Sierra Nevada... Who's better?

Have to give a shout out to Great Lakes Brewing and their diverse line-up of beers produced at a high quality level.

 

Relatively new to the craft world, but I have to say SN's offerings are ones I wouldn't hesitate to use to introduce to my friends/neighbors who are loyal disciples to Busch Lite (god help rural Iowans).

Tried Narwhal for the first time, and man is that a great stout. Ended up buying a 2nd 4 pack so the wife and I could have them around for awhile. SN's pale ale is still my favorite to date, and I REALLY enjoyed the Northern Hemisphere. Their regular stout is solid, especially for the price. Need to try the porter, but I think I ruined most porters by trying Founders first...still my go to, easy to get, good priced, delicious beer.

I did pick up a bottle of the SN Estate last night...looking forward to opening 'er up this weekend.

 

If I was to equate this in military terms of range (availability) and depth (lineup) SN beers probably beats anyone else. I enjoy their beers but the only one that really stands out on top for me is Northern Hemisphere.

Here in bum fuck Indiana I cannot locally acquire Firestone, Lagunitas, Great Lakes, Odell, Oskar Blues, or even New Glarus. A lineup of Bell's or Founders would kick SNs ass in my opinion.

 

Sierra Nevada does a great job, I happen to think they are responsible for paving the road all these other breweries you all speak off ride on. With that said times have changed, and breweries that already had a blueprint set for them by SN have had a chance to surpass the quality of product SN puts out. Stone, Green Flash, Bells, Cigar City are all breweries i would pick any day over SN and can get on a regular basis where I live so unfortunately I've moved on, although bigfoot makes It's way to my belly every year.

 

I'll respectfully disagree. Tell me I can only drink beers from one brewery for the rest of my life and I'll choose SN over Green Flash and Cigar City hands down. Stone and Bells are a bit harder because they have a few beers I really love, but overall lineup I say has to go to SN.

 

They make great beer, especially love Torpedo, Celebration and Ruthless. The quality for value ratio is Impossible to beat- 12 packs for 11.99(that is what they run at some places in MN). I try and stretch my beer dollars as far as I can, and for a guy that favors hops, SN wins almost every time. I can get a 4pk of Furious for 9.99, but why when I can spend two more bucks and get a 12pk of beer that is almost as good. Their four packs are reasonable as well, Narwhal was 9.29 when I saw it the other day, Hoptimum was the same. Breweries likes Bells, Founders, which I love as well, tend to lose out when i consider the price- most sixers are 8.99-9.99. Again, I may prefer a beer like Reds Rye a bit more then Ruthless, but not enough so that Im going to pay for it. thats just me.

 

Where is Bells/Laguanitas similiar in price to SN? Lag. runs around 9.99-10.99 a six in MN, while Bells is 9.99 as well. SN is 6.99-7.99 essentially everywhere.

 

For value, style variety and superb distribution Sierra Nevada can't be beat. Are there breweries with better beers? Sure. Do they have the same influence in the craft market? Not a chance. Stone might eventually get there, but they have a ways to go.

 

Hahahaha, I wish!

 

In my opinion - Founder's is best and than Sierra Neveda and Dogfish Head about a tie

 

My favorite US breweries:

Lagunitas
Sierra Nevada
Goose Island (I'm biased living in Chicago. Their year-round beer can be underwhelming, but it was my first favorite craft brewery)
Founders
Bell's
3 Floyds
Dogfish Head

There's only 1 or 2 beers from the entire batch of these guys that I haven't liked.

I almost forgot New Glarus. *facepalm*

 

I think Lagunitas is up there with SN with the quality of their brews. So many gems!

I'd still put Founders atop of it all though!

 

Considering their price point and line up from top to bottom, I don't think any brewery is better. But are there better beersout there? Absolutely.

 

Sierra nevada is a very solid brewery but Firestone is head and shoulders above it.

Pale 31
Dba
Velvet merkin
Wooky jack
Porter
Union jack
Double jack
Double DBA

Then we get into world class beers
FW Ann. 10-16.
Porabola
Abacus- sucuba

 

Favorite U.S. breweries:

-Allagash
-Great Lakes
-Smuttynose
-Ipswich

Favorite world-wide brewery:

-Unibroue

La Fin Du Monde is a beautiful thing.

 

Well, I'm in South Florida and I can't get Founders, Coast, or Westbrook down here. I hear Founders is coming, but not yet. Total Wine does have Bell's & I love their beers but the don't carry all of their offerings and they are also usually significantly more expensive. Sometimes it's worth it but I end up buying SN more often, because they have it everywhere, including a lot of restaurants that I visit. I wouldn't call SN my favorite brewery, but they are up there because of the availability, price, and overall quality.

 

Short's then Founders, I love almost everything Shorts put out and Founders got me into the wonderful world of beer, I still remember the day I sat down with my first six pack of dirty bastard and slammed it like I was drinking Busch light... ahhh to be 21 again.

 

High quality whole cone hopped goodness and the best Fresh Hop + Wet Hop beers on the planet! Beer camp innovation turned commercialization...what a great incubator for new beers!

 

You don't have cigar city? I know founders, bells, Westbrook, and COAST aren't everywhere, I'm just saying there's 100 beers I would choose before I drink anything by SN. I see frat boys drinking SN pale ale at the fraggot events..

 

Oh yes, we have Cigar City and I drink that all the time. Might be my favorite brewery. But they don't have it at very many restaurants or bars around here, unless they cater to the craft beer crowd. Sierra Nevada is just about everywhere, so because of availability (vs. BMC beers) and price, I end up drinking it fairly often. Just because frat boys drink SNPA, doesn't mean it's not a good beer.