Green Flash & Cellar 3

This is sad but not shocking. Their beer has been on the downward for the last 4-5 years and they ruined Alpine. Can we get some Make Alpine Great Again (MAGA) hats?

 

RIP Alpine. I will forever miss Hoppy Birthday and Duet. (I know they have been on the decline but I still love those beers)

 

I just want the old alpine pub back. Not that soulless tasting room they have now

 

president and manager of WC IPA LLC is Richard Lobo, a managing partner at private equity firm Muirlands Capital LLC. WC IPA LLC manager Joshua Yelsey previously worked as head of finance for craft breweries bought by Anheuser-Busch, as well as a manager in the mergers and acquisitions department, according to his LinkedIn page. Mike Hinkley stays on as VP and manager.

PE play

 

"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results."

 

"After a general slowdown in the craft beer industry, coupled with intense competition and a slowdown of our business, we could not service the debt that we took on..."

- Mike Hinkley

You have to wonder whether he's obtuse or just dishonest here. Considering craft beer growth stats are readily googleable, I'm guessing the latter.

 

You mean he didn't just want to accept full responsibility for expanding too quickly and taking on more debt than they could pay off with such an aggressive growth strategy?

 

It was nice to read the old full pints stories about GF, was rereading the comparison story of alpine vs green flash, I think I spy @dcgunman commenting at the bottom, haha.

https://thefullpint.com/breweries-a...ewers-settling-the-green-flash-alpine-debate/

But reading what was posted above, I'm now more worried about GF/Alpine becoming another brewery owned by big beer. Like, how low can Nelson go?

 

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/sd-fi-green-flash-foreclosure-20180403-story.html

"McIlhenney and his wife -- Val McIlhenney, who was vice president of Green Flash’s Alpine Beer division -- will have no role in the new company. Their son, Shawn McIlhenney, remains under contract as a Green Flash brewer."

McIlhenney had harsh words for Hinkley.

“He has no business being in this business,” McIlhenney said. “His business prowess is abysmal.”

 

Wow! Hopefully they will use this as an opportunity to start their own thing.

 

He's not wrong, but let's not ignore the fact that Pat and Val willingly sold their company to him...

 

Sounds like Pat and Val had shareholder interest (retirement plans as well) in Green Flash and it all disappeared in a flash when GF went insolvent.

Sucks.

 

First, and only time I ever visited the OG Alpine pub I was sitting at the bar with my wife, after making a three day road trip to SD from Seattle. There was a Steelers game on the TV, and I'm chatting with some guy next to me about the game, he eventually gets up, goes behind the bar, and pours himself a beer.... I thought this was odd, but just figured he was some local regular.

We get to talking about the beers and I tell him about our road trip from Seattle, and how badly I wanted to try Nelson, but it wasn't on tap....He gets up to go use the "restroom" and then comes back with two full pitchers of Nelson right off the Brite tank. I finally put two and two together and ask him if he's Pat. He laughs and introduces himself.

We drink the Nelson and chat about brewing. He then asks my wife if she's cool with being the dd back to our hotel in SD. Being the amazing person she is, she says yes. Pat then goes and grabs three bottles of Expo....we had missed the release by 4 days and they were "sold out" but he just wanted to hang out and drink beer and chat.....he got me pretty damn hammered that night, and we all had a great time.

I wasn't even in the industry or anything at that point, Pat was just an extremely nice and hospitable dude. I can't say enough nice things about him.

Sorry for the rambling, just hearing about the news today made me tbith of that night and I wanted to share.

 

Yup. But I don't remember writing that. My bro-in-law had a 6pk of Hoppy Birthday on Easter. It was just okay. Nothing like the great session it was. I thought it might of been old. No date on bottle. But there was a code I'm guessing that was their way of showing the date. Last time I remember ABC had a drink by date. I miss "Drink Alpine Ale or go to Bed" Maybe it should say Don't Drink Alpine, instead go to Green Flash.

 

I remember seeing the expiration date on Alpine beers after GF takeover was 6 months out......6 months?!?!

 

Exactly! 6 months? WTF! I know other brewery's put drink by dates on them, Sixpoint being one. I don't mind the drink by date. It's what they recommend you drink it in 6 months. I guess they stand by their IPA's being fresh for 6 months? I don't.

 

I was always confused about the Virginia expansion. While they were a known brand the beer wasn’t special in my opinion. I felt their best beer was the brown they brewed back in the days in Vista. The east coast/Europe expansion rocked Stone and they had major cash flow issues because of it so wasn’t sure how Green Flash could do it.

I’m sad for the Alpine family and I’m sad that in a few years Alpine will be owned by InBev or some cooperate beer giant.

 

Sorry guys, but I have to reminisce; remember when trips to Alpine meant your fridge looked like this? I long for those tacky photoshopped bottles. Sigh... RIP, Alpine. I’m sure every decision was made with the best intentions, but like my first crush, I guess you are officially dead to me:

 

This was my beer fridge for many years.

Cheers,

 

Just checked my Untappd, and Nelson is still in my top 10 all time check-ins (#6), and the last time I checked it was May 2015. I've had a lot of beer in the past three years, so it's crazy that OG Nelson is still up there...Bad Boy was #15