Chuck Silva resigns from Green Flash Brewing Co.

Huge fan of Green Flash. Had the chance to meet Mr Silva in Seattle nice guy, looking forward to his furture endeavor.

 

Was he integral in failing to consistently brew Alpine IPA accurately?

 

Let all the vitriol for green flash fill this thread. I'll crack open a bottle of alpine duet with the nice green flash logo on it and enjoy the read.

 

I believe Chuck was in Denver representing Green Flash for GABF last week.

 

Ouch!

 

Sounds to me like he's got most all the background and experience to do this start up and make it successful.

 

Green Flash has been a big pioneer in the modern beer evolution. From the first West Coast IPA that I tasted- and drank- I was a fan. I called Mike Hinkley out of the blue in the early 2000s to see if he might sell me some beer for North Carolina. We made a deal and sometimes he had beer and sometimes he didn't. I didn't care. People loved the beers and they always sold through very quickly. I wish them all continued good fortune and will look forward to Mr. Silva's beers.

 

Just recently had my first few Green Flash beers and I just don't understand the hate they receive here. Hopefully this news doesn't affect the company.

 

Never noticed any hate for them. They make good beer but in my opinion have some of the most uncreative and boring labels in the craft beer industry. I'm sure many of you feel that bottle labels are irrelevant to what is inside, just my opinion.

 

Since it hasn't been asked yet, will Green Flash be the next to be acquired? And boring labels; that is how people judge beer now? Wow.

 

Weren't there rumors and speculations floating around that there would be an announcement of a "big" San Diego brewery being acquired by AB InBev soon? Is Green Flash that "big" San Diego brewery? If so, I wonder if this has anything to do with that?

 

It adds to the speculation if nothing else.

 

Really? I've been here for just 2 months and it seems it is popular to hate on Green Flash from what I can tell and have read in Beer Talk.

 

He had very little to do with that, which is part of the reason he probably wants to make a change I suspect.

 

considering how Alpine Nelson has been botched, they deserve some good critique

 

I wish Chuck good luck in his new venture.

I stopped buying Green Flash packaged beer when they switched from 6-packs to 4-packs and the unit price was increased. I do not think that Chuck was part of that decision making process but I really don’t know.

I had another draft pint of Alpine beer this past weekend (this was my fourth or fifth pint in the past few months). I will not be buying Alpine beer again. I gave it the old ‘college try’ and these beers are simply disappointing; little to no hop aroma on the hoppy beers (Hoppy Birthday, Duet).

Hopefully the beers that Chuck will be brewing at his brewery will come in 6-packs and the draft versions not be disappointing.

Cheers!

 

I think the Silva Stout debacle may have something to do with it. Not an enjoyable experience for me and many others.

 

i havent heard anyone mention GF honestly. i have heard people mention BP though.

 

I'll fully admit to not caring at all for Green Flash. The most praise I can give any of their beer is that it was underwhelming. And I've tried more than a few Green Flash beers. No, not Alpine or Duet or anything, before anyone asks. Just all of their mass distributed beers.

Nonetheless, Chuck Silva is a big name in the industry and I respect his accomplishments. Hope his new endeavor is a huge hit, and I'll try anything he ever does with an open mind.

 

I used to buy GF quite a bit. Rayon Vert and West Coast IPA were staples in my fridge and I would buy pretty much anything new that I saw from them.

Then they killed Rayon Vert. And changed the recipe for West Coast (in spite of still producing tons and tons of varied IPAs/IIPAs and therefore having no particular need to kill a highly-rated and I assume popular IPA). And I stopped buying them as much.

That said, the Cellar 3 stuff sort of piqued my curiosity again. I bought Silva Stout (unfortunately), Flanders Red and the Natura Morta Plum (haven't opened either of those latter two yet). If I don't enjoy either of those, I'm probably going to lose even that latent curiosity.

It's sad, as Green Flash was one of the breweries I really got into early on in my craft journey.

 

I see a lot of disdain for them too. It's probably because their beers are too readily accessible.

