# Sierra Navada Pale Ale



## jkirky (16/6/12)

G'day everyone...

Ii picked up a SNPA today at Dan murphys...

What can I say... Well, perhaps it didn't travel too well, but I found a distinct absence of hops for my pallate. Well balanced, but very mainstream tasting. Zero aroma, but great lacing of the glass...

Not very impressed. Don't get me wrong, it is a great beer, but very different to what I thought it would be like. In my opinion LCPA is far better. Probably is to do with the travel and the age...

Anyways, makes my home brew ipa on tap at the moment even nicer!


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## Logman (16/6/12)

I wouldn't give up on it - had a similar experience with my first. Tried another about 2 months later and loved it - always grab one at the bottlo.


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## mudd (16/6/12)

I got good 6 pack recently, First good one I've had. Brewed a run of Malty beers and run out of something hoppy.
Unfortunaltely I wanna try something other than little creatures sometimes. My opinion they shouldn't sell it. Surely there's a big enough market for a nice hoppy Aussie IPA in Dans. Or is it only homebrewers that like this stuff?


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## kalbarluke (16/6/12)

The first time I had SNPA was beautiful. The second time was meh. Check the date if it's on the bottle. Next time you get one make sure it is from a different batch, or at least fresher. That may make a difference.


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## seemax (16/6/12)

I was recently in the US where 6 packs of SNPA and Torpedo were $8 (heaven!) and found them both to be tasty brews (less than 1 month old) ... local samplings have been disappointing though.


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## andrewl (16/6/12)

I had them both in Hawaii last year and they were alot better over there compared to here... Plus they come in longnecks!!!!!!


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## spog (16/6/12)

had my fisrt ever snpa in Sydney 3 weeks ago,from a bottlo,was'nt impressed with it (could be a shipping/storage issue).
so i bought a six pack next day,same deal.
if,if,if,the beer was stuffed in some way i dont know,but honestly i dont see why it is so popular/raved about.(again,storage/handling maybe) but grabbed the ferry over to Manly,went to the 4 pines brewery and had their ale...ohhhh..now that is a top shelf ale..........good, damn good,...and can't get it here....ahhh bugga....cheers........spog.........


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## blotto (16/6/12)

I got a six pack from Dan's a month back, loved it! I'll get it again if I'm heading out somewhere.


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## Liam_snorkel (16/6/12)

Haha, I love reading smashed posts. Onya Spog.


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## pbrosnan (16/6/12)

Had SNPA here and there. Always excellent. Perhaps it's not to your taste?


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## jkirky (17/6/12)

pbrosnan said:


> Had SNPA here and there. Always excellent. Perhaps it's not to your taste?



All I can say is bland... Not distasteful, but just a mediocre drop...

I love APA's, but to be honest, based from the one I sampled, I simply cannot see why all the hype and fuss... As stated, LCPA is far superior IMO, of course...

My pallete may also be a little "burned" at the moment as I have a very strong, hoppy IIPA on tap at the moment, which I guess could have muffled my taste buds... Not sure...

Nonetheless, either the beer travels very badly and I had a poor example of the beer, or its an overrated beer...


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## Nick JD (17/6/12)

SNPA is a supurb beer. There's a reason it spawned a beer revolution. 

The stuff at Dans is a craps shoot. I bought a sixpack in NYC once and it was like there were dry hops in the bottles. Big piney citrus burst. $9 a sixpack too, just off Broadway. 

Always: check the date on the bottle, and: someone please tell me whether they switch the date around to our format! I'm waiting to get an unambiguous date:time stamp so I can finally know.


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## manticle (17/6/12)

Find one that says 3/21/2012 or 21/03/2012 and you should be right


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## Spiesy (17/6/12)

******* love SNPA! although it's major struggle town to get a nice, fresh one here that hasn't been "manked" out.

I have the pleasure of visiting the USA 1-2 times a year, and it's a top drop imo... love it!


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## jkirky (17/6/12)

Nick JD said:


> SNPA is a supurb beer. There's a reason it spawned a beer revolution.
> 
> The stuff at Dans is a craps shoot. I bought a sixpack in NYC once and it was like there were dry hops in the bottles. Big piney citrus burst. $9 a sixpack too, just off Broadway.
> 
> Always: check the date on the bottle, and: someone please tell me whether they switch the date around to our format! I'm waiting to get an unambiguous date:time stamp so I can finally know.



That's the interesting thing Nick, it had absolutely zero hop aroma or distinguishable citrus. It's best before date was sep. 2012...

Must have simply lost it's flavor and aroma through age and travel... But its interesting than my 12 month old APA home-brews still retain flavor and aroma... Can anyone explain?


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## Spiesy (17/6/12)

jkirky said:


> That's the interesting thing Nick, it had absolutely zero hop aroma or distinguishable citrus. It's best before date was sep. 2012...
> 
> Must have simply lost it's flavor and aroma through age and travel... But its interesting than my 12 month old APA home-brews still retain flavor and aroma... Can anyone explain?


Maybe you treat your beers better than what your bottle-o and it's importer treated the SNPA.

I have a slab of imported SNPA at my work... it's been there for 3-months, because it's so sub-standard that it's not an enjoyable drink.

Purchased from Dan's.


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## jyo (17/6/12)

Spiesy said:


> Purchased from Dan's.



Yup, every SNPA I've had from Dan's has been musty, stale and hop-less.

From another dealer in Perth who specialises in craft beer and is passionate about beer, everyone has been fresh and hoppy, a great drop.


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## [email protected] (17/6/12)

It would be a fun experiment to put a case of home brew through the trials and tribulations that SNPA goes through before it sees a shelf at Dans and see what pops out the other side.....  
I don't reckon there would be to many or any that would not be gushing like a..........


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## pbrosnan (17/6/12)

Spiesy said:


> Maybe you treat your beers better than what your bottle-o and it's importer treated the SNPA.
> 
> I have a slab of imported SNPA at my work... it's been there for 3-months, because it's so sub-standard that it's not an enjoyable drink.
> 
> Purchased from Dan's.


AFAIK the SNPA is imported by Phoenix and they had to agree to ship the beer in a very particular way to get the right to import it. SN wouldn't allow it to be shipped this far so all previous imports were "grey". The stuff at Dan's would have been shipped as per specifications. I've had tonnes of the stuff and never had a bad one, certainly not to the extent of making the claim above.


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## lastdrinks (17/6/12)

Drinking a six pack now. Dated best before 4/11/12, so i am guessing Dan isnt selling past best beer. (but i can be a nit paraniod). It tastes pretty fresh to me with a decent amount of hop flavour.


If someone could find out how what date they get stamped out of the bottling plant we would know how fresh they are.


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## GUB (17/6/12)

Found some the other day at my local Woolys liquor. Surprised to seem them there. Date was BB Nov or Dec 2012 and the two stubbies I grabbed were tasty.


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## Spiesy (17/6/12)

pbrosnan said:


> AFAIK the SNPA is imported by Phoenix and they had to agree to ship the beer in a very particular way to get the right to import it. SN wouldn't allow it to be shipped this far so all previous imports were "grey". The stuff at Dan's would have been shipped as per specifications. I've had tonnes of the stuff and never had a bad one, certainly not to the extent of making the claim above.


You're a lucky man. 95% of the imports I've had here have been absolute rubbish, especially compared to how they should taste.


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## Jay Cee (17/6/12)

Mrs bought a 6er a few days ago with a best before date of 08/09/12. Still no clues as to the date format. Haven't bothered trying it, because on all other occasions I previously thought is was a bit of a characterless pale ale. But whatever the date format,, it shows that there's bottles out there with plenty of time left. 

Also a phoenix import, but sourced from an independent store, not Dan's. 

How is the kellerweisen as an SN import sold through Dan's? Almost bought a 6 today, but opted for a case of Hoppy Hefe and a few various singles instead. And is the Bigfoot any good? I'm reluctant to spend money on imported beer that's substandard.


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## bum (17/6/12)

Jay Cee said:


> Still no clues as to the date format.


day/month/year


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## Spiesy (17/6/12)

being a product of USA, would it not be: mm/dd/yy ?


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## bum (17/6/12)

Unless they think the bottle of Torpedo I've got is gonna go bad in the 14th month of the year, no.

Damn these lousy Smarch winters!


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## Jay Cee (17/6/12)

That makes sense. SN have made a label specifically for Australian consumers, so it is logical that the date should be in dd/mm/yy format.


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## pbrosnan (17/6/12)

Spiesy said:


> You're a lucky man. 95% of the imports I've had here have been absolute rubbish, especially compared to how they should taste.


