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I'm from San Diego. I live in Portland. As a result, I really should play the fence on this next statement but I'm just going to come out and say it.
San Diego recently won best beer city in the nation, and Portland is pissed. Naysayers are trying to cite that some breweries being included aren't in the metro area of San Diego. First, everyone knows that regardless of what specific city you're in when you're here, you always would say "San Diego" if someone asked where you were. Our metro area is huge. Something Portland has no concept of. 5 million people? They're 30 years away from that kind of population.
Second, Portland does have a hell of a lot of breweries, but in competitions it's quality over quantity and San Diego's lower number of breweries have placed higher and more often in beer fests all over the country and world. This is why San Diego is considered the nation's best beer city. Sure we have less beer, but we've got better beer. And today's trip to Alpine Beer Company proves that fact for me.
Upon entrance into this little, easy to miss, might as well be a boot-repair shop sized storefront, you'll notice a few large fermentors, a rack of t-shirts, large tile counter top, a board describing each brew and an ultra hot, corn-fed snowboarder girl waiting to hand you a taster. (She'd be the sixth star of this place if I could give such a thing)
The brewery has no license to serve since they're not a bar, or grill (one will be opening at the other end of the building at the end of November). As a result, they have a "411" policy.
The 411 is like so:
4 tasters.
1 person
$1 each.
Four is all you'll need. Their beer list isn't one that requires a tremendous amount of time to find a beer you like. Instead, the problem will be trying to pick which beer you like best. And then the decision between bottle, keg or growler for the trip home.
Speaking of growlers, the bottle will cost you $5. To fill/refill it, roughly $8-10. Those prices aren't bad at all for 64 ounces of craft beer AND you get to take a scenic drive out to Alpine to collect the booty.
Notable beers are the Irish Red, Tuatara, Nelson, Captain Stout and Pure Hoppiness which you can read more about here, http://alpinebeerco.co... or you can gawk at the tons of awards (pictured) they've received for their efforts.
Alpine Beer Company's product has won four World Beer Cups, three American Beer fests and four San Diego County Fair awards. One other medal hangs on the wall as well, but I couldn't read the small text from the ground. Who knew this little hole in the wall brewery in a town that just started blossoming in recent years would have such amazing things inside? (girl mentioned earlier, included)
San Diego really has something special going with the brews but Portland is great competition. Maybe once Portland's brew makers realize that "organic hops" doesn't necessarily mean "amazing beer", they'll score a little higher on next year's charts. Until then, cruise out to Alpine and grab a growler.
"Raar"
People thought this was:
Made a couple of trips to Alpine Beer Co. recently.
Their beers are second to none. They make some of the best IPAs I have ever tasted and their half Captain Stout and half Willy Vanilly mix is rather delightful. I'd put this as a "must try" for anyone looking to sample San Diego county's finest beers.
My only nitpick that the tasters are served in plastic cups. I really would have liked it in a glass. They have such a quality product they might as well present it like one.
All in all great product and great people. I'll let the glassware thing slide and give them the full five stars.
And while we're on the subject of Alpine Beer Co, what is with the "Drink Alpine or Go to Bed" tag line? What does that even mean!?
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Who cares that it's in Alpine. Who cares that you can't find it on tap anywhere local. Saddle up, get out there, and try this stuff. If you're a microbrew lover, this is your new spot. I admire the balance in Pure Hoppiness, and applaud Alpine for somehow making a vanilla flavored microbrew that doesn't taste gross.
Bonus: the relatively affordable glassware and growler refills *almost* make up for the gas money.
I agree with Chuckie on the plastic taster cups. Glass tasters would heighten the experience. However, Five stars are still very much deserved.
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World class IPAs all their beers are great though. This is a family owned and operated brewery. The brewer is very nice and almost always on site. He and his wife are willing to talk to anyone about their beers. Even though it's a drive I love coming here. Try the Exponential Hoppiness it is my favorite DIPA. Bottles and growler fills are available. I can't wait for the brew pub which is about to open.
Always up to support a local business, my family and I frequented the Alpine Beer Co. sampling beers, buying growlers and refilling kegs on occasion because we liked the product. I won't go into detail, but the owner made a major mistake and fueled - by what appeared to be downright racism - refused to reason. Even a follow up email yielded no resolution. People in glass houses shouldn't throw kegs. I would highly NOT recommend this place.
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We stumbled to this place totally by accident. One of those trips when someone says, "look, let's stop over there, check it out".
I am almost clueless when it comes to beer tastings, wines I can fake my way through. A dignified looking gentleman, whom I thought was an employee there, was kind & patient enought to explain the beers to me. After awhile, I started to feel like I can taste the differences, ummm.
It wasn't until we were leaving with pure happiness( it's a beer ):) that I found out that the gentleman I was talking to was the owner.
Nice.
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Alpine Brewery can FOAD. I sent a polite email to them this morning about the noise on their website:
"I tried to visit the AB website this morning, but gave up because of the sound effects/noise that came from the site without my permission. There was no way to say yes/no to the noise and it's very annoying because I listen to music on iTunes on my PC, and I'm not interested in turning down the volume for one website. Please remove the noise from the site (or give me a way to allow it)."
Their response:
"Thank you for your interest in Alpine Beer Company.
If the sounds from our website annoy you, I suggest you not visit the site or go to bed. The sounds stay."
I'm not sure if they are trying to be cute/flippant or what, but whatever, it came across as arrogant and uncalled for.