 

So basically if a company switches their format from a 6 pack to a 4 pack you personally will not buy those beers anymore? I understand it is frustrating, but breweries are businesses with rising costs too...

 

A lot of old school GF and Alpine fans have explained their disdain (or declining fandom) time and time again, but I guess the message just doesn't get through all the noise.

 

Green Flash deserves some of the flack they get because of how poorly the Alpine acquisition has gone.

However, they've been making excellent beer for a long time and have brought quality stuff to the masses. West Coast IPA is still good, even though 1.0 was better. There's also Road Warrior, Green Bullet and many other fantastic brews they make. I get a little down on them sometimes too, but I think we need to keep everything in perspective. Green Flash has contributed a lot to one of the most vibrant brew scenes in the world, and they continue to do so.

 

If they simultaneously significantly raise the per unit price then yes, they lost my business. I few this practice unfavorably.

Well, the other breweries that retain the 6-pack package format at reasonable prices will get my dollars. Needless to say but feel free to send your dollars to Green Flash.

We all get to choose which beers we prefer to purchase.

Cheers!

 

I'm pretty much with this world view, though I found it a lot easier to keep this perspective *because* Chuck was there.

 

I bought a 6 pack of Soul Style just yesterday.

 

I've had a good number of GF beers over the last decade or so and they've always been about my 4th favorite San Diego brewery. Of course, as more and more breweries open in SD, I can't keep up with them any more, so it's hard to say where they woudl rate now if I had tried everything down there.

In response to a previous comment about labels - good-looking packaging attracts. Poorly designed packaging does not. That's why there's an entire industry called "graphic design". Two equally worthy beers at the same price point in two different packages - which one sells?

 

Good luck Chuck.

 

Just to throw more gasoline on the fire, this little news item from last month that flew under most beer geeks' radar may be related to this move:

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Green-Flash-Brewing-Co-Names-COO-Chris-Ross-324411941.html

 

That would really suck, I love BP. Although if it meant fresh Sculpin at places I would never normally expect to see it that would be ok.

 

I understand people being angry with GF because they ruined a great beer when they acquired that brewery. But it seems that some people started rating GF's beers lower just because of this, instead of keeping it as a separate problem.

I've recently tried West Coast, Hoppy Red, Double Stout and Citra Session and they were very good.

 

I was just tasking about your personal preference. For me it really depends on what it is and how much I like it. I don't automatically not buy it anymore, but I do take the change under consideration when comparing to other options.

 

What was the price?

Cheers!

 

Just my personal opinion; when a business simultaneously goes from 6-packs to 4-packs and significantly raise the per unit price I do not want to support that business decision with my dollars. Others (like you) will make differing decisions.

Cheers!

 

I paid $10.99 for soul style 6 pack that was quite fresh. It was more than a disappointment. Loved Rayon and thought I would try this new 6 pack IPA. Not a tropical juicy beer as the label describes. Really not much of anything. Still sitting on 3 as it was not enjoyed by anyone I've offered it to.
My GF days are over. Have not made a purchase since Rayon left and this purchase puts me back into who cares about GF

Enjoy

 

This is silly. I don't dislike green flash because they are accessible, but because the quality of their beer has been lacking. Not everything is tied to some invisible and subjective trade market that the BA echo chamber puts far too much emphasis on. To my palate, they simply haven't been up to snuff. If other people like them, great, but try not lump green flash critics under one broad net.

 

Just to clarify, you're saying they raised the unit price by not lowering the package price when the decreased the number of units in a package, correct?

I only ask because when you say they changed the packaging "and" they increased the unit price, it suggests that they actively did two things (changed package and changed price) when really they did one thing (changed package) that resulted in the other thing (unit price increase).

Honestly, I'd usually rather experience a price increase via a packaging size decrease than a raw price increase (at least wrt beer six-packs) but that is *my* personal preference, as it were.

 

Just thought I'd mention, we just got a really fresh shipment of Alpine bottles (in GF bottles) and kegs. These are easily the best batches of Nelson, Hoppy Birthday and Duet since the buyout. The Nelson was especially good, which makes me hopeful for the future, although the Duet still isn't quite as good as before.