RIP Summerfest

Another one thats been scratching that itch for me is Climax 100 (stupid ass name) from eel river. Its a "light ale" but its a nice lightly hoppy easy drinker.

 

I’m a recovering Pivo addict in search of next “go-to” Pilsner. How is that Seismic Alluvium, saw it at WF the other day, wanted to get it, but passed in favor of Almanac Pils

 

I really like it. Its not as bright as I remember pivo being but its very crisp and clean. I wish I could drink it more but it moves slow around here so I usually only get 2 or 3 six packs in before its like 5+ months old and I stop wanting to pay the premium

 

Back in 1992-93, I worked for a small brewery in Emeryville (small town between Berkeley and the Bay Bridge) called Golden Pacific Brewing Company. Get this, they mainly produced lagers.
They had just bought a building and used 50 bbl brewhouse out of Canada... Well the brewery owners had a falling out (I was told) and closed shop. That building and brewhouse became Trumer.

Confirmed that we have discontinued Porter and Stout... They will appear off and on in our pubs, with the thought of including them in our throwback series for Gift Shop/Ecommerce sales. This actually came up with Ken yesterday when I was asking him if he still wanted us to make small batches of those two beers.

@Jimmyvail Your comments about Summerfest draught being stale or aging quicker could be due to one's draught system. Believe it or not, some still use air to push their beer and some bar owners/staff don't know how to manager their systems.

 

Wow! Golden Pacific was pretty ballsy to go so big (i.e., 50 barrel brewhouse) out of the gate.

Cheers!

 

"Confirmed that we have discontinued Porter and Stout"

Pour one out for the OG, I guess.

 

Sorry... We had a little 7 bbl system. They bought the building and brewhouse for a planned expansion. It was still crated before I left for Sierra Nevada.

I loved the Bay Area but $7.00/hr. part time or $10/hr. full time in Chico in 1994, it was a no brainer... My 2 bedroom rental was $250/month.

 

Its a sad day indeed. Your stout was such a unique beer and I don't understand what seems to be a general trend away from low abv dark.beers without added flavors.

 

New management, new directions I guess. I see Deschutes' Black Butte Porter and Obsidian Stout everywhere. Why them and not OG SN?

 

Chico during summer, it's a dry heat.

 

Oh definitely, had both them in rotation with SN. Often came down to which was fresher and if one brand was on sale.

 

This is too bad. With respect - and I know you have been advocating for these beers, so know this isn't meant at you personally - your company is throwing away a lot of goodwill among the craft beer community with these moves. Are the people who decide this stuff aware that there's an 11 page thread on a major craft beer message board where most of the posts are either expressing disappointment in your company's product decisions and/or recommending alternative products? It's hard to fathom a company that became what it is due to the devotion of those customers seeing all that negative feedback, and all those customers discussing its competitors, and simply deciding to double down.

The people who are buying your new hazies and session IPAs are unlikely to ever become devoted Sierra Nevada customers. They'll buy your products sometimes, but just as quickly as they showed up for you, they'll be gone, buying seltzer instead or moving on to more local options if they get caught up in the haze craze. Those of us who have been buying your products for years or even decades because you made quality, affordable, reliable beers across a wide range of styles may not provide the growth numbers that please the finance and c-suite types, but you can count on us to keep buying your products and evangelizing your brand no matter where the trends may go. We will happily provide for you the backbone of strong, loyal customers that any successful company needs, but if you keep pulling back the products that made us into devotees of your company in the first place, that won't last long.

 

What's an 11 page BA thread compared to "5 years of mostly double digit losses in sales?"

But that isn't the case. Who is this "we" you speak of? If they had enough "devotees" for a product, they'd brew it.

 

Dele - All great points and I agree with all of what you are saying... One thing missing, it's not always just our decision. We have over 300 distributors that we partner with and as they add more breweries and more brands their focus is spread out so, then they start to focus on what gets pulled off the shelves. Brands like Porter and Stout that saw 200 bbl produced about every 10 days when I started in the mid-1990s, we see about 200 bbls every 4 months in the last few years. Sending 10 cases of Porter to a distributor every 4-6 months is not sustainable. We are hoping that by opening up our Ecom business, we can still get these classics into the craft beer communities hands... Let hope more states open up for across state line shipping.

And yes, they will see the 11 page thread.

 

I appreciate the response. Cheers!

 

I think part of the problem with the loss of SF is that we lost a high-quality lager we could buy in bulk, anywhere in the country.

Many local craft breweries make decent lagers now, but very few of them have a business model that is built around selling in bulk (12/24 pks.) I used to count on getting SF as the standard for family gatherings in the summer, but now there are few alternatives that stand as a flavorful but crisp lager I can get in quantity.

Most craft breweries have settled into a 4-pack format, which is great for individual consumption, but very costly when buying for groups. At those family get togethers, a relative would occasionally sneak into my back fridge and take a something from a four-pack of something rare which I had bought for myself, causing me some resentment because they had taken away a large portion of what I had been saving for myself.

I wish more breweries would sell larger packaging than the 4x16 type, but due to economies of scale, this wouldn’t be easy to pull off for most.

 

I bought a can of Big Little IPA today at a local convenience store to have with lunch. It was either that, or my other choices being Hazy Little Thing IPA, Torpedo IPA, Lagunitas IPA, New Belgium Voodoo Ranger IPA, some other New Belgium IPA whose name escapes me at the moment, or Stone IPA. Yup, those were what I had to choose from. And they wonder why they sell so many IPAs. I would have loved to at least had a chance to buy something else.

 

Beer finder shows zero Stout within 50 miles. I will walk down to the local Safeway later to pick up what could be my last Sierra Nevada Porter.

 

Since you live in CA you should be able to purchase SN Porter in the future via E-commerce. Presuming they will indeed produce this beer for this type of retail.

Cheers!

@SierraTerence

 

Yes, it should be an option although if I'm charged $25 for shipping as I was for the recent Bock release I doubt I will exercise that option.