Drinking Sierra Nevada Torpedo And Disappointed.

[Steve@PMF82]

Duvel?! Chimay?!

Yes good intro on Belgian beer, but after trying them in Belgium(prob wont happen again) i can safely say i will not be wasting my $ on what ends up over here again from DM, nothing like they should be.
I will however dedicate much time for the rest of my life trying to emulate.

 

[Nick JD]

Dans has a lot of great lagers.

 

[Clutch]

Well their response time is awesome. I sent the email yesterday:

Hi guys and greetings from Australia.
I tried my first Torpedo down in Sydney and was blown away by it just before Christmas.
I bought a six pack in Dan Murphy's up here in Brisbane last night and was extremely disappointed, it smelled and tasted like sweet unfermented wort with a tiny bit of Citra thrown in, not the huge flavour/aroma punch I got from the last bottle I tried.
After checking with the home brewer's forum I'm a member of (http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=61017&pid=859944&st=0&#entry859944 )
They said it's not uncommon from Dan Murphy's to be lax in their handling of import beers, and at $5/bottle it's not something I want to take a gamble on. I'll be looking around for another supplier of the Torpedo because that first bottle was incredible. Just thought you should be made aware of.
Regards and keep up the great work, planning to visit you guys in 2012 some time and take a tour.

Regards,


PS the product code I've provided was printed on the neck of the bottle, I couldn't find anything printed on the six pack holder except the barcode which was: "0 83783 33100 4".

Thank you very much for the heads up. Torpedo is a wonderful IPA and you should enjoy it to its fullest. I am so glad to hear you were able to find our beer as we just started shipping to Australia not too long ago. The product code you sent is just what I was looking for. The product you bought is still within suggested freshness, but rough handling can change all that. If you have heard that Dan Murphys is lax in their practices then I feel this warrants some investigation.

I am going to contact our sales manager for Australia and he will check out the situation thoroughly.

I cant thank you enough for the information, without it, a solution would be most challenging to find. Please come take a tour at your convenience. We have a wonderful program here, I think you would really enjoy it. Whenever I have friends and family that want to see the facility I go on a guided tour with our customer experience team. It is the only way to go!

Happy New Year!

 

[RdeVjun]

Clutch, you're in Brissie, Archive had it last time I was there if you want to try a different supplier. They're one supplier with perhaps more of a quality over quantity ethos.
FWIW, I tried a Torpedo from Dans when it first hit the shelves, was quite OK and helped set my AIPA compass (Tumbler OTOH was a disaster). As per KBB though, it is telling when the stock is on the shelf as well as the refrigerated section, the latter is probably where SN might be expecting to see all of it.

 

[chunckious]

Duvel?! Chimay?! Weihenstephaner?!!?

Correct...better than those. :icon_chickcheers:

 

[jbowers]

Correct...better than those. :icon_chickcheers:

Fervently disagree.

 

[felten]

My brothers mate was working his way up to dan murphys store manager a few years ago, and they sent him to the states so he could do a sommelier course for their wine range.


Going to take a stab in the dark here, but I don't think they are doing the same for their beers. -_-

 

[fnqbrew]

A work colleague and I knocked off a great six pack of Torpedo last week over some currys. Great match. We must have gotten lucky for the Torpedos to have made it all the way up here in good nick. Only $20 for the six here, too, not the $24 mentioned earlier. Rather than buy more, it makes me want to brew an IPA again.

 

[neonmeate]

Duvel?! Chimay?! Weihenstephaner?!!?

ok duvel's better. weihenstephan is quality but not very exciting. chimay is not good beer ... but that's OT

 

[eamonnfoley]

Fervently disagree.

Ive bought Duvel about 8 times since moving back to Oz from the UK. And each time it's been poor compared to what I've had in Belgium and the UK, regardless of the bottlo. Belgians dont seem to travel well and they sit on hot shelves for far too long.

In saying that I had a good Saison Dupont yesterday - I guess its a lottery!

Weihenstephen are doing something right because its always fresh and I've very rarely had a bad bottle over the last few years. And I buy a lot of it from different locations. Although it comes via Pheonix which is here is Perth.

 

[Clutch]

Phoenix import the SN range also.

 

[jbowers]

Ive bought Duvel about 8 times since moving back to Oz from the UK. And each time it's been poor compared to what I've had in Belgium and the UK, regardless of the bottlo. Belgians dont seem to travel well and they sit on hot shelves for far too long.

In saying that I had a good Saison Dupont yesterday - I guess its a lottery!

