Small Pour is our weekly segment featuring short reviews of beers we’ve recently had the pleasure of drinking but could not feature on the show for one reason or another.
This week’s Small Pour features Duet from Alpine Brewing Company. For those of you adverse to reading, check out the audio version above.
It’s the kind of beer that makes you wish you lived near the brewery. That’s how good it is. Because even though the bottle you have is screamingly fresh – at least for an IPA being shipped from a few thousand miles away – you can only imagine the sensory unicorns that would explode from the glass when having this beer on-draft at the brewery. Plus, there’s just something evocative about the branding, the label art – this sleepy, idyllic Northern California town where there’s no excuse needed to duck out of the office early on a sunny Friday afternoon and install yourself in a breezy beer garden, marking time only by the shadows on the table thrown from your pint glass.
The brewery is Alpine Brewing Company. The beer is Duet, their West Coast-style IPA brewed with Simcoe and Amarillo. The beer pours a wonderful golden color with hues of amber or light orange, and a persistent two fingers of white, soapy head. The aroma bursts from the glass and is reminiscent of a tropical cocktail or those grocery store-brand tropical fruit juices – think Dole, but brighter and less creamy. The nose is fresh grapefruit, orange pith, and pineapple, predominately, with subtle hints of bitter dandelion greens or lemongrass right in the mid-palate and finish.
The first sip is intoxicating, the tropicality from the Simcoe and Amarillo so powerful yet so well-rendered it doesn’t appear to be out of balance with a toasted, white-bread-crust malt character, even though the hop presence is the star of the show. While not usually partial to West Coast IPAs – I can probably count on one hand the number I really enjoy and actively seek out – Duet finishes smooth and dry – and somewhat clean for a West Coast IPA – with a nice crack of bitterness in the aftertaste to balance the sweet, juicy fruit flavors of the hops and entice you back for another sip.
While so many IPAs in this style trounce across your palate like a crazed, drug-addled hippo, assaulting your taste buds with intense hop flavors and stabbing your tongue with a toe-curling bitterness, Duet is an elegantly made IPA that inhibits the traits you want in this West Coast style (hop-forward, dank, dry, and bitter) without completely scraping the feelers from your tongue. With a medium-light body, Duet drinks almost like a session beer, despite its 7 percent ABV, and it’s so well put together you won’t think twice before reaching into the fridge for another.
And another.
And another.
And another.
Pair Duet with a nice burger, some fish and chips, a mild to sharp cheddar cheese, or even heartier chicken dishes – fried chicken, maybe even some BBQ. Perhaps a little spice cake for dessert, something a little assertive with carrot or ginger. Or hell, pair Duet with Duet and you won’t be disappointed.
One Guy, One Beer 