A time for some fascinating beers. My housemate recently returned from his native San Diego with a pretty good haul of brews, chief among them a caseful from Alpine Brewing in Alpine in the altitude about a half-hour outside San Diego. I have never encountered these beers before and they apparently are not distributed beyond southern California, but the quality of this brewer was astounding and worth seeking out. The Alpine Captain Stout was smokey, contemplative and subtle—elegance trumps power. The Alpine Nelson was an IPA brewed and dry-hopped with a New Zealand hop Nelson Sauvin and eurorye—and tastes, bizarrely but attractively, of a New Zealand sauvignon blanc—zippy. The Alpine Willy, a wheat ale, and the Alpine McIlhenney's Irish Red did nothing for me—the Willy felt tired and uninspired while Irish reds just don't seem to be my thing—but the malt here was nice, even if it lacked verve for me. The Alpine Mandarin Nectar was a superb contribution to the world of fruit-kissed beer, young fresh, and screaming of summer—up there with one of my favorites in the category, Dogfish Head's Festina Peche. Meanwhile, the Alpine Duet IPA could be the holy grail for all my beer-loving friends who find the hops of northern Californian beer to be too much. Integrated, delicious and clearly not playing the 'my-hops-are-bigger-than-your-hops' game. The Alpine Ale a simpler beer reflecting the welcome genre of thirst-quenching. We have no lack of selection here in northern California, but we need more beers like this!
Stone Brewing, located in Escondido about 40 minutes north of San Diego, is, of course, more widely distributed. But, the Sawyer's Triple is a special belgian-style tripel sold only at the brewery as all of the proceeds (that's 100 percent) are donated to finding a cure for adrenoleukodystrophy, which claimed the life of one of the young sons of a Stone brewer. The hops, malt, yeast, bottle, cases, and printing are all donated by various companies to make that possible. And beyond a good cause, this beer is probably the most stunning American triple I've had. Everything integrates into drinkability. The beer is pure and beautiful. The Stone Old Guardian Barleywine offers a great deal more heft and certainly is slower drinking, but nothing tiring about drinking it—which is a very welcome characteristic in this category. The 2009 Lost Abbey Gift of the Magi is a Bière de Garde from Port Brewing right next door in San Marcos. Very light tart yeasty touch on top a very rich and spiced beer (the style reminds me of dark winter seasonals, but of course the name would suggest they're aiming for that style). I find this beer a bit harder to drink—it's very interesting and full of interesting flavor, but strikes me as a bit much. Perhaps some bottle aging beyond the 9 months or so it's had so far?
Meanwhile, moving away from southern California, the 2009 Allagash Victor is a Belgian dark ale brewed with red chancellor grapes, which are crushed at the brewery and added to the mash. for the Victor. Fuggles and Hallertau hops, Pilsner malt (which I didn't realize was a malt) and a wine yeast strain produces a light aroma of barely-there yeast balanced with richness and cherry notes. Initially, it seems like it'll be a bit much, but the tart underbelly really comes through and the richness fades as the beer opens. Quite delicious and worth returning to. The Maredsous 10 Tripel from Belgium's Duvel Moortgat is a stunning beer. Creaminess, delicacy, amazing definition. One of those beers that shows what beer can do. The nose alone is worthy of adulation and praise, whether in prose, verse or song. Yum. The Deschutes Hop in the Dark from the gifted folks up in Bend, Oregon, is lip-smacking delicious, as most of my recent Deschutes beers have been. I'd say the brewer's notes cover the beer pretty well: “This beer has subtle coffee undertones born from a blend of oats with dark, Munich and crystal malts. Classic IPA flavors and aromas are due to courageous additions of Cascade, Citra and Centennial hops.”
Great beers! Keep 'em coming!