Sierra Nevada 2020 Oktoberfest

With them releasing brews earlier every year we will probably find out next week when all the pumpkin beers and Oktoberfest's are going to be out.

 

And if you look at that link, you'll see that the beer was added to BA in 2003.

 

Wasn't it a brewery-only offering for quite a while? Brewed for their Okto celebration?

 

I believe I was buying it by 2011 at least in stores out here. I'm not positive but I moved away from ca in 2011 and have the distinct recollection of it being my first festbier experience

 

We went to the Chico Oktoberfest one year, before the collaborations. They had a variety of German styles. I remember the Vienna and the Oktoberfest being my go to beers. It was a fun event.

Edit looked at my pictures. It was 2013. I was thinking they had a Pilsner, and the pale beer in the photo says yes.

 

My recollection is that there was at least a couple years of SN brewed Oktoberfest beers before the collaboration started. I'm referencing beers that would be distributed to bars or retail out of California, not just brewery only releases.

My recollection is that the SN Oktoberfest before the collabs was a hopped-up Samuel Adams Oktoberfest clone-ish brew. Heavy on the Crystal Malt and domestic 2 row and much more hoppy than the recent versions have been.

 

That's awesome you discovered Gourmet Brewing. I know Doug personally and have judged beer with him, he's an awesome guy

 

He was at the Providence HomebrewCon. Met him there through mutual friends.

 

No idea - I bet that 2014 was the first time I had it. I wouldn't be surprised if it was brewery-only at the start, but perhaps it was also distributed at one point in keg only.

My big question is if the 2020 recipe is a revival, if it was modeled after a previous release, or if it's a brand new recipe.

 

It may have been one of the California-local beers they brewed. I first reviewed it in 2014, from that variety pack, and I'm sure I'd have reviewed it before that if it had been available in the Midwest.

 

Yup, well aware there was none this year. Because I couldn't get the Vienna.

Although I seem to remember Costco still haven't a mix pack, maybe I'm making this up?

 

Those collabfests were great, especially 2018!
I wasn't a huge fan of their 2014 version, but I'd be excited to try their 2020 take if they went solo again.

 

My local Costco does not have a license to sell beer so I can't provide personal input here.

Cheers!

 

They did, it was Vienna, Oktoberfest, pale ale, and maybe flipside? 6 of each. I think I made it through 3 cases

 

So, that mix-pack was a case (24 bottles) vs. the old format of 12-packs?

Cheers!

 

Yes. It was pretty great

If memory serves it was under 30$ out the door, which is a great deal considering that snpa 12 packs are usually around 18$ otd around here, and I know you aren't getting prices even that good

 

I do when I travel to my neighboring state of Delaware: 15 bucks there!

As regards my local beer retailers, a 12-pack is $21+. Fairly simple solution for me: I refuse to buy Sierra Nevada beers there.

Cheers!

 

You are correct and it was PA, Flipside, Oktoberfest and Vienna:

https://i.imgur.com/HUhDrTs.jpg

I tried to get a hold of this pack last year and had asked a few distributors in PA about it, most didn't hear about it and/or said that they could not order it.

 

Probably because this mix-pack was 'dedicated' for Costco? My local Costco doesn't have a beer retail license. Do you know of any that do in PA?

Cheers!

 

Yeah I figured that would be the case going into it but I thought that it was worth a shot, as the product is in a system somewhere and if it shows up in said system maybe I too can get a hold of it.

I am not aware of any either but I think that we may see it one day.