When Has Sierra Nevada Ever Let You Down?

My only disappointment with them is that Tumbler is no longer a 12-pack beer - just (sometimes) in fall / winter seasonal mix packs.
ETA: I see I'm not the only one that things that.
I do get that it may not have sold well enough to keep going, but as a fall / winter seasonal I think it's a great beer for hanging by the fireplace / firepit. That tiny hint of smoke was just enough to keep things interesting.
There's not much like it around.

 

But Liberty Ale did not become a regular release until 1983 (although, as noted above, the recipe was apparently used for some of the Anchor Christmas releases before they began added the spices).

And, of course, neither beer was initially labeled an "India Pale Ale" (I think it took SN until the 2000s?) while Liberty Ale still doesn't. In fact, Anchor felt free to create a Liberty IPA not too long ago. And Fritz Maytag has specifically stated that: "...We purposely made (Liberty Ale) quite extreme, but I did not think of an India Pale Ale when I made it."

 

I wonder if Fritz felt that way because it, and Celebration, are not India Pale Ales in the original English definition. They were something new, which we now call the American IPA. And even if there were previous ones, these were the ones that lasted and they have had a huge effect on the craft beer industry.

 

Are you saying the "The Sampler" 12 packs don't rotate? Because I'm pretty sure it does.

Based on the SN website, it currently has the Pale Ale, Coffee Stout, Torpedo, Hop Bullet, 3 Weight, and Flipside Red
https://sierranevada.com/beer/the-sampler/

When I purchased one back in the summer it had Pale Ale, Tropical Torpedo, Helles in Tropics, Sidecar, Ruthless Rye, and a Single Hop beer.

 

Good post.
I don't drink as much Sierra Nevada as I used to. That's because in the last 5 years 4 new breweries open close by. They all brew good and sometimes great beer. Those beers have replaced much of the Sierra Nevada I used to drink. I still drink more SNPA than any other single brew.

 

Not really seasonal though, except maybe having a Helles in the summer. It just feels random.

 

Having 3 fruity versions of beers seemed summer themed to me.

As for the Snowpack winter samplers they used to put out - to my chagrin, it was never all dark beers anyway. One year it had both Coffee Stout and the Porter, but most other years it was Coffee Stout and 3 hoppy beers. So how's that any different than this year?

 

I don't know. It feels different. Maybe I am cherry picking from my oftentimes hazy memory.

 

Not being able to get their Stout, Porter and Keller as often as I would like to. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen any of those in Atlanta, except Kellerweiss on tap once.

 

I have great respect for Sierra Nevada's products and legacy. In fact, I'm looking forward to picking up the first Celebration sixer of the season in the very near future.

But they are not infallible. (No brewery is.) Sierra Nevada let me down with Brux Domesticated Wild Ale. It was a let-down in 2012, and it was a let down when I tried a carefully aged bottle 3 weeks ago.

I'd go so far as to say Brux is twice the let-down, since it was a collaboration with Russian River. Further evidence that supergroups generally punch below their weight.

 

The key word in the sentence you replied to is "seasonal".

Below is an example of a Fall mix-pack they had in the recent past:


If this pack was available now (at a reasonable price) I would have purchased it by now.

Cheers!

 

If "The Sampler" rotates seasonally, isn't that functionally the same thing?

It would seem your beef is about the specific beers included in The Sampler (no Vienna Lager or Tumbler), but the old seasonal packs also changed up beers most years as well.

 

As a customer I enjoyed purchasing the seasonal mix-packs in the past (when I could find it reasonably priced).

I am repeating myself but if there was a mix-pack like I posted above I would be interested in buying it (if it was reasonably priced).

Feel free to spend your money as you deem fit.

Cheers!

 

Don't be so quick to beat yourself up @jasonmason . The above beer was added to BeerAdvocate in 2001. It looks like Celebration had IPA added to it's label in 2014. @jesskidden I don't know if IPA was on the label before that or if it was used in marketing Celebration before that. Someone please correct if wrong.

 

....reminds me of past posts a few years ago about all the love for how Lagunitas and Stone can do no wrong. Nothing lasts forever guys.

 

I rarely see Torpedo sixers around in stores lately. The Oktoberfest 12 packs (is that the only packaging size?) I've only been seen in my stores since mid-October. Probably at least 4+ weeks later than most other places.

 

Will it, though? The first Sampler seemed to be around for a long time so instead of getting four different seasonal packs we may get only two and one for Spring/Summer one for Fall/Winter. If that is the case and it's mostly core beers it won't be of much interest to anyone outside of the more casual craft beer drinkers. I am not knocking their strategy because I did see a lot of their seasonal and mixed packs sitting* but for someone like me and @JackHorzempa it's not much of a draw.

*My theory on why they sat around is that they were all just too similar, especially those different canned hoppy beers packs.

 

I think the difference there is that Lagunitas has since changed ownership and Stone lost a central player and made a fairly drastic shift in their business focus (i.e. moving heavily into an almost exclusive IPA rotation at the expense of their much beloved darker beers). I think we are all aware that if the Grossman family ever chooses to sell SN to some other entity then there would likely be changes and they might not be very well received. As it stands they are the standard bearer for the modern american 'craft' beer movement, nearly 40 years of solid beers and a consistent commitment to a wide range of styles, reasonable pricing, and community engagement. The fact it won't last forever is all the more reason to celebrate what we've all gotten to enjoy so far

 

Very accurate points made and well taken. I still enjoy alot of Lagunitas regardless of ownership. New Dogtown>SNPA IMO. Just like the flavors better.

 

Better take that madness over to the controversial opinions thread
But ya fresh new dogtown is a lovely beer, if I ever saw it around I might be tempted to try a blind tasting because I don't know which I would prefer but I certainly wouldn't count new dogtown out. For that matter, Hop Stoopid - whose label copy might have inspired this thread - was one of the beers that cemented my hop addiction and the original Lagunitas location will forever hold a special place in my heart.