Pure Hoppiness

Pure Hoppiness
Double IPA
Alpine Beer Company
8% ABV
OG 1.072
22 oz. with no dates into a Bell's tulip. Thanks BulbMan!

Hay golden and amber with an excellent off white head. Hazy towards the bottom of the bomber. Moderate head retention and moderate lacing. Nothing spectacular but good nonetheless.

I have had Pure Hoppiness before, and all I could think was dank, grass, cannabis etc. etc. Now, not so much! Fruity notes with a faint memory of what I loved --- clearly, this is not a fresh bottle, OR my nose is off. But, there's no way to know until the bottles are dated, so I am just going to go with AVERAGE here. Sorry Alpine. You probably don't care though.

The weediness is much more prominent in the taste, but still not UP there. Light and crisp with medium bitterness, this seems like a good IPA but not among the best; not by a long shot! The malts are there, but not as much as I'd like, and the beer feels rather watery. Taste is mostly dank and spicy, which could have been very good. However, in my humble opinion, the focus is on flavor and aroma much more than the actual bitterness, and I'd love to see how it drinks with part of the hop bill scheduled earlier in the boil. Still, not bad. Mouthfeel, as remarked has its shortcomings and could be more beer-y and less water-y.

Overall though, and especially with warmth, this beer comes to its own and drinks hoppy and easy. The green and wet character, along with the bitterness, is amplified and starts to delight more and more. However, I really feel that the ABV could be 2% lower. Really. A disappointment, but a mild one, and only so because of the high expectations, I believe.

Scores: Appearance 4/5; Aroma 4/5; Taste 4/5; Mouthfeel 2.5/5; Overall 4/5