Alpine in SD?

Has anyone seen Duet or Nelson around SD recently? It's been awhile since I've found it at any of my local bottle shops, and I can't make it out to Alpine in the near future.

Cheers!

Nope and nope. You’re in luck though if you want Captain Stout. =p

I have noticed that a lot of places stopped carrying Alpine.
I believe I heard that it's due to Alpine not really wanting to distribute their beer......

Could be and I don't blame them. They can't keep up with the demand at the brewery even with a 4 bottle limit. 3 weeks ago Duet was sold out, the week after it was Nelson, went today and it was Pure Hoppiness. They used to have a case limit, lowered it to 6 and then lowered it to 4. People are willing to make the drive and keep buying the beer.

The demand for their beer has grown so much the last year or so that they need to do the expansion just to be able to keep up with demand of walk in customers to the brewery.

Duet is on tap at Harp in OB as of earlier today

Ahhhh, that makes sense, thanks. That's too bad.

I figured it was a production issue
Wouldn't think that talking to some store owners though......from the stores point of view Alpine told them "if you want it, come and get it"
Atleast that is what I've gathered from stores that used to carry their product.

That being sad.....wife and I went up to Alpine to grab some lunch this weekend and weren't able to. They were just way to busy! No place to sit. Good for them!

I didn't know Alpine made it out to South Dakota

Haven't seen anything but Captain around for a while. I need to make a trip out there.

Also: How long has there been a 4 bottle limit?! I assume it's just for Nelson, Duet and Pure? I haven't been out that way in a while.

i wonder how well their investor search is going to fund the new location. i usually only drink alpine on tap obriens.

I can't say exactly how long its been but it has been at least a month maybe more and I'm pretty sure the 4 bottle limit is across the board on all beers.
I believe they are trying to avoid having store's come in to buy up all the beer for their shelves.

When shops get it these days it literally sells out that day or the next.

They produce 1,500 BBL annually...which is a tiny amount of beer. The expansion should bring them to 10,000BBL and still keep it family oriented/ran. Hopefully their search is going well and you'll see more Alpine after that.

Just saw the latest blog post and it confirms 4 bottle limit across the board on all beers:
http://blog.alpinebrewing.com/2012/03/15/integrity-and-complicity/

Blame Freddie and his crappy reselling. Guy is as shady as it gets. Beverages 4 Less suxs.

Does Alpine on tap make in up to the bay area? I'm there this weekend

I stopped going there a while back. His prices are high.....on both his beer and his homebrewing supplies.

no

I feel bad from people that order from this guy. He ships his stock that sits out hot (Santee is not near the beach), brewers don't like dealing with him and he's notorius for sending out mules to resell limiteds/brewery only releases. On top of that, he sells his beer at different prices depending on who you are. IE he'll sell a beer at a higher cost to a woman who he thinks won't know what it should be at. Shady.

actually, i've seen some at city beer for "on site consumption."

actually, alpine self-distributes to bev4less, so in many ways they are sanctioning his actions. it's the unlicensed ebayers they have a problem with. when it comes to beer quality and markup, though, i view bev4less as being just as bad as ebay.

Given how 'In Demand' Alpine is, I have no idea why they continue to distribute to Ripoff-4-More. Clem's, Olive Tree, Del Cerro...would all kill to get more Alpine in, yet they distribute to Freddie who sells their beer online and ships it out. Makes no sense.

Just curious where this information comes from?
I know they distribute to a few stores but these same stores still send mules to get more at the brewery.
"We have had to place limits on the amount of bottles people are allowed to purchase. Retail store owner have made a practice of buying as many bottles as we’ll sell them only to return to their store and resell them, another illegal practice. As a result, we have had to limit bottle sales to no more than 4 of any one brand just to discourage the retail store owner from making illegal choices." -Alpine Beer Co. in a recent blog

Just noticed how funny my avatar looks next to that post.

Your reference to "on site consumption" indicates you are referring to bottles. The inquiry was in reference to Alpine served "on tap". Interesting to hear that bottles hit SF, however.

I've seen Alpine distribute directly to Bev4Less. There are other bottle shops that I've seen personally sell growlers of Odin's Raven as well as other beers that got busted.

Got ya.
Selling growlers? That's ridiculous. I wish people would just make the drive to Alpine, lots of people complain about bad bottles and things like that, going the extra 30 minutes or whatever it takes others is worth it to know it was handled correctly imo.

I agree. I live in chula vista. If I'm going to make the trek to Santee I might as well drive the extra 15 minutes and go to Alpine.

Chula Vista is a journey but like you said what's another 15 to guaranty the quality you are getting.
How long ago was it you saw them deliver to Bev4Less? I know he posted on facebook that they got Nelson, but who knows if he sent people for it or if it was delivered.
I might be by Alpine this weekend and ask more about it.

I'm from Chula Vista as well, and I go out there (not as much any more) about 3 times a month. I have no problem with the drive if I know my product is coming directly from its maker and that price isn't being gouged.