duet. I had a Mchilhenney Wizards Wand the other day and it was good, but not Alpine status imho. Toss in Exponential Hoppiness, Bad Boy, Hoppy Birthday, Keane Idea… not a single brewery today touches those beers. I mean, I live in San Diego now and I’ve only visited Macs once. Of course the soulless tasting room that took out the original bar doesn’t help. But most importantly, I haven’t had a single beer from them that would make the 30 minute drive worth it. I had high hopes for Muntz, but it’s a total juice bomb and nothing close to Nelson. Cheers.
Must be around 10-12 years already since we first met up at Toronado and Alpine and had some beers together. It’s been a while my man. Let’s meet up and have some beers!
Duet was superb, as was Pure Hoppiness its the only time you will hear me say that i miss the bomber format.
Pure Hoppiness was really good but my least favorite of the 3 core IPAs. I didn’t mind the bomber format with these since Alpine kept their prices reasonable. Too many places charged $7-8 per bottle and Alpine’s were around $5.
I liked Pure Hoppiness and put it 2nd of the core beers . $5 bomber’s were great for sure.Toppling Goliath did the same price on Psuedo Sue 1st couple year out . That beer was a perfect 5 back then (2011/2012)
Most of the San Diegan’s who I met in my days down in SD would never drive the 30 minutes east to visit ABC. Why not? Cause they had the best beers right next to them. Crap. Only if they knew. Yep, those were the days.
