I think it's important to know that alcoholics are not drinking AT you, they are just drinking. It is personal to you. It is ruining your family life and he is ignoring you and your children. It's devastating and painful for you and it will be for a while.
The point is though, this is not personal to you. The moment you threw his beer, you became the enemy. It seems so counterintuitive. You all vs drinking, the choice is obvious right? Well it's obvious, generally, to a non-alcoholic, to a person who is an addict, as you have seen, that choice is not so obvious.
Kind of like a, do I stay here and put up with all this aggravation about my drinking and all this responsibility (that prohibits me from drinking freely) or do I just go somewhere else. As you mentioned his family supports his drinking, to him this probably seems like a good choice right now.
He is not running away from you per-se he is running to a place where he can drink "happily".
Sometimes, after a while, an alcoholic can have some clarity and realize what they have done and try to back track. Please keep your defenses up as you get through this grief. These "returns" are usually temporary until the alcohol starts calling again.
It's tempting to go back to someone to ease your pain. Kind of like alcohol can ease his mind, temporarily, having him come back could ease your pain temporarily, but at what cost?
Active alcoholics make terrible partners and poor parents. Give yourself time to get back on your feet again. I would really recommend that you make a list of all the terrible things he has said and done over the years and keep it handy to refer to often. It's so easy to only focus on the good. It sounds like a painful thing to do but honestly, making that list and referring to it might just make you feel better. You can look at it and think, ok THAT is why we are where we are and that is why I am doing this (steering clear of him).