Sierra Nevada 2017 Snowpack

LOL its in 90s right now....
I was just looking and people are posting pics on Untapped of 2017, I thought this was not even available yet, @sierranevadabill can you let us know if this is out for purchase, thank you.

 

OK, thank you. I was thinking we had little while to go, excellent to know I love this stuff. Thanks for info.....

 

IN MA now.

 

The typical high temperature in Philadelphia in Mid/late October is 55 degrees (according to accuweather.) It is not Sierra Nevada's fault that it's an unseasonably warm autumn. I'm happy to drink cool weather beers with lows in the 40s. Our brewing schedule doesn't have an allowance for "Indian Summer." In sunny North Carolina it was 41 degrees when I left for work. Your regional mileage may vary.
For the record, we have always released Celebration in Mid October. That's right about the turning point for the 4th quarter of the year (after, actually.)

 

Yeah, there just isn't enough call for that beer to be a standalone 6-pack, (though as it's one of my personal faves, I would be stoked on that too). It is available on draught solo.

 

It's shipping as-we-speak.

 

Thank you sir, appreciate the info....

 

Bill, as I type this message I am wearing a T-shirt and shorts. My trees in my backyard are still green - not even a hint of color change yet. Even if it was in the 50's now that is not even close to "snowpack" weather.

For business reasons you guys are releasing seasonal beers earlier and earlier. All of the Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest beers in my local stores were bottled in early July.

This continuing/advancing seasonal creep is getting more and more insane. Pretty soon you will be bottling snowpack beers in early July.

Non-cheers to this stuff.

 

With snowpack and celebration out I now eagerly await the fresh hop pack!

 

Northern Hemisphere Wet Hop IPA is also out.

 

Just curious what Information do you use to make this decision? Coffee stouts seem to be pretty popular even with non beer geeks.

Enjoy

 

Currently drinking Sierra Nevada Summerfest County Market in my town still has it. Cheers!

 

No, it's the same every year.
It's a quarterly release schedule, which is similar to retail stores and their seasonal releases. Like we've mentioned earlier, just because it's warm where you are doesn't mean we need to hold back nation-wide releases on your behalf. You don't have to buy Celebration Ale in October, so be it.

This joke about winter beers being released mid summer never ends. It's the same every year. Quarterly releases. One preps for the next season. You don't release Oktoberfest ON oktoberfest, you release it a month or so early to get people excited for the coming season. If you don't understand that then I do not know what to say to you.

This crap happens every year with people complaining about seeing a certain beer in a store too early. The thing is, there are SO many options, and you weren't going to buy the beer in the first place: so why are you complaining?! It'll be there for the next few months whenever you want it.

 

And it was released too early last years as well.

Cheers!

P.S. This year's release of SN Oktoberfest in early July was much earlier than previous years. I have zero interest in buying that beer when it was bottled/canned in early July when I want to drink it know. That beer is over 4 months old!!

 

I don't have any photos, but the Holiday Haze definitely nails some characteristics of the trendy NEIPAs. It is very hazy, even murky, and has that softer mouthfeel.

I didn't find it particularly "juicy". Rather I thought it was more in line with the flavor profile of other SN IPAs. IMO that's perfectly OK. It's pretty bitter and pithy even though the label description mentions mild bitterness. It does feature the SN ale yeast that leads to a common background flavor in many if their beers. Personally, I enjoyed it very much.

Looking forward to trying the Wintertide and revisiting the delicious Coffee Stout. Oh, and there is always room in my fridge for a few SNPAs.

 

Hey now you're starting to get criticism creep. It's barely 3 months old not over 4 months haha.

 

Great question, I stated my response poorly and without context. What I should have said, is that there isn't quite enough call to change-out our seasonal selection.
Distributors and retailers these days are dealing with what they call SKUmaggeddon. Essentially, more rotating and changing items than they can quite handle. To get a spot at retail, suppliers need to prove that the beer will be a winner.
Stouts in general sell much better in the winter than they do at other times of the year, so it would make sense that if we were to release that beer as a standalone, it would have to be about now (October-ish through the cold months.) the thing is, we already have a rotating beer for the colder months: Celebration, which is one of our all-time most popular beers. If we were to come to retail with another rotating winter seasonal beer, we'd likely hear: "OK, pick one, but you can't have both." Frankly, speaking, Celebration would win every time.
We could do a standalone 6-pack but the distribution would likely be poor and not very available.
Does that make sense? To be perfectly honest, I actually believe there is a market for coffee stouts in the world, but for us it doesn't make a lot of sense versus a beer like Celebration.

 

Just came here to say Holiday Haze- AMAZING. I'm usually not a fan of hazy/NEIPAs, I prefer west-coast style hop bombs, but HOT DAMN this Holiday Haze is the shiznit! Nothing like other hazy IPAs I've had- it's packed with hoppy goodness.

sierranevadabill, let your people know they are doing the right thing right with this beer. I shared my three bottles with three just "casual" (usually non-craft) beer drinkers and they were absolutely blown away and agreed they would all buy 6 packs / 12 packs if they were available. Forget about that Tropical Torpedo BS and use that SKU for a hazy IPA in this style, no need for it to be a seasonal. I really think this is your chance to be relevant again in the current IPA scene, I think it could even out sell Torpedo.

P.S. - Not trying to derail the thread too much but does anyone have recommendations for a similar beer? I tried New Belgium Accumulation, looked right but the hops are totally different. About to try Lagunitas Lil Sumpin Sumpin to see how it compares. I feel like the winning combo here is wheat + crystal + citra. Cheers!

 

I agree this is the best one in the bunch. It tastes very similar to Lil Sumpin but will a softer more enjoyable bitterness. I love the subtle fruit flavor this gives off ! please put this in 6 packs, it can replace the blond IPA in the spring ! @sierranevadabill

 

We have a new beer on-deck for this spring (A double IPA called Hop Bullet) but we'll keep this in our pockets as a contender for a future release.