AB can be guaranteed that they will never see a dime of my money. EVER.
People thought this was:
Yet another great brewery in San Diego County that has not let me down. With their great selection of microbrews and phenomenal flavor variety, I have yet again found myself wowed with the quality and impressive attention to brewing detail.
We treked here for our first outing as a group of beer geeks and easily found this spot. Our group of five crammed into the small lobby/tasting/all-purpose business space. The brewery is quite small, especially compared to others, but we did bring five people and there was a steady flow of business throughout the afternoon. We proceed to try all nine of the different beers offered at the time. Each taster was priced at $1, but this was a small price to pay to enjoy great craft brews.
Among my favorites were Ichabod, Duet (IPA) and Pure Hoppiness (IIPA). All of there beers were great and exhibited a great deal of local character. You could tell by tasting the beers, talking to brewers and locals and observing others that Alpine Beer Co. is highly revered in the community of Alpine.
I enjoyed the trip all together and will be sure and visit again. Some, but few negatives were the small space and the distance between me and their location. Despite these, Alpine Beer Co. is well worth the trip. It was enjoyed by all.
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Probably my favorite Brewery in the greater San Diego area next to Alesmith. I stop in about every week on the way home from work for a growler fill. Pat and Val are usually in on the afternoons and they are always receptive to questions and always keep me updated about their upcoming projects.
As for the beer, Pure Hoppiness is my staple, but I do enjoy the Captain Stout and the Irish red. If you can get the Duet or the elusive Exponential Hoppiness you are in for a real treat. Other notables include the Nelson IPA which is their version of a Rye IPA, and they released the O'brien's IPA recently which is also excellent. I know they are tucked away in Alpine, but a trip up here is definitely worth it for the beer alone, no matter where you live in San Diego. Plus the Liar's club is right up the street.
As it stands, this is a great brewery run by people who love the craft of brewing and it really shows, keep up the great work guys.
Drink Alpine Beer or go to Bed!
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During the SD Wildfire Season 2007, my buddy and I went east on CA-94, looking for a fire, but found Alpine Beer Company. We got lucky.
As bartenders at one of San Diego's high-end ale houses, we knew of Alpine's Pure Hoppiness, and we also knew that it was tasty and delicious. Little did we know that the Irish Red and the Willy Vanilly would rock our worlds, too!
We had tasters, and tasters, and tasters, and tasters. I even took a picture: http://pesotum.com/htm...
We brought home four growlers on that trip.
When we returned to San Diego, my buddy and I took less than 2.5 hours to drink all four growlers of Alpine Ale and Irish Red.
The beers are all top notch.
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Even for german standards good stuff.
Funny how this is listed under "Night Life", but it's beer and I guess people only drink beer at night.
Alright, this is a brewery, and a great one at that. They make some of the finest ales in San Diego county with notables that include Pure Hoppiness, Nelson, Duet and the deadly Exponential Hoppiness. They have a small tasting room where you can sample their current offerings, buy some schwag and fill your growlers (those half gallon jugs) on the cheap.
Great beer, great brewery. I stop by every time I visit my folks up in Alpine. That said, they're pretty glad that the brewery exists as they see a lot more of me these days!
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I love their Pure Hoppiness and Captain Stout! The folks here are friendly and there is usually plenty to choose from. A growler fill is under $10. Closed Sundays.
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Pat McIlhenney and Family owns and operates this lovely brewery. Their products are always great! Since I'm also a brewer, I very much appreciate ABC's attention to detail & the consistency of their product. This guy knows beer & how to make it! Pat is a hop-head & loads his IPA's with generous amounts of bitterness to offset the loads of perfectly roasted malts. Don't walk, run to ABC & sample these wonderful elixirs!
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What a cute little place. They've got a good selection that range from pale ales to stouts to the irish red and the "pure hoppiness". We sampled a few and made it out of there with a couple of growlers. If you're a beer lover and are out in Alpine, this is a must stop for you.
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Yo Andrew T- you are screwin' up the 5 star worthy rating of Alpine Brewing Co. if you ever paused to read their slogan it's "Drink Alpine or go to bed." and you know what? you are exactly who they are telling to go to bed. this place is great, i stop there to fill up whenever i am even halfway out in east county. when the pub opens i'm sure i'll make even more trips. my favorite is Duet. oooweee! and exponential hoppiness when it comes around.
Check this spot out if you're in the San Diego area. At 1st the brewmaster wasn't all that friendly, but after I started chatting brew with him, not only did he warm up, but he got downright chummy. All brews are 1st class, the IPAs aren't overly flowery, and the stouts aren't too sweet or too roasty. I wish you could get this in bottles.
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If I could, I would give it 4.5 stars. Their beer is excellent, there wasn't one that I didn't like. It was just a matter of which one I liked more. The Willy, Duet, Captain Stout...mmmmm, delicious. They still had the Ichabod pouring which is one of my favorite sours. It is a little bit of a trek for me, but well worth it. The actual place is pretty small, and tucked away in an Alpine version of a strip mall. Tastings are available for $1 each, but the tasting room is pretty unaccommodating to groups larger than 7-8 people. The reason I didn't give it 5 stars, may sound lame to some, but was noticeable enough to me. They kind of gave us (a group of 5) the cold shoulder. I wasn't sure at first, but then some obvious locals would drop in, and it became obviously apparent. Didn't bother me too much, picked up 3 growlers and 2 bottles of beer. I plan on going back, for the beer, not the cold shoulder.
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