RIP Summerfest

Yeah, this was assumed last year. But a session haze? Fuck.

Curious about Wanderland and now Dankful is year round.

Way too much haze in their portfolio now though. Looks like I will continue to drink less SN.

Edit: and what is the difference between Fantastic Haze and a Big Little Thing IPA? Jeez.

 

Well, Merry Christmas to you too.

 

Jesus.

Booooooo

 

Yeah, the elimination of Summerfest is not too surprising since there were a number of discussions on various BA threads that Summerfest did not sell well in 2020.

It has been replaced by an IPA. Again, not much of a surprise here since the Sierra Nevada portfolio has become more and more hoppy/IPA centric over the past couple of years.

A case of?

 

bah humbug

 

Man, I hate to hear that. I saw a number of discussions here that it might not reach distro in 2021 due to poor sales in 2020. but I hoped there'd be a last minute reprieve. I've really enjoyed that beer each summer over the years - just a really flavorful, crisp pilsner that worked really well on hot summer days.

I will refrain from comment about its replacement.

 

Not surprised and not happy. Oh well, life goes on.

 

Let's 'unpack' that a bit.

In my area (Philly area) German style Pale Lagers (e.g., Helles, Pilsner) have been produced by local breweries for well over two decades (e.g., Stoudts, Sly Fox, Victory, Troegs...) and over the past few years by new small/local breweries (e.g., Root Down, Sterling Pig, Mainstay, Neshaminy Creek, Workhorse,...). So, in other words lots of competition for the Pilsner category. Maybe the sales of Summerfest was diminished in 2020 due to all of this competition?

Are other areas of the country also experiencing more brands of beers like Pilsners from small/local breweries? If so, maybe craft beer drinkers are choosing to purchase their Pilsners from small/local breweries vs. the BIG brewery of Sierra Nevada?

Needless to say that Sierra Nevada needs to make a business decision as to whether a certain brand, Summerfest in this instance, is still a worthwhile brand to produce. It would seem that they think a Session Hazy IPA will sell more units for them vs. Summerfest?

I have asked this question before but I will ask it again: how many damn brands of IPA do we need on retailers shelves? Does Sierra Nevada need to have so many hoppy/IPA beer brands to be profitable?

Cheers!

 

FWIW -- I got it from good sources that Summerfest sales has been down 5 years in a row. SN found it hard not to focus on what was selling, no matter what may look like trends.

 

If Celebration sales ever trend down and are removed from their seasonal rotation, I will never drink Sierra Nevada again. I will launch my own brewery and brew nothing but Celebration. I will go bankrupt doing it, but it’s the right thing to do.

 

Summer fest and celebration are the only two beers i ever bought from Sierra Nevada. That’s disappointing.

 

Well in the summer if I could get fresh kellerweis I could survive this.

 

That just really sucks. Each passing year seems to see my purchases of SN decline, not because I don't want their products but they kill off the products I reliably purchased from them.

 

Screen name (kinda?) checks out.

I think that @JackHorzempa raises some good points. Economies of scale work in both ways, its easier for a smaller brewery to brew a 5 barrel batch of a beer that doesn't move quickly than it is for SN to brew 500 barrel batch. Essentially, their opportunity cost is higher per batch they brew and they are thus incentivized to look more closely at sales velocity.

But, it seems that this is just the circle of beer life. Sierra Nevada and the like arose because the market for many styles of ale wasn't large enough for the big brewers to bother with. If SN is now too large to bother with pilsner, or any other style, there will be myriad smaller brewers for whom that market is appealing and they will brew those beers

 

I thought Summerfest was a good lager for sure. Lots of other good pilsners/lagers I can find to replace it, but very few were as good at that price. Hopefully SN makes a few lagers during the year and stick them in a variety pack or something. Maybe its my imagination, but seems like the bigger brewers over the last couple years are trending towards less style variety in what they offer (all seem to be going IPA dominant), where locals/nanos seem to be expanding in style variety (at least in 2020/very near term). Anyone else seeing this or I'm not getting a good read on whats going on (or maybe its just localize)?

 

All this bad blood toward SN -- I feel like the whippersnappers are taking over.

I'll try anything from them once because their brewing rep is stellar. Yeah, I'm disappointed about Summerfest, but hey -- it's on the consumers' shoulders too because it didn't sell. If they can't afford it, they have to adapt.

Pale Ale will always be a go-to for me, and like I said, I'll always try their new stuff. Not gonna jump ship that easily.

 

But the McRib is back! :-)

 

No, you are not imaging things.

Both Sierra Nevada and Stone are in competition to 'win' the new brewery name of IPA Brewing Co.

i wonder who will 'win' here?

As a long term consumer of Sierra Nevada, buying their beers for decades, I fell like I am the loser here with their lack of diversity of beer style choices.

Cheers!