Sierra Nevada Fall (2018) Mix Pack

"I dont know anyone on here that actually enjoys Sierra Nevada. A lager pack would fail. "

Jesus christ.

 

Do you not like unadulterated brown ales? Do you need your brown ale to have peanut butter, coffee or vanilla for it to work for you? I haven't had Tumbler since it was last in 6 packs but I remember it being a solid straight up brown ale (on the hoppy side)

 

This year's fall pack looks delightful. I've never had Ruthless Rye and haven't had the others in years.

 

I find Tumbler to be smooth tasty and I don't notice much for hops. I like old school brown ales, I also like peanut butter beers in limited Qty.

 

I love proper brown ales, no adjuncts needed for me. I think adding anything to a brown ale is wrong. Again Tumbler for me was a long time ago, I don't remember when they had it last in 6 packs but I thought it was a nice brown ale. This week I have been drinking some Smuttynose Old Brown Dog from a variety pack and it's very nice too. Old standby breweries like Sierra Nevada have no problems making a proper brown ale.

 

Good question, I would have to do a head to head to see which ones are best, and i am not going to do that. There are plenty of good ones out there. South Shore is good if it's fresh.

 

Bud Light does have a few marketing dollars behind it.

Research Data we have received says that local is not a big selling point. Value, consistency and loyalty outweigh local at purchase. I was surprised when I saw this too.

I would say Torpedo is maltier than most West Coast IPAs.

 

Terence, how are you interpreting this research data in the context of folks purchasing beer from their small, local breweries? Is this research data stating that people are purchasing beer from their small, local breweries because of the other attributes (e.g., value, etc.) vs. the aspect that they are local?

Also, was the attribute of beer freshness a 'question' of this research data?

Cheers!

 

I completely agree, it is like the WC version of Victory Hop Devil. I enjoy Torpedo when in the mood but when I am not it doesn't hit the spot, as the flavors can clash a little bit to me...I have never been a huge fan of Torpedo and would choose the Tropical if faced with that decision.

I did end up picking up this pack and the Vienna is as delicious as always and Ruthless is great. Will be drinking Tumbler very soon and I have some Oktoberfest chilling in the fridge also.

 

Data is from on-line surveys that ask the consumer to rank the likelihood of their purchase based off of several criteria. Those might include, it's local, price, quality, familiar with the brewery, etc. I always thought local was a top factor but it's usually lower in the rankings than I suspected.

 

I asked in my above post: "Also, was the attribute of beer freshness a 'question' of this research data?"

So, was the attribute of beer freshness asked in the on-line survey you conducted?

The 'challenge' of any survey/poll is that how the survey/poll is constructed and presented to the folks being surveyed can significantly influence the results.

Cheers!

 

I'm interested in this question as well. Fresh and local seem to be somewhat synonymous to BA's, but not sure that freshness is an attribute that the general public values in beer.

My craft beer friends (that I wouldn't call BA's necessarily) seem to not care much about freshness, but do support local out of a sense of community.

 

Yes, I am also very interested in this topic as well.

I can report anecdotally that for me and my circle of beer drinking friends that beer freshness is very important and to large measure is why we enjoy (prefer) to drink beer from local breweries - we are assured of freshness. Whether the larger beer drinking community shares the desire for drinking fresh beer is something I would be interested in learning.

Cheers!

P.S. I would think that for some (most?) of the general beer drinking community there must be some level of concern for beer freshness or otherwise AB would not have made a point about putting "born on" dates for beers like Budweiser in the recent past.

 

Thanks for the info.

This might simply mean that the fact a beer is local isn’t the reason for a purchase, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that those people aren’t purchasing the majority of their beers from local breweries for other reasons.

Right?

 

^ correct.

I'll get more details on the surveys this week. I don't know the exact details, but I do know they question "craft enthusiast," whatever that means . Stay tuned.

 

Looking at your comments above I'd guess that part of what that pattern of results may mean is that while local may be important it doesn't take priority over quality and freshness. That certainly describes the buying habits of several folks I know.

 

I do get these SN monthly surveys.
I don't remember the most recent one exactly but I imagine I'm not the average consumer - I probably buy craft lagers and other styles much more than IPAs these days. I also get asked about packaging - I prefer the old packaging but SN's trend is getting more generic. I really like variety packs - as long as I like the beers in them - lately SN has been making good choices (at least the summer and fall packs). I hope we get a good one for winter too, last year's was a pass for me.

Another consumer metric about breweries that I'm sure won't make a survey is political appearances - I did like Sam Adams but after Jim Koch's performance recently I have more money for SN. I understand big breweries are pro business but the company you keep is important to some consumers.

 

Picked up the Fall pack today @ 14.99 from a nearby Jewel-Osco courtesy of the SN beer locator. Between this pack, reloads on the (delicious imo) Oktoberfest and the upcoming single hop pack, gonna be a lot of SN in the fridge in the coming weeks.

 

Totally agree on this. I was never much into Torpedo-- the hops always seemed very muted to me. However, the one I had from the pack yesterday was wonderful. Don't know if the extra freshness makes the difference (usually less an issue with Sierra, or if it's something about Mills River (which I assume this was from since I'm on the east coast), or what.

Not to derail the thread, but Hop Hunter was mentioned above... not sure why they don't throw this into a pack-- it's a great beer, and with the popularity of IPAs... I'd buy a six-pack of Hop Hunter, but I can never find it less than four months old.