What is it with SNPA??

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hnsfeigel

hnsfeigel

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Ok, so I understand that it's bottle conditioned with "chico" which is the desert island ale yeast and can be harvested for homebrewing. Besides that, what is everyone's fascination with Sierra Nevada Pale Ale??? Sometimes it seems like the most talked about domestic on the forum.

So, My wife and I went out on a "date" last night. We were at a local (chain) beer and pizza joint that touts over 100 beers on tap and even more in bottle and can. My wife went to order a Black and Tan, which apparently they make with SNPA. WHAT?!? No Bass, no Harp. But Sierra Nevada, really?
 
It's just a great all around beer. SNPA is what got me interested in craft beer and ultimately homebrewing. Of course I'm from the midwest and when I first started to get a taste for good beer there wasn't much craft beer to choose from. SN beers also have a unique signature flavor that is hard to mimic. I've tried a few clone recipes and although they were great beers, they were not SNPA.
 
Hmm. I would want an English style pale for a black and tan, but whatever...I guess.

I think their pale ale holds a special place in our hearts for being a beer that launched a million craft beer lovers. Right there with Anchor Steam, Pete's Wicked, Sam Adams, and the like.

Sierra Nevada was the second American craft beer I ever had. Pete's Wicked being the first. The SNPA was the better of the two. Despite being a little overhopped for a Pale, it's still a damned good beer.
 
snpa is good stuff. Not my go to, but on occasion it's nice. I'm more interested in why people like blue moon white so much here. Can't stand it.:confused:
 
BBL_Brewer said:
It's just a great all around beer. SNPA is what got me interested in craft beer and ultimately homebrewing. Of course I'm from the midwest and when I first started to get a taste for good beer there wasn't much craft beer to choose from. SN beers also have a unique signature flavor that is hard to mimic. I've tried a few clone recipes and although they were great beers, they were not SNPA.
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x2 ... That's exactly my opinion too
 
SN makes quality beer at good prices. While new belgium, bells, Founders, 3 floyds and other sell at around $10 a sixer here, SN is usssually 8.99 with seasonals often at 6.99 or 7.99. Makes it a good go to beer. It is not my favorite Pale Ale, but it is very solid.
 
Guess I'm not seeing the overbearing "love" for either SNPA or Blue Moon here at HBT. Sure, both are readily available, and there are a few threads about them, but I see a lot more threads on specialty beers like DFH 120, Three Floyds' limited releases, Brew Dog, etc. Even the tiresome BMC bashing (during which Blue Moon sometimes gets mentioned) happens more often than SNPA "love."

However, both beers are readily available and different than American light lager (one significantly more than the other), though neither are REALLY strongly flavored, which make them attractive to those who prefer a lighter beer. So I do understand why they can be desirable to some.

I prefer neither, when other craft beer choices are available. I find SNPA too dry and Blue Moon a bit underwhelming.
 
It is probably mentioned (I can think of now 2 posts ever) because it is available just about everywhere in the continental US. And Sierra Nevada is the 2nd largest craft brewery in the US, and SNPA is their flagship, so more of it than any other fairly-hoppy beer in the country.
 
Yuri_Rage said:
Guess I'm not seeing the overbearing "love" for either SNPA or Blue Moon here at HBT. Sure, both are readily available, and there are a few threads about them, but I see a lot more threads on specialty beers like DFH 120, Three Floyds' limited releases, Brew Dog, etc. Even the tiresome BMC bashing (during which Blue Moon sometimