Sierra Nevada Sampler Pack

My advice to SN and others (not that they are listening) is stick a dark beer in the variety packs for goodness sake. It says VARIETY on the side of the box! A few weeks back I picked up a Deschutes variety pack which included 2 IPAs, 1 Pale and 1 Porter. I hadn't had the IPAs and the Pale for some time and they and the Porter were all enjoyed greatly.

 

That's about all I think when a see all the variety hops packs.

But I also can't wrap my head around how seasonal .mixed packs (that actually catered to the "beer vibe" of the relevant season) were a commercial dud. But that's what all the major craft brands seem to have concluded.

I guess I just can't wrap.my head around the idea that people that want a variety of beer styles aren't a viable market for mixed packs, but people who want a variety of ipas are?

 

Can't help but wonder if the seasonal mix packs started losing their appeal at the same time breweries started releasing their spring packs in December, summer packs in March, fall packs in July, and winter packs in September.

 

I saw the same pack in the store last week and could have sworn it had a Dec 2020 packaged date but maybe I was mistaken. Obviously, the same mix packs in your store might be older anyway.

 

Thanks, I'll check next time. I thought 40th Anniversary Ale was a one-time, winter 2020 seasonal. If they did indeed brew another batch in December 2020, I would buy it for sure.

 

At my local store they're still selling the Pale Ale/Hop Bullet/Torpedo/40th Anniversary Ale pack.

 

That would be interesting to see the stats on that.

 

I rarely drink SN beers surprisingly, not that I don’t like them, there’s just a few other breweries I really prefer. But a mixed pack on SNPA and Torpedo is kinda Eh... why. It’s equal to SA packs featuring SA Lager and 76, why? It’s just not an attractive buy.

 

for me variety packs were a bigger deal before more bottle shops started selling singles. It gave me the chance to try a beer i hadnt had without committing to a 6 pack and that was the draw of the bomber format depsite the price differential. Now that i can walk in a bottle shop and there is a large fridge dedicated to singles the whole concept seems moot

 

The last club store pack I saw was 6 cans of Big Little, 6 of Wild Little, and 12 of Hazy Little, packaged at the end of December. Easy pass for me.

 

That's a good point. Another reason for me variety packs were a bigger deal when they had more, you know, variety. Now it seems so many of them are so IPA forward that there isn't much variety to them at all. It's like everywhere I go all I see are "Hoppy Pack"s.

 

Just saw that yesterday in my local grocery store. Hard pass.

Granted I trust SN's ability to package their beers for extended shelf-life more than other breweries, but I'm not interested in 6-month old hoppy beers whatsoever.

 

It's not a variety, if it's all IPAs. Why not add Porter, Stout or even Kellerweis to the mix? Especially since just about everything else they make is some sort of an IPA.

 

Back in my day, these mixpacks had more than just those damn IPAs that the kids are drinking....jk

But i do prefer a mixpack with a variatey styles in it as thats the reason i'm looking to purchase a mixpack is to try a variety. And session IPA, IPA, pale ale and double IPA does not count as a variety of styles.