Weihenstephen are doing something right because its always fresh and I've very rarely had a bad bottle over the last few years. And I buy a lot of it from different locations. Although it comes via Pheonix which is here is Perth.

Not talking about freshness/handling problems, was just referring to the beer. If there has become such a bias to hop forward styles that a good IPA can be seen as far superior to benchmark examples of classic styles, then that's a damn shame.

 

[pokolbinguy]

Just grabbed a six pack of this from Dans in Phillip
ACT about 30mins ago and just cracked my first one. Will finish reading this thread and have a drink and report back.

....ok so I have tasted it, and it's good, is it $25/6pk good.. Maybe not. I tried a local beer from bowral the other day, Pigs fly pale ale and while it's lighter at $20/6pk in a IGA bottleshop it is a great beer. The Torpedo has a good nose and very good body. Plenty of hops and the pallet hides the 7.2% alc very well. Don't think I will be driving anywhere tonight!!

Overall a good beer but at the equivalent of $100/ctn I won't be buying it too frequently. But hey it's holiday season. On the other hand if I can brew a replica I will be a happy man.

Glad I tried it none the less.

Pok

 

[matho]

haha i was reading this thread yesterday and i decided to stop into camperdown cellars and picked up a bottle, quiet a nice beer inspired me to brew last night

cheers

 

[Gout]

i got a Sierra Nevada Torpedo a few weeks back after a mate in the US told me he was having one and it was nice, I grabbed some from Dans here is melbourne and it was not very exciting, in fact i didn't enjoy it.

I'd love to try a fine example but there is no way i will risk it buying it again given the hit and miss nature of dan murphys

 

[bum]

I've had it a few times from Mr. Murphy and never had one ruined - just faded pretty hard.

 

[kalbarluke]

I've tried the Sierra Nevada pale ale (twice) and the Torpedo (once). The first time I tried the pale ale it was like there was a party in my mouth - a really delicious beer with heaps of flavour and a nice bitterness. The second time it was just bitter without the nice "late hops" flavour and really disappointing. The torpedo was like the second time I tried the pale ale but twice as bitter.

 

[lukiep8]

Just to clear up a few misconceptions in this thread.

Sierra Nevada is shipped to Australia in refrigerated containers. It is warehoused refrigerated and delivered to independant liquor stores refrigerated. Given the large quantities being brought into the country, they are landing over on the east coast in Melbourne, as well as Perth, and Sierra Nevada, as far as I am aware, do bottling runs based on quantities being ordered by the importer.

What happens in regards to Dan Murphy's/Woolworths, is because they receive their beers in a large distribution warehouse, that is owned and operated by themselves. If you want to buy your Sierra Nevada a couple of bucks cheaper then a good independant store, from Dan's, then it really isn't the fault of the importer/distributor or Sierra Nevada.

P.S. Remember, all seasonals only go to Independants too :icon_cheers:

 

[Muscovy_333]

Not sure what the consensus on the Torpedo is but i had a crack and it spoilt my saturday evening...

I'll put it in context; headed to Ballarat for the beer festival Sat morning, didnt pre-book tickets as a couple of fickle mates couldnt make the commitment and left it to the last minute.
Turned up at the gates at 1pm on the dot, only to have the wooden tressle dragged in front of me and a big water guzzling security guy, say "well thats it fellas, no more tickets!"
We reply "WTF". And he says "head back in an hour or so".
We wandered off for a coffee and headed back to find a line a few hundred people deep, being drip fed in.
Waited 2 hours and made our way to the front. Just before we got to the gates a mate rang and said he was on his way from Melb and would arrive in 40 min.
We got to the gates, pulled out our wallets and said, "can pre-pay a ticket and leave it at teh gate for a friend?" The answer "NO!"
So we said "Oh wow, that is unfortunate" and wandered off......I hold my judgedments as obviously it was their first crack at running the festival.
PLAN B: head to the bottlo (Dans) and grab a hand full of craft style beers with the $45 bucks each we saved from entry.
Got a great selection....
Until we tried the Torpedo!
We all love hops, and a punchy beer, but this tasted like absolute ****....not a balanced beer, alcohol burn and a one dimensional hop slap!
I am very reluctant to give it another shot. One of the fellas lived in the States for 5 years and said it tastes the same there...

So is the consensus that this is a good example of an IPA, or is it just beer drinkers bravado???

 

[ledgenko]

I still stand by my original comment .. This is one of the best American Beers I have tasted ... I was happy with SN Celebration but normally a little let down by American beer as a whole ... as I am with Australian Mega swill ... Thank god for brewing at home ... and beers for jobs ... FIsh ... your Amber is Good .....