Fall Beer Sightings (2019)

Yeah, I've been to the Sierra Nevada brewery in NC, I was asking about the "distillery" you mentioned and suggested it was connected to SN or just had their beers on tap?

 

Brain freeze on my part, I meant brewery, not distillery. Sorry for the confusion.

 

Should I take it a step further and change my avatar over it?

 

You can still find it in and around Chico, it is in the gift shop for sure. Not sure about North Carolina gift shop.

Still love the Glissade shout outs... We receive a lot more than the Early Spring Beer requests.

 

Thanks for the info. Next time you have a team meeting, put in a good word for me in regards to Glissade!

 

I knew I'd find this thread sooner or later! Usually August is when I start wanting Fall beers and then September it's full swing! An early seasonal favorite of mine is ST's Harvest...What a great ESB! I have a few while brewing my annual pumpkin ale in August. I haven't tried Great Lakes Oktoberfest so I'll be on the lookout for it this year!

 

You're just excited for the fall because Celebration comes out in October.

 

So why not bring it back, or make the Pale Bock the spring seasonal? It seems to me that there are a lot more lagers on the market now than when you brewed Glissade.

 

If I had a dollar for how many times I added original Pale Bock to the list of possible Spring seasonal options, I would be looking at early retirement. @BillManley

 

But the Sierra Nevada Marketing & Sales folks 'rule' here?

Cheers!

 

Today's arrival at Sto Bev.



The pic below is from late June, 2019 when one of the von Trapp brewery workers gave me a freshly canned sample.



Cheers!!!

 

Just rename it "hazy Bock" and use the og Glissade recipe. Boom!

 

By "sales & marketing rule" you mean to say "sound business decisions rule." There are volume expectations for a SN seasonal beer. The best selling helles bock on the planet, probably sells a fraction of a mediocre performing IPA. It's all about setting expectations. If a volume target is the goal, then at a certain point, you either need to lead with a "sure bet" or build a brand from a small enough base so that it earns a spot in that framework.

Full disclosure: @SierraTerence knows that I hate Pale Bock. I always have. It's headache juice. Especially the early versions. In later years it was better. BUT, as a brand guy, it's not about me and it never has been. It's about the market and what the (most) customers want. I loved Glissade when it came out. I was proud of that beer. In hindsight, I think the branding was not where it should have been, but that could be fixed. The bottom line is: it didn't perform well. If the beer does middling in the market distributors lose faith in it, and then sales loses faith in it, then it's dead-in-the-water. At that point, it's better to cut bait and try again with a different option that it is to try and resuscitate a beer on life support.

 

Bill, I recognize that you are no longer with Sierra Nevada but I am curious about the Sierra Nevada Kellerweis. Is this a popular selling beer? Is this beer still being produced because it sells 'well'?

The reason I am specifically asking about Kellerweis is that in the past I would see this beer on my local beer retailers' shelves but not so much anymore (akin to SN Porter & Stout).

Cheers!

@SierraTerence

 

@BillManley, thanks for your comments. Can you elaborate on what you now think the branding miscue was?

 

I don't mind Ocktoberfest in July. Frankly I'd rather that than the distributor holding it for awhile.

 

Yup, having these Oktoberfest beers 'bake' at my local Retail Beer Distributors is not a good thing.

Cheers!

 

Clearwater Total Wine just put Sam Adams Oktoberfest six packs out today.

 

From the IPA/APA's straight to the cellared BA stouts for me! Those other styles get peppered in year round.