(San Diego, CA) – The latest from Alpine Beer Company, courtesy of Tuesday’s email newsletter…

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For those that received the last newsletter you may remember the bit about the g l u t e n. Well, it seems TTB took great offense to what I wrote and issued a lawyered-up, four page letter citing three specific violations of their Amended Interim Act regarding said ingredient. You see, I didn’t include the following mandatory paragraph:

“Product fermented from grains containing gluten and [processed or treated or crafted] to remove gluten. The gluten content of this product cannot be verified, and this product may contain gluten.”

The TTB (Tax and Trade Bureau), which regulates alcohol related businesses on the federal level, issued the letter and it was delivered 6 days after the initial posting. This is the same agency that took 8 months to approve the keg collars we are using for the Green Flash contract. The Same agency that still doesn’t want us to us our “Incorporated” license number over 2 years after we incorporated. The only approved gluten test for alcohol actually tests for gliadin which is a protein found in gluten. It consists of half of the whole gluten protein. Because it’s not a test for the whole gluten molecule TTB isn’t considering it testing for gluten, although the American Society of Brewing Chemists have deemed the test worthy.

So, I apologize for any misleading or damaging information I gave you regarding said ingredient and hope to never make such a mistake in the future.

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We have our regular lineup plus “Ugly” and “Token” which are available in the pub and for growler fills as well as some fresh “Nelson.” The end of May will be our next opportunity to tickle your taste buds with “Keene Idea” and “San Diego Surprise.”

This Thursday, April 17, a new beer will be unleashed upon the masses. It’s diminutive at 4.7% abv but carries around a violin case full of hoppy aroma. “Babyface” will be available for growler fills and on draft in the pub. Yes, it is a smaller version of “Nelson” in that it has a handsome helping of rye and a generous dose of Nelson Sauvin hops. Our hope is we can sell this because the new Session IPA by Miller/Coors could bump us right off the planet. Please help.

The pub will be closed this Sunday, April 20, due to a holiday. I’m not sure if it’s because it’s Easter Sunday or some other celebrity birthday like Bob Marley but just the same, we will be closed. The brewery won’t be open either as it is always closed Sundays and Mondays.

We are participating in a fundraising event call “Ales for ALS.” We are making a special beer using specially selected hops by Vinnie and Matt so we are hopeful of creating another stellar IPA like ale. Money from the sale of the beer will go to fighting Lou Gehrig’s disease.