A brewery van was stolen just after the delivery of the last pint.
Brewer Dean Richards had dropped off the 150th bottle when a thief drove off in his vehicle and dumped it in Awsworth.
But the offender missed out on a £375 load of real ale made at the brewery in the garage of his home.
Mr Richards had just completed his deliveries for the Nutbrook Brewery, which he launched 12 years ago.
It vanished from outside a house in Park Avenue, Ilkeston on Friday and it turned up on waste land four miles away in Barlow Drive, Awsworth, a day later. Police are checking it for clues.
Mr Richards, 66, said: "If they had opened up the back doors before driving off, they would have noticed it was empty.
"I started out with about 150 bottles and had just made the last drop.
"It must have been an opportunistic theft. Nobody was following me.
"Social media went mad and someone called to say they had see the van parked on land behind lock-up garages," added Mr Richards of West Hallam, near Ilkeston.
The deliveries included his ales Banter, Perfect Fifth, Black Beauty and one called Responsibly, encouraging customers to "drink responsibly."
