Alpine Beer Company - Pure Hoppiness; McIlhenney's Irish Red; Nelson

Brewed in Alpine, California by the Alpine Beer Company. "Drink Alpine Ale or Go To Bed!"

Pure Hoppiness - 8% ABV. Pours a light copper to slightly amber and a bit cloudy with a thick foamy head that leaves some lacing. The aroma is of tropical fruit, citrus, a bit of banana and also quite a bit of malt. The taste is maltier than I would expect from an American IPA. In fact, I find that the malt tastes is just as much or not more forward than the hops. The hops do then come on strong with fruit, flowers and an extremely bitter finish. The aroma and flavor of the malt in some beers is not much to my liking and this is one of them. It’s too bad because the hop portion is so nice.

McIlhenney's Irish Red - This 6.0% ABV beer pours a glowing and clear reddish-brown.  It has a small off-white head.  The aroma is malty, mostly nutty, a bit of dark stone fruits, with a bit of roasted sweetness.  The taste is both sweet and tart, plum, cherry, caramel, nutty, scone.

Nelson – 7% ABV. Pours copper in color and slightly cloudy with a slight thick foamy head that leaves some lacing. The aroma is of citrus; grapefruit, tangerine and lime, and also a spicy maltiness. This does include rye. The malt becomes more and more strong and overwhelms the really nice hoppiness. The malt aroma is of burnt rubber and very unappealing.  I am starting to think that although I really enjoy rye bread and rye whiskey, there is something about beer brewed with rye that creates a flavor I really don't like.