95% is s pretty high failure rate, better give up buying imports I suppose. When you say "compared to how they should taste" I presume you've got some sort of benchmark? Is it compared to how you've tasted them at source, e.g SF or Munich or Brussels or wherever?


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## jkirky (17/6/12)

The best description of what I tasted, was that the SNPA was like a crisp coopers sparkling, just without the POR backbone. The level of hop flavor and aroma would be no greater than the coopers, however... Even had a soapy characteristic.

Put bluntly, besides the claim that the importers have to handle the product in specific ways blah blah, what I tasted has obviously suffered greatly from the time and travel, hence in my mind something has gone wrong, which also appears to be supported by quite a few members of AHB.

I will taste another soon, just to cross reference my original findings..


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## Snowdog (17/6/12)

Have to say I haven't had a "bad" one yet, be they the greys from 5th Element, or the legits from Archive where they're kept chilled, Dan's, and 1st Choice. Granted they weren't the heavy hop-hitters they were when I had them in Seattle, but still a nice brew. I will say I have seen then stacked outside in the sun here at Dan's in Albany Creek, so I assume they get the abuse after they leave Phoenix. And the Oz labeled ones are DD/MM/YY whereas the greys were MM/DD/YY.


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## bowie in space (17/6/12)

Nick JD said:


> The stuff at Dans is a craps shoot. I bought a sixpack in NYC once and it was like there were dry hops in the bottles. Big piney citrus burst. $9 a sixpack too, just off Broadway.



I've never been to the US and have only had one stubby of SNPA bought from Dan's at Wynnum, and it was just how you described it. One of the tastiest beers I've ever had.


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## mudd (17/6/12)

Tried to send Sierra Nevada a link to this page could't without a US phone number. No email address either on there website.
I'm sure they have some influence over how their product is shipped to OZ. Worst case they can stop shipping it, better yet make it here under licence.

Surely somone has a contact that could get the word to them.


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## jkirky (18/6/12)

mudd said:


> Tried to send Sierra Nevada a link to this page could't without a US phone number. No email address either on there website.
> I'm sure they have some influence over how their product is shipped to OZ. Worst case they can stop shipping it, better yet make it here under licence.
> 
> Surely somone has a contact that could get the word to them.



My thoughts exactly... I know that is really is a great beer, however for a range of probable reasons, the stubby I drank from Dans was far from a fair representation of the beer. Hence, Sierra Nevada should know that their reputation is ultimately being tarnished through either poor shipment regiments or poor storage from the retailers.

I was expecting a hop burst but instead got marginally improved coopers- something is seriously wrong there...


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## Liam_snorkel (18/6/12)

mudd said:


> Tried to send Sierra Nevada a link to this page could't without a US phone number. No email address either on there website.
> I'm sure they have some influence over how their product is shipped to OZ. Worst case they can stop shipping it, better yet make it here under licence.
> 
> Surely somone has a contact that could get the word to them.


It has been mentioned in this thread and a few others, that SN beers are shipped here by Phoenix in refrigerated containers, so we can assume that any damage to the beer is caused once it changes hands into local distributors ie woolworths if you bought it from Dan Murpheys. How often do you drive past a major bottle-o and see a pallet of beer sitting out in the sun in the car park?


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## Nick JD (18/6/12)

bum said:


> Unless they think the bottle of Torpedo I've got is gonna go bad in the 14th month of the year, no.
> 
> Damn these lousy Smarch winters!



Me and the guy at Dans reckoned that since it had the "10c in SA" thing that it'd be dd/mm/yy, but I wasn't convinced until now. Handy.

My local Dans has the torpedos on the shelf. :angry:


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## Spiesy (18/6/12)

pbrosnan said:


> 95% is s pretty high failure rate, better give up buying imports I suppose. When you say "compared to how they should taste" I presume you've got some sort of benchmark? Is it compared to how you've tasted them at source, e.g SF or Munich or Brussels or wherever?


Not exactly at the source, but I visit the USA 1-2 times per year, mainly visiting California.


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## Spiesy (18/6/12)

jkirky said:


> The best description of what I tasted, was that the SNPA was like a crisp coopers sparkling, just without the POR backbone. The level of hop flavor and aroma would be no greater than the coopers


SNPA should taste and smell very different to a Cooper's Sparkling.


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## eamonnfoley (18/6/12)

SNPA has a nice classic hop flavour. But by no means huge if that is what you are expecting.


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