Sierra Nevada 2020 Oktoberfest

Aw c'mon, no Vienna?

I think you could kick Flipside to the curb and add Vienna.

There's enough IPAs out there.

 

Tumbler was a subtle great beer. Beer camp case that I bought was a massive disappointment. And now it seems like hazy malt liquor is the thing....

 

I have 2 Fall Pack 12-pack boxes I use for storage, guess which beer isn't on the label?

Nope. Oktoberfest. :-/

*Stop the presses -- just found another vintage; Okto in place of, yes, Flipside. :-)

 

I remember when I got my first mix pack by them and the Vienna lager sat in the back of my fridge. Mainly due to my lack of knowledge of the beer style and not knowing what to expect. When I finally decided to crack that one open, I was pleasantly surprised by SN’s take on it and how great it was! Definitely a style I’d seek out in a cool fall day. Just might have to brew my first one soon.

 

I would be more impressed with SN if they started doing 15 packs like Founders does and at a reasonable price point.

The reason I thought of the above statement is that Founders is doing 15 packs of their Oktoberfest this Fall.

 

I would say these are great for tail gating...but who knows if that's happening.

 

Subtle? Compared with what, Celebration? Dragon's Milk?

From my 2010 review (can't imagine the recipe changed that much):

Sure, it wasn't in-your-face, but it was a pretty complex beer.

 

You think? Malt complexity (and conventional yeast complexity), to me, is pretty subtle compared to these ridiculous new hoppy beers or barrel aged brett ales or bourbon barrel stouts. It was a winner for sure.

 

Right, as I said it's not in-your-face like those or the ones I mentioned, but it's also not as (what I'd call) subtle like a Kölsch or a Helles like Weihenstephaner's. It's right where it should be for an American Brown Ale.

BTW, what is conventional yeast complexity?

Well, at least we can agree on that.

 

According to the release date on SN’s website, we should be seeing this soon?

 

The Oktoberfest beers that I saw last year had early-mid July bottle dates. Maybe this years batch is still on the truck but soon to be delivered to my non-airconditioned Retail Beer Distributor?

Cheers!

 

@SierraTerence any insight?

 

I agree. That 2018 release was great and took a lot of my money. I think I only bought 2-3 6 packs of the 2019 release before giving up on it.

 

@beeragent & @steveh & @JackHorzempa

The jedi you received your message from on FB, was spot on (They has a few good resources )... Looks like the website needs another refresh that you guys pointed out. Thanks for all the help with keeping us honest!

Oktoberfest: Ships 8/3 (takes a week or two to fill the pipeline)
Celebration: Ships 10/19

The Oktoberfest later ship dates this year, was the result of Ken's comments that Summerfest should be available in the summer (genius).

 

Well, I personally think that Ken is "genius" right here!

But, why did it take until 2020 to arrive to this conclusion!?!

Cheers!

 

Sometime dates get changed to meet retails needs for publications and set change overs with large retail accounts. Not everything is easy when scheduling beer releases.

 

Terence I understand that there are 'business pressures' in play here. As an end customer I just hated that by the time I want to drink an Oktoberfest style beer (i.e., September - October) those beers which have been packaged in early/mid July have been 'baking' in 80+ degrees F at my local Retail Beer Distributors (which are not airconditioned) for well over a month.

I am a BIG fan of your release dates for this year's version of Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest. I will need to schedule a trip down to my neighboring state of Delaware to pick up a 12-pack of this beer. Will this beer be packaged in 12-packs?

Cheers!

 

I’m thinking “conventional yeast complexity” as in the differences between various strains of non Belgian, non Hefeweizen, non exotic strains. Yeast that is a subtle spice to beer, not the defining character, I would characterize as conventional. Wyeast currently offer 12-20 British strains, but I’m not sure I could tell them apart in blind tasting. How different can Thames valley one be from Thames valley two? Lol. I did substitute a kolsch yeast for German ale yeast this year in a biere de garde and could discern the difference readily. Still good but not what I would have preferred. Had that been an unconventional yeast like french saison it would have been pronounced. Not sure if that answers the question - was there a question?
I do know that $10.97 for Sierra Nevada 12ers at Albertsons yesterday was dope!! Cheers for the boys in Chico!

 

Is your hop pack moving more than the old seasonal packs? My mind can't wrap around that being the case due to personal tastes, but I'm curious. Especially curious to know if the hop packs did better than the seasonals during Fall-Winter?