Sierra Nevada Summerfest

no adjuncts!!!! sorry it cant be barrel aged imperial stouts with 800 hops to please you. not every beer has to be complex to be good. if you dont like it fine, but its nothing like a bmc beer besides being a lager. do you hate germany too? i hear that country loves lagers
anyway now that im done with my rant...the point trying to be made is its a quality beer anyone can enjoy...this beer has got my friends into sierra nevada pale ale and torpedo and moving them on to lagunitas. they want to drink craft beer now. thanks sierra nevada summerfest

 

I drink this like water every summer. Fucking amazing beer.....just ridiculously clean and balanced and tasty. They absolutely 100% need to be canning Summmerfest next year.

 

“do you hate germany too?” Not me personally. I can’t tell you how many cases of Jever Pilsner I have purchased. I have a half case sitting in my basement right now.

Cheers!

 

but its a pilsner sounds like a bmc product how dare you!!! im telling my mom

 

“im telling my mom” Well, I do not personally know your mom but I would be extremely surprised this would bother her.

Just so we are being ‘clear’ here, I personally did not state that Summerfest is a BMC like product. Two other BA’s made comments to this effect. I personally like German pilsners similar to Jever.

Cheers!

 

I always enjoy the Summerfest - just finished a case tonight. It is quality and just damn good. It was the first light colored beer I enjoyed. I was sticking with stouts and brown ales, then I tried Summerfest and whole new world was opened to me.

 

Summerfest and Prima Pils are my favorite summer brews. Great stuff!

 

I've seen it around the bay and as far south as San Jose. granted it's not something I look for

 

Not long ago and I had high hopes with their new recipe, but I was let down. I'll still go for a bottle of Spaten Lager or even a Capital or Metropolitan beer (draft or otherwise) before a Mich., the Mich was just lackluster -- and for an "all malt" beer, I was amazed at how much character they left behind.

 

Guess I'm feeling argumentative today, but I'm envisioning a secret meeting of the Craft Brewing greats, gathered together in a 'Gnomes of Zurich' fashion, location unknown, late 2003.

"You know, Sierra Nevada hasn't come out with a lager for a while now, so maybe you can come out with one that will really "WOW" 'em!" All eyes turned to Jim, the impressario who had made Samuel Adams a household name in the lower 48 and Guam. "Naw, it can't be done. 4.2% of the market is Craft beer-advocates who may like 'Better Beer', but dislike lagers generally, and won't cotton to a classic, traditional Pilsener, even one made with imported malts and Noble hops!" This was Sam speaking, the newest member of the group. He'd just returned from servicing his truck after an 2,000 mile journey delivering a sixtel of Immort Ale to a festival in Saskatchewan.

"I Know!," said Ken: "I'll make something that BudMillerCoors only WISHES they could make, since, they gave up on the ability to brew a good, quality beer 100 years ago, when they made Michelob for the first time."

"It can't be done, Ken." This was the voice of Fred, Man of the Whispering Head. He knew more about changing tastes than any of the men gathered. "When Old Bert passed, so, too passed the era when a lager could be taken seriously by the contemporary market -- why do you think his company has faded into obscurity? Fruit beers, fresh-hopped this, goofy packaging that, and arcane nomenclature passing for brewing excellence... " His words trailed off as he left the cloister, ear still cupped to his ancient stein.

"They're right, Ken." This was Charlie, the homebrewer who had single-handedly wrested control of the Brewers Association, a once-mighty trade group now relegated to Internet crowdsourcing and charity bake sales.
"Nobody's wanted to taste a good, clean lager since Blitz-Weinhard released that 'Private Reserve brand a few years ago, and even they had to cut it-to-hell with adjuncts."

The meeting ended after Tomme showed up with a flat sixtel of Angel's Share, but by then everyone's palate was well-past wrecked, and Alan Sprints found himself calling for a round of taxicabs.

In the end -and years after this legendary meeting- Jim released Noble Pils to a nation of adoring fans --hopheads and Massholes alike. And Ken did eventually release his beer unto the great unwashed, diet beer-guzzling masses. Yet somehow Summerfest managed to slip into a rotation of world class ales and hop-bombs without anyone really noticing the difference -- except the BMC folk; too much grain for their liking.

 

I guess so, and I'm not really sure just what you're trying to express...

To be clear, I said the Summerfest is what they wish they could be, not what they wish they could make. And I also said it with tongue-in-cheek and more in reference to standing a Summerfest next to a Miller, Budweiser, or Coors -- do that (with all 4, if you like) and tell me which beer you'd rather be drinking.

As to giving up any ability, I said they gave up on the practice -- they got lazy and cheap. Stopped making anything with any good flavor because they found out that everyone still drank it (and to be honest, Germany is sort of slipping in that direction these days).

But to re-state and maybe clarify my thoughts on Summerfest and BMC, of which I read so many BAs saying they're identical -- far from it. And to say that it tastes like a Miller Genuine Draft, or a Coors Banquet -- let alone a Michelob, is plainly absurd.

Oh, and yeah -- I actually like the Noble Pils and Alpine Spring too, and would drink them before "a rotation of world class ales and hop-bombs."

 

It's very good for the style IMO.

 

I'm a big fan of Sierra Nevada, and this thread is making me thirsty. Don't believe I had any Summerfest last year, but will be sure to have it this year. Only problem is that by the time I'm ready for a refreshing summertime beer, Summerfest might be gone, and they'll be rolling out Tumbler. Why are the brewers bringing out their seasonals earlier and earlier each year? The only one I don't mind being early is Celebration Ale. I could drink that year round!

 

My last name isn't "head"...

Anyway, just because I don't like this beer doesn't mean I automatically dislike lagers. I buy Prima Pils fairly often and Rogue's Good Chit is actually becoming one of my favorite beers, period. It can be alright if I disagree with the consensus on a beer. I'll probably try this one again to give it the ol' third chance, but I'm not expecting a revelation. Will probably grab it when I do my weekend of lagers in June

 

“My last name isn't "head"...: Sorry about that!

Cheers!

P.S. I also really, really like Victory Prima Pils; it is a very high quality Northern German style Pilsner!

 

Saul Goode

They never get my name right at the doctors. I always hear "Head" or "Reed"

 

Oh, and now we're gonna change the rules of the internet and expect that? Clarity of point?

 

Summerfest has been out for a few weeks in Lake County. Are some stores just trying to sell off Ruthless Rye?

 

I don't pick up any rice or corn in Summerfest.