Sierra Nevada Changes, Rumors & News (2022)

Well, if a pallet of porter arrived near me I would buy a case of it, pay to ship it and there is no chance I’m doing the that. The last time I saw stout it moved pretty quick. Why not cut production and keep selling it? When you overproduce beer sits as it gets old. Shipping cases of bottles is crazy, why not at least can the porter? Why not ship the farm porter, it’s CA only? How many people are really going to pay $26 a 12 pack and another $20-30 shipping for SN anything let alone porter?

Enjoy

 

Maybe all the market powers are conspiring against the SN model, forcing them to become a local. Oh well, I'll continue to buy them.

 

This isn't the "fast food" of beer and SN was catering to a very specific demographic, including "grey beards". We all get how business works but I don't think that this model is going to be sustainable long-term. And yes I get it, the beer landscape is changing rapidly but part of this is from breweries doing it to themselves.

I'm not going to spend time and more money on that process when I can just grab a readily available competitor's instead.

 

Because the distributors are not willing to take on a bunch of their slow-selling brands. They can do some targeted local promotion where they have a reasonable market share, but that gets expensive nationwide. I would say that Sierra Nevada Pale Ale should sell at least as well as Corona (they are near the same price!). If they had that kind of market power, it would go a long way to solve the distribution problems with their specialty brews.

 

so the brewery loses respect because they need to make decisions that keep them afloat? I dunno. I live in California. Sierra Nevada rocks. Sounds like a bunch of old bitter people in here that want the everything at their fingertips at Walmart prices.

 

I just saw this pack at my local Costco tonight. It contained a six pack of: 1) Pale Ale; 2) Torpedo; 3) Sunny Little Thing; and 4) Summerfest.

I know club stores are likely a small, limited market, but it's interesting to me that they made enough Summerfest to include it in these packs, but not enough of it for a limited seasonal release.

 

What beer that you grew up loving from Sierra that was a staple for them can you no longer get if you want to pay for it?

 

So the company should eat costs for your convenience rather than pivot to the beer they are actually selling?

 

Well you and me both, but selling a single case doesn't make ends meet for a large national brewery. I bought porter and stout until the bitter end. And at the end, I noticed that I was the only one seeming to buy it as the display only seemed to change when I took a 6 pack out of it. I actually bought the last 6 packs of stout at one store (hilariously, I bought the last two and the cashier asked me "why not just buy a 12 pack?") and the last packs of porter at 2 different stores.

I miss the beers. I wish Sierra Nevada could find a way to justify making them widely available. But, despite the common assumption around here, breweries don't stop making beers that sell well. Those of us who bought the stout and porter were, unfortunately for us, in such a minority that it wasn't worth it for the brewery to continue to serve us. I'd recommend putting a bug in the ear of your favorite bar owner. I was enjoying the porter on tap at a local spot some months ago and the owner told me that he was being told that stout would also be periodically available in kegs and that he would definitely be getting some

 

????? where did I say they should eat costs? At this point I will say good day to you as your opinion is correct and quite current day.

Enjoy

 

Interesting that SN porter and stout did not sell but Bells and Founders do. I see Founders and Bells porter a lot and I am as happy if not more happy with Bells than I was with SN. Oh well. Beer goes on.

Enjoy

 

But, remember that they are both owned by large off-shore companies now, so they have that muscle. SN is still very a lone-wolf type brewery.

 

I think this gets more into regional market differences. In my experience, the great lakes/midwest are far more interested in these moderate abv dark styles (porter, brown ale, scotch ale) than other areas of the country. And bell's and founders and great lakes are the regional big boys there. Are fans of bells porter going to buy enough Sierra Nevada porter to support both brands (I'm gonna go ahead and trust that Sierra? Nevada has the data to suggest they didn't)

Trust me, I get your frustration. When they were available to me I probably took down 3-4 cases a year of porter and stout. But, like I said, it became increasingly apparent that other customers were not joining me in that purchasing. At least you've got access to bells and founders. It's pretty hard to find a porter in my market anymore period. Founders is available at some stores but no bell's, no more sn, the best local one was discontinued, the other local one is becoming more and more scarce.

 

Yes, but all three were making porter prior and Bells just changed hands. Their porter has been abundant for years as has Founders. Not sure when that transaction happened.

I get it and want to support SN but it’s hard. I won’t buy beer I don’t like. I did buy the mix hop pack and enjoyed the Dankful and Atomic, I really enjoy Torpedo but not so much PA. The Dankful around here not in packs is ancient, 9 months out or more. Bigfoot I found 1 six in 2020 and saw less than a case last year. I buy cases of Celebration, Bigfoot when it’s not as hard to find as the creature and Torpedo. I grab the mix packs but overall SN does not make many beers I want to buy anymore. Add that SN is not a cheaper alternative around here as it is elsewhere. Not on sale PA or Torpedo is close to $25 a 12 pack with tax. Besides Bigfoot I only buy when on sale.

Enjoy

 

I think we're straying from the central point of how great those Oktoberfest collabs were.

I love the German imports and have my go-to local favorite, but is there another widely-distributed Festbier from an American brewer that people look forward to?

 

To the best of my knowledge Boston Beer Company sells a lot of Sam Adams Octoberfest and that is a non-local thing.

Cheers!

 

If Sierra Nevada is making Porter and not distributing it, the main reason is that it is not cost effective. It’s black and white IMO

 

I have seen Sam's Okto in California but have never picked it up as I understand it's more of a malty, sweeter type of Okto.

I have seen Founder's Okto as well, but haven't tried that either.

 

Enough to keep their stock price going up?

 

You seem to have a real fascination with age but the irony here is that you get to enjoy SN now because of all of the "old bitter people" who have kept them afloat up until now. They clearly want to go in a different direction but in turn they are losing long-time customers and the ones coming up are far more fickle and less loyal so we'll see how that pans out.