Our inagural outing as an official "beer squad" took us to Alpine Beer Company. Led by head brewmaster Pat McIlhenney, ABC puts out between 7 to 10 great brews at a time. We took this opportunity to sample the 9 brews currently available, including seasonals Willy Vanilly and Ichabod. Collectively we enjoyed. Individually...
Nate:
Alpine Beer Co. has been on my radar for a few months and I finally got the oppourtunity to visit. Before the trip, I had tried Pure Hopiness, McIlhenney's Irish Red, Duet, Ichabod, and Mandarin Nectar.
The trip was great. Each brew tried was delicious. I didn't have anything I wouldn't drink again. I left with 3 growlers in tow, each filled with my favorites of the day (Duet, Willy Vanilly + Captain Stout, and Ichabod). Despite being located relatively far from home and having such small space, I think that I will return for another trip or two. Return trips just to refill my growlers will be a must. I think I will keep an eye on their seasonal brews and base my trips on what they're currently offering.
Mike:
We finally did it, we kicked off the much talked about (only amongst ourselves) SD beer squad with a visit to Alpine Brewery. I knew little about this brewery, I had Nelson at the Local once, but I was drunk so I don't recall much. Anyways, this brewery is tucked away in east county close to the 8, easy to get to, even for me. It is in Alpine version of a strip mall. Tiny little brewery, smallest of any of the SD breweries I have been to. This place is out of the way for most, you won't just "be in the neighborhood" unless you live out in the boodocks. Once we get there, we squeezed into their tiny tasting room, maybe 12 x 12 for.....beer. You can pretty much see all the brewery equipment from the tasting room, their shit is crammed in there. Surprisingly no odor, but we could hear the fermentation process *blub-blub-blub-blub*, pretty cool. We saw their availablity, and decided we must try one of each. I mean who knows when we'll make it out here again? (sooner than I think) We started with the famous Willy. Mmm, a wheat beer, that seems almost creamy. Already I like this place. Then the Willy Vanilly, not only creamy but like the name implies- Vanilly, like dessert. As we move down the list, I begin to realize....man is Melissa cold, she has goose bumps all over her arm the whole time, and actually says "Man am I cold". Anyways, I also realize that there hasn't been a beer that I didn't really enjoy Pure Hoppiness, McIlhenney's Red, Alpine Ale, Captian Stout to name a few. Is it being caught up in the brewery moment that effects my judgement, is it the multiple tastings, is the freshness, or are they really that good of a brewery? The last tasting, was one that I had been looking forward to. It was their seasonal offering that I actually had at the Linkery, the Ichabod! A unique brown sour, aged in red wine barrels with spices (think subtle pumpkin pie), with mellow, sour tangy-ness that really gets your back-bottom salivary glands kicking in. Makes me smack like 2-3 times after each swallow. The staff was not all that friendly, I would call them indifferent- to us. Locals would come in for growler fills and chat them up, us- not so much. We ended up buying a 6 pack of growlers, and like 6 22 oz bottles. So to get my money's worth, I will be going back to fill my 3 growlers. Surprisingly, 3 growlers didn't make it through the weekend (I blame Emily). The Willy Vanilly-Captain Stout mix was a big hit. Reminded me of the Stone Smoked Porter with Vanilla. So overall, a rustic country out of the way tiny brewery that likes their locals and they craft some kickass brews. I look forward to returning for some growler fills in the near future. I will just have to fake that my car is broken again so I can get Scott to drive.
Emily:
Our trip to Alpine kicked off on the right foot with Mike’s car breaking down and me popping Tylenol every ten minutes to combat my raging hangover. I was in a bit of a beer-induced fog, but I think I can still make some worthy contributions about the visit. First, Melissa’s natural body temperature is apparently 10 degrees lower than everybody else’s as she was shivering the entire time we were there. I tried to wrap her in her own hair, but ended up wearing it as a scarf for myself. Luckily, she was able to fashion some sleeves out of her pant legs a la Michael Scott. Moving on to the actual beer, there was not one that I did not enjoy. The Willy was an easy drinking wheat beer. Not my favorite based on the style but smooth and very drinkable. The Willy Vanilly was like a rich cream soda and was best summed up by Scott when he said “This is what the Willy aspires to be”. While I enjoyed the Mandarin Nectar, the floral notes from the orange blossom were a little overwhelming to me. I would have to say that the standouts in this order would be the Pure Hoppiness, which I absolutely adored for it’s strong hop flavor but smooth rich finish, The Captain Stout mixed with the Willy Vanilly, for it’s perfect coffee, cream dessert like taste, and McIlhenney’s Irish Red for it’s flavor and drinkability, whatever that means. My memory of the Duet and the Alpine Ale are a little fuzzy because we tasted them right about the time that I realized that my hangover symptoms were starting to wane at which point I realized I was likely just postponing my symptoms until the buzz wore off. Point is, I will definitely be back to fill our 3 growlers with deliciousness. Contrary to the opinion’s of some, I thought the brewery staff were pleasant and accommodating. Apparently, some people need their ass kissed to enjoy good beer.
Scott:
I've just popped the top off my 22oz Pure Hoppiness, so I thought it would be a good time to post my comments about our trip to Alpine.
The day started with a bit of car drama, Mike was suppose to drive the crew out to Alpine but instead he lit a molotov cocktail and threw it under the hood. Way to get out of driving.
I took up the reins and got us there. I won't rehash the whole experience given the long winded entry from Mike. I'll just say the beer was all good. My favorite was the Pure Hopiness. The Ichabod was also a stand out beer for me because of it's unusual flavor. However, I must say the draft Ichabod is considerably better than the bottled Ichabod.
After the brew we walked next door and grabbed some mexican food at Tapatio. MMMM rrrrr gooood. If you are out in east county wandering around looking for some meth, go to Alpine instead and drink beer.
Melissa:
If you couldn't have guessed....I was freezing! I think some of the shakes were left over from Hamilton's the previous night (hence Emily's raging hangover). Other than enduring the horrendous elements there, I ultimately enjoyed Alpine brewery. My favorite beer available was Pure Hoppiness followed by Willy Vanilly which made me feel all warm and cozy inside:) I don't recall what happened to our growler filled with Willy Vanilly and Captain Stout, but I am anxious to get back to Alpine to get another. Tapatio really hit the spot after all of our tastings. Their carne asada was great (I think Emily and I ate more off Scott's plate than he did). Nate and I delayed our anniversary celebration to attend the beer squad event and I have no regrets...great beer with great friends!
More pictures here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/18825216@N05/sets/72157603295741455/
