Sierra Nevada has grown leaps and bounds in the U.S. over the past four years but may have hit a wall ( the number I have heard is that they are around 60 K hectolitres or around 750 K cases). They do demand refrigeration from one end of the pipeline to the other and are adamant that it has to be this way. Several Canadian breweries have visited Chico and have asked for a partnership. The pat response has been "guarantee us quality and we will talk". As everyone here has laid out, this is a challenge and is almost impossible to manage effectively in the distribution system here.
The confusing part is that most retail stores you visit in the states have the product sitting warm (and dusty) on the shelf. I bought a six pack of their stout last year in Michigan and it was very good. I like the Pale Ale as well. I have heard that they have a Special Anniversary Ale. It's a Porter that they do at Xmas each year. Notes of Cinnamon and Nutmeg. Apparently it's the Bomb! I want to lay my hands on that this year.
The Heineken thing is perplexing. I have heard that Heineken's real winner is the 500 ml can and that they have leaned on the LCBO for the other SKU's in order to get growth here in Ontario. The average punter stills sees Heiny as the "go to" Premium beer. They launched Heineken Light in the States and I expect that we will see it here. They were "dissapointed" with the results of Amstel Light here and it made for some frosty meetings with the boys at Molson. In the past couple of years Molson and Labatt have created dedicated Retail Sales Teams to attack the LCBO and grow their business there. By looking at the floor and shelf at the LCBO you would have to think that they are getting (the new buzz word) "Traction".
Still, I'd love to see Sierra Nevada here.
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We have a trivia question in order to register to prevent bots. If you have any issues with answering, contact us at cass@bartowel.com for help.
Introducing Light Mode! If you would like a Bar Towel social experience that isn't the traditional blue, you can now select Light Mode. Go to the User Control Panel and then Board Preferences, and select "Day Drinking" (Light Mode) from the My Board Style drop-down menu. You can always switch back to "Night Drinking" (Dark Mode). Enjoy!
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
Well, they don't have a beer that they specifically call an Anniversary Ale, but they do have a holiday beer called Celebration Ale that they do every winter. It's a pumped up IPA if I recall correctly.Mother G wrote:Sierra Nevas does actually have an Anniversary Ale.
They also have an annual barley wine called Bigfoot.
So I expect it's one of those that your friend is referring to.