(San Diego,CA) – We’re almost a year into the partnership turned acquisition between Green Flash Brewing and Alpine Beer Co. We’ve reached out to Green Flash as we wanted get clarification on many questions and concerns on this fairly young relationship. No doubt Alpine Beer is as popular and in demand as ever, however there is a lot of folk lore making the rounds about the present and future of the Alpine Beer Company brand. We were happily surprised to get word right from the Founder/CEO’s mouth, none other than Mike Hinkley himself.

TheFullPint: We’ve been told through reliable sources that in order for an account to gain access to an Alpine handle, they must carry a Green Flash handle. Could you please confirm that?

Mike Hinkley: We rely on our distributor and retailer partners to bring our beers to market. Of course, when we are limited on a product, it goes to our best partners first. Are we going to bring a retailer an Alpine beer to replace a Green Flash beer, hell no. No rules, just common sense and running a smart business.

TFP: What Alpine Beers are being brewed and bottled at the Green Flash facility currently?

MH: So far, we have brewed Alpine Ale, Captain Stout, McIlhenney’s Irish Red, Duet, Hoppy Birthday, and Nelson. All have been in draft only.

We are currently designing a custom Alpine 22oz bottle and will begin to fill those in June / July, when the bottle is ready. I believe the first beers will be Duet, Hoppy Birthday and Nelson.

TFP: What are the plans for Alpine production for the rest of the year, whether it be draft or bottles?

MH: Next to be brewed is Pure Hoppiness. We have designed a massive hop-back, needed to make that beer exactly as made at Alpine. That will be fabricated and installed within a few months. It is an awesome beer – I can’t wait. After a few rounds of draft and nailing the recipe, we will bottle some in 22 oz.

Some other one-offs are being discussed.

We are also talking about some of the barrel aged beers Pat has mastered over the years. We just completed construction of our new packaging facility for barrel-aged beers and includes a cork-finish bottling line, called Green Flash Cellar 3. I hope that by the end of the year, you will see an Alpine beer come out of Cellar 3.

TFP: What is Green Flash’s stance on the public relations incident a few weeks back when a private email between Pat and a customer was spread all over social media, putting Pat in a bad light for poor customer service?

MH: Pat is an amazing brewer who is unbelievably creative and passionate, but he is not beyond making a business mistake. Who is? Certainly not me. Pat apologized to the customer and refunded the money, before I even spoke to him about it. We talked about it and are on the same page going forward. I have all the confidence in the world in Pat and Shawn and Val. They are great people.

TFP: Will Alpine beers be brewed at the Virginia Beach facility?

MH: We are building the Virginia Beach brewery to be exactly the same as the San Diego brewery and produce indistinguishable finished products. So, any and all beers that we brew in San Diego are on the slate to be brewed in Virginia Beach, including Alpine.