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How can you go wrong with either? |
Alpine Duet, on the other hand, has absolutely destroyed all challengers. It won its Round 1 heat unanimously over Cismontane Coulter and Karl Strauss Tower 10, followed by a not-as-close-as-the-score indicates 4-1 decision over Black Diamond Jagged Edge in Round 3. Duet thumped Alesmith and Bear Republic Racer 5 in Round 4, and then took Green Flash West Coast down unanimously in the quarters. And guess what? Another unanimous decision in the semis, this time over Port Wipeout. 5 rounds, only two non-winning votes. I'm no oddsmaker, but I think that's what you'd call a prohibitive favorite.
Without further ado, the 2012 Non-Snob California IPA Tournament Champion: Alpine Duet. And yes, it was unanimous.
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Way to go, Alpine. |
Everyone knows that Russian River is one of the, if not the, best breweries in the country. Theirs may be the most highly-sought beers outside of California (well, in California too, but our access is a bit better). And Blind Pig bears that out- it's an incredible beer, exactly what a California IPA should be.
But Duet- this beer is a revelation. If Blind Pig shows you what a California IPA should be, Duet shows you what it can be. I don't know what they're doing differently out there in Alpine, but Duet is so far ahead of the game it's ridiculous. Alpine gets a volume of flavor out of its hops unequalled by any other brewery in California, while masterfully leaving the bitterness behind. And they've constructed the malt foundation with such craft and delicacy that you're able to taste every little bit of those hop flavors- I mean, name any other beer in which it's possible to pick out 3 or 4 individual citrus and/or tropical fruit flavors that are solely hop-derived (if you can, it's probably also from Alpine). That's why this beer won, and won so convincingly. They simply do something with their IPAs that the others don't, and probably can't, match.
Just because.
OK it's finally over. Can we do it again please?? I'm still not sure about Blind Pig!
ReplyDeleteSorry, no. Next up is a 128-beer brown ale tournament. Don't make any plans for the next 19 months.
ReplyDelete