Sierra Nevada 2020 Oktoberfest

Here's a pretty generic (w/o even the vintage year*) SN Oktoberfest label that just got its TTB COLA mid-April:


* IIRC, new updated rules allow some changes to a label without requiring a new COLA, changing/adding the year is one of them.

 

And I would have been disappointed if they'd picked that recipe out of all the other collabs -- probably my least favorite.

 

Is it a full bottle? I’d be curious how it tastes now.

You should pick some up once you see it, it’s solid as always!

Good time to pick up the Pale Ale too, because it’s fresh due to the retro logo. Snagged a 12 pack bottled 3/31.

I love me some Sierra Nevada (see above, Pale Ale and Summerfest in the fridge right now), but Tropical Torpedo was not to my liking.

 

Batting .996 is still pretty good!

 

There are other Sierra Nevada beers that I am not a fan of but...

Sierra Nevada is indeed a quality brewery. I just wish their beers at my local beer retailers were not old.

Cheers!

 

It is. I've been waiting for the right time to taste it.

You should know me better than that, you know that's my go-to at this time of year.

Just finished the last bottle of a 12-pack I picked up a couple weeks ago (don't recall the bottling date), was drinking quite good. Though I'm not sure the special labeling has anything to do with freshness.

 

Well they just recently did the retro logo, so those beers are fresher than the ones with the "old" logo I think.

Could be wrong, but the bottling date when I purchased my 12 pack was fresher than I recall seeing with Pale Ale in awhile.

 

I knew what you were saying, just pokin' fun at your wording.

 

Difference of 8 in bitterness units between 2020 and 2019:


Stats
Nutrition

6.0% Alcohol by Volume
28 Bitterness Units
13.9° Original Gravity
2.8° Finishing Gravity

190 Calories
15.4g Carbohydrates
2.0g Proteins


https://sierranevada.com/beer/oktoberfest/


The Details

It’s the ultimate season of revelry, so we teamed up with Germany’s Bitburger Brewery for an Oktoberfest that turns backyards into beer gardens. Rally your friends and celebrate with a festbier whose rich amber color and smooth malty flavor bring the Munich tents to you. We brewed Oktoberfest with Bitburger’s custom yeast and secret hop blend called Siegelhopfen, meaning “Sealed Hops”—two house ingredients never shared outside their walls until now.

Stats
Nutrition

6.0% Alcohol by Volume
20 Bitterness Units
13.9° Original Gravity
2.8° Finishing Gravity



https://web.archive.org/web/20191123001821/https://sierranevada.com/beer/oktoberfest/

 

I like the uptick in IBUs, closing in on Pils territory.

 

SN packaged this same beer several years ago in a fall sampler mix pack. I remember liking it, but didn't review back then. Can't wait to see this one around.

 

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/140/13509/

According to this, it was 5.8% ABV, while this year's will be 6.0% ABV.

I think this one is a brand new beer based off what they learned in the past five years during their collaborations, but I could be wrong.

@SierraTerence

 

I’m supposing this is a pale Fest, last years collar was ok, but I generally steer clear of the Marzens, oh I might buy a single Ayinger though.

 

From Sierra Terrence over in the Triple Hopped thread back in June:
"Light Amber Marzen

Oktoberfest:

• ABV: 6.0%
• Beginning Gravity: 13.9° Plato
• Ending Gravity: 2.8° Plato
• IBU: 28
• Color: Light Amber
• Bittering Hops: Spalt Spalter
• Finishing Hops: Spalt Spalter, Spalter Select
• Malts: Pilsner, Two-row Pale, Vienna, Munich
• Yeast: Lager"

 

I’m looking forward to it and other Fest biers

 

I had to do some digging. The beer that was unique to the 2014 Fall Pack is described here:

• Pale Ale, this quintessential West Coast Pale Ale is a classic (5.6%, 38 IBU)
• Oktoberfest, not surprisingly, Sierra Nevada’s take on the classic fest beer is excellent (6.2%, 35 IBU)
• Tumbler, this Brown Ale is smooth and perfect for an autumn afternoon (5.5%, 37 IBU)
• Vienna, a well-balanced and drinkable Vienna-style Lager (5.3%, 28 IBU)

Maybe the 5.8% version was a tap room only? Most of the reviews for the SN Oktoberfest are the wrong format or year to be correct, so I'm not sure what it is. Even the picture is for one of the collaboration beers.

At any rate, you are correct that this is a new offering. Still excited.

 

I was curious about this too, so I looked up the details of the 2014 on the Wayback Machine:

I also think you're correct about the 5.8% applying to the taproom version (as "Octoberfest"), and I imagine the description found here and Untappd that's different from the above applied to that one.

EDIT: Here's the 2013 draft description, which still used Pacifica like the packaged version a year later:

 

I cannot understand why SN doesn't do a Fall variety pack like this. Would it really undersell the IPA-only variety packs??? That seems impossible, but I assume their marketing folks believe the answer is yes.

Side note, but IMO SN's fall and winter variety packs were always the best. Vienna, Tumbler, Flipside, Coffee Stout...all amazing beers. Even Hoppy Wheat was a delicious surprise. I'm surely forgetting a few others.

@SierraTerence

 

And they are the folks deciding things now IMO.

Cheers!