Sierra Nevada... Who's better?

We all have our own taste, mine basically tell me Green Flash and Cigar City smash SN, thats just me I guess. Nonetheless I still pick up some SN everyonce in while, when the statex above are not available.

 

At one point they were my favorite brewery and would make up the majority of my beer consumption with 25+ cases a year in purchases. But the more they chase the beer geeks with belgian styles, bbl aging, waxed dipped bottles, collaborations, and expensive formats, etc. the less I become interested in supporting them. The jump the shark moment for me was their first collaboration with DFH, but the real turning point for me was when they thumbed their nose at their core consumers when they decided to ditch their reasonably priced anniversary beer in favor of geek approved styles in high priced bottle formats. Killing off Glissade and replacing it with yet another malt forward ipa was pretty much my breaking point. But I still buy SN - for the Summerfest (I think they make awesome lagers, wish they made one on the regular), Bigfoot, Beer Camp, and Celebration, and Torpedo is an acceptable alternative if no other fresh ipa's that I like better are available - just that my volume of purchases have greatly decreased.

 

What? I thought you were going to send us all Sierra Nevada to prove YOUR case.

 

In the boston area Lag goes for $10-11 /six and SN $9-10 /six.

 

There was a time not too long ago when SN made the same old beers that were good but not exciting ( kinda like Anchor Steam today) but they got smart and started to add some new beers to the lineup that hit the marks such as Torpedo, Kellerweis, Tumbler and were also one of the first to use Down Under hops in NA and also estate grown hops. This turnaround puts them in my list of best larger craft brewers along with Deschutes, Widmer and Sam Adams.

 

I agree with the OP. Sierra Nevada is outstanding. I would put Founders, Bells, and Lagunitas in the comparable list, but not quite the same overall quality.

 

how incredibly ignorant!

 

This is like asking who's better Jordan or Magic? Bob gibson or Sandy Koufax? Babe Ruth or Barry Bonds? My first child or my third? It's a moot point. There are 2500 breweries in the US. Probably 200-300 of them could be in the running for the 'best'. This is a question that cannot be answered. Carry on.

 

Where I buy my beer in Florida, SNPA is $6.99 per 6-pack, $7.99 for seasonals such as Celebration. At the same retailer, Lagunitas is $7.99 for most types, $8.99 for Lil' Sumpin' Sumpin' Ale, one of my faves. So SN & Lagunitas are similarly priced. Bell's on the other hand, is between $9.99-11.99 per 6-pack, depending on what you get.

 

They make awesome stuff, priced very right, consistent, and readily available. Whats not to love?

 

Some of you people do not seem to understand the OPs point. First of all their is only one brewery you could use to compare to SN and that BBA(Sam Adams). Saying Three Floyds is strait up dumb, they may make better beer in some peoples opinion but on a much smaller, and obviously less consistant scale. Even stuff like Founders, Bells and Stone just does not reach the area that SN does... I can walk into basically any bar, gas station, target, grocery store and house (ya I said it) and find some sort of SN.

They are in no way my favorite. I much prefer my local NG, CW, Ale Asylum and others to their beer but for price, quality and distribution they have no equal....

 

def a quality operation, but you dont give us too many criteria to go on.

But if you said who makes a better fresh hopped winter seasonal that is good for celebration. then you are prob right

 

Whenever I form an opinion on whether or not I like a certain beer, cost is a factor in creating that opinion. For anyone who does this Sierra Nevada is 2nd to none. Lets take a look at a few of their beers in particular graded on price point:

Kellerweis Hefeweizen: there simply isn't another US brewed Hefeweizen that is as widely available. There are only 2 US brewed Hefe's that MOST people will tell you are better than it (Live Oak & Dancing Man) and 90% of the country doesn't get either of these. Kellerweis is the best price point of any Hefeweizen, I get it for $7.24 a six pack and its available almost anywhere for $7.99. All of the German imported Hefe's are $9.99 at the least.

Torpedo IPA: This isn't my favorite IPA, however this is my favorite IPA that cost $7.24. I like Two Hearted better than Torpedo but I buy more Torpedo than Two Hearted because it's a better price point. I would rather pay $28 for a case of Torpedo than $38 for a case of Two Hearted and its not even close. Goose Island IPA is a similar price point but isn't quite as good.

Celebration Ale: Simply the best beer ANYWHERE for $13.99 a 12 pack (I've heard of some of you getting it even cheaper). Simply the best value in craft beer.

Bigfoot Barleywine: This is probably the most widely available Barleywine and has the most reviews on BA of the style. There aren't too many Barleywines rated higher than it on here and it his a better price point than any of them. I get it for $10.99 a six pack while most others are that much or more for a four pack. Best value in Barleywine. The grocery store by my house prior to last year sold it for the same price as all of the other SN 6 packs, I was in heaven.

Pale Ale: Most will disagree with me but I don't think this is the best price point in the style. For about the same price $6.99 a sixer I like Drifter pale ale better. That said, this is 2nd.

Summary: Sierra Nevada is the best price point in craft beer.

 

"Any brewery out there have their game on the same level as Sierra Nevada?"

I agree that the consistent quality production of Sierra Nevada beers can't be beat; Founders, Stone, Lagunitas, and Brooklyn also put out a great variety, but as a hop-head I love that SN is always available year round.

 

When price comes into factor SN isn't a bad choice. It's kind of a easy to get daily drinker.

 

Can we still call SN a craft brewery? They got to be pushing least 6 million barrels a year minimum. Although, that doesn't change the fact that I do enjoy what they make but there some other breweries I like more than SN. The first that come to mind are, Deschutes, Rogue, Victory and Stone.

 

A fact is that Sierra Nevada is around 800,000 bbl a year, +/-. Once they build the Asheville brewery and get it on line at full production, the combined capacity will be 1.5 million a year +/-.

 

Sierra Nevada is a great grocery store beer. That's about all.

 

I love Sierra Neveada, but for me nothing beats Founder's in the quality/availability ratio.

 

Narwhal and Celebration are not typical grocery store fodder in my opinion.