RIP Summerfest

What? And have them remove it? No way, Jose.

 

Think of what it's doing to your insides!! Can't you hear the wailing and gnashing of teeth from the Freshness Fascists?! (yeah, gonna trademark that too)



In all seriousness, I have to wonder -- if these really are last year's leftovers -- how they've been storing the kegs. Big coolers at these joints? Since it's still drinking pretty good, I'd want the lowdown. I'm sure other customers must have approached them to mention, "Uh... you know SN isn't brewing that for wide distribution this year?"

 

Corky, the SN hazy beers (e.g., Hazy Little Things) have not made it to your area? It seems that I see the SN hazy beers more frequently than the beers you mentioned in my area. A situation of differing customer demands?

Cheers!

 

And are those hazies that you are seeing fresh?

 

Good question. The short answer is I do not know. The longer answer is I have zero interest in drinking a Sierra Nevada hazy beer. If I am in the mood for drinking a Juicy/Hazy IPA (which is infrequent) I do not want to 'waste' that limited drinking experience on a distributed hazy beer but instead drink a Tired Hands Juicy/Hazy beer (or some other locally produced Juicy/Hazy beer).

Cheers!

 

"If I am in the mood for drinking a Juicy/Hazy IPA (which is infrequent)"

I'm with you there all the way.

 

And needless to say but based upon what I see at my retailers (tap rooms and stores) we seem to be in the minority here.

I did recently purchase a four-pack of The Alchemist Focal Banger (those cans were just two days old) but from my perspective the beers from The Alchemist are not Juicy/Hazy beers; they are in between a WCIPA and a Juicy/Hazy IPA.

Cheers!

 

Overnight shipment from Vermont to Pennsylvania. Remarkable. Did you have inside information?

 

@Bitterbill & @JackHorzempa

Your comments made me think of the minor uproar this caused in the Bay Area circles... How can a mass produced Hazy win a competition?

https://brookstonbeerbulletin.com/bistro-ipa-festival-winners-2021/

 

My rating for HLT is rDev +4.5% so, I am actually a fan of it.

I forgot to mention my appreciation of your continued participation on BA. Thank you.

 

I try... I get busy at times and step away. So I apologize for that.

I connect with a lot of you people because I'm a beer guy, traditional beer brewer... I'm not always a fan of where beer is going and I like being the voice at Sierra that says, Wait, let's not forget where we came from.

 

Clout and a time machine apparently...impressive.

You get to drink Summerfest AND sit a a bar...two things I can’t currently do in MA.

 

Haha that probably drove some people crazy. Congrats on the win. Hopefully you guys can translate that win into a bit of commercial success

 

Didn't that used to be part of Ken Grossman's job?

 

Maybe Ken turned this responsibility over to the 'new sheriff in town' of Sierra Nevada CEO Jeff White?

Cheers!

 

Ugh, I was in a nearby convenience store and they have 2020 Summerfest in the fridge. Well at least it’s in the fridge. Anyone willing to road trip for year old lagers.... Mountaindale Convenience Store on Rt 15 about 5 miles south of Thurmont, MD. Have at it.

 

Below is from a Sierra Nevada FAQ:

“For most of our beers, including Pale Ale and the rest of our year-round and seasonal lineup, 150 days is our maximum recommended shelf life, assuming they've had optimal storage conditions (cool, dark, and dry).”

According to the Arrhenius Equation a decrease of 10 °C (18 °F) will slow down chemical reactions (e.g., beer staling) by a factor of 2-3 times. So, if that beer was promptly put into the refrigerator and continuously stored cold it still may be drinking quite nicely.

For folks who don’t want to do the math a Sierra Nevada beer that is continuously stored cold should be ‘good’ for somewhere between 300 – 450 days from packaging. Needless to say but a year old Summerfest if continuously stored cold is within that range.

Cheers!

@Bitterbill

 

I saw that a couple years ago; year old Summerfest on a shelf -- before that year's was even released. Funny thing is, the store had *just* opened a couple months earlier, so you know it was the distro cleaning out the warehouse.

I immediately contacted SN and they contacted the distro to remove it.

 

Thanks. I suspect that kegs are always stored cold, right?

 

Well... you'd like to hope so.

Once it's in your pub's hands I'd like to think the cooler is the only place they store kegs, but I wouldn't assume.