Yeah and the brands are a bunch of numbers. In the past, it USED to show you brands. Progress. Ya gotta love it.
Not sure what you're seeing in your area, but when I use the beer finder at the SN website it shows me 8 pages of local retailers and which labels they have in stock (pictures, not numbers). But yeah, some of the smaller stores and taverns have the "call for availability" tag. Probably means they don't have any in stock at this time. Also, the link I added above doesn't jive with the SN site on Celebration availability near me, and that link has been historically more accurate, so I'd use it first.
I thought you were talking about the SN finder on their site. I don't know what the numbers are, bad info from the retailer? I see links like the one Liquor Shed shows you.* *Oh yeah, but I see those links dead-end, too. When I search for one label, like Celebration, I get better results. Tells me only one place locally has Celebration at this time.
UPCs. Not as nice as names but any results on a particular beer search will have had that beer delivered. Can always google the UPC if needed I suppose. Although not as customer friendly, agreed.
All the more reason to develop relationships and sign up for emailing lists with your local independent bottle shops.
I can't believe a Google search of random numbers actually works. I thought sure I'd find some toothbrush or windshield wiper blade. It looks like 00083783228229 is the SN UPC for all of their seasonal six-packs, including Celebration.
Thanks for posting this link. I've been waiting for this Pils to show up in one of my favorite beer stores, but no luck. So I used the finder to discover that the grocery stores around me (specifically Meijer stores) are where I need to look. Maybe this is the situation elsewhere if anyone else is still looking at their beer stores. Here's a link to my post in the SN Pils thread: https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/sierra-nevada-pils.680449/page-10
Yeah this isn't a big deal to me because I know the finder is still filtering to the particular beer I've searched for in the results regardless of whether the name or UPC is displayed and I'm never really searching for the "Any Brand" option with Sierra since the results will be filled with places that only carry Pale, Hazy Little Thing, and/or Trail Pass. Despite the slight UPC annoyance, this is still far superior to other breweries' finders which don't give you the option to filter by beer at all.
Their beer finder showed three stores close to me with Celebration in stock (also showed each store as carrying 10 or more skus) One didn’t have a single Sierra Nevada beer, the others only had pale ale. Not very accurate…
The finder on their website, or the finder link at the beginning of this thread? (it sounds like the former) They aren't equal for me, and I find the former mainly worthless (unfortunately).