So, is there a release date for the version that doesn’t include the alpha? I think I might be regretting not copping the alpha for an extra 15 bucks.
There isn’t an alpha, but there is a beta. The alpha would
a. slow down development
b. be so incomplete that EVERYBODY would whine, and
c. the Beta releases in a few months anyway, and an alpha would probably just kill the hype by feeding the desires of the masses.
Sorry, I meant beta. So when the beta releases I will be able to play since I bought the copy that doesn’t include beta access?
you will be able to play the game in September… next year. So you will have to wait 14 months from now in order to play it. Or another way to look at it, you will get the game 9 months after the beta release.
Beta starts december 2013. Full release is september 2014.
It is actually not more expensive to buy the beta, but you buy 2 copies of the game where 1 of them will have beta acces.
Alternately, you could pay $15-20 for the beta itself when it releases. That would about match the cost of going with the Beta Backer Tier in the Kickstarter, minus whatever special things (dragon whelp, mammoth, etc) that they would have included.
Basically, you get an unspecial copy of Beta for about the same price, maybe a little more than we got it for after you do the math.
as @Miturion and @ManOfRet have stated, beta access is available in Dec… if you didnt pledge for that level, the only alternative you have is to purchase that access via the SH store, and perhaps sell your existing purchase to a friend? 
I was just listening to the latest stream on twitch and it occurred to me that at some point I think I heard Tom say that though beta was in December there would be an initial release in September??
Or is it just my wanting the game ASAP that made me mishear or was he talking about the 2014 release?
Thanks 
Actually the release is planned for September 2014. December is related to this year, 2013. You can see the dates confirmed e.g. on the following page:
Aye I’m afraid it is!
When Tom said September he was referring to the full release which is September 2014.
The ‘initial release’ is what we’ll receive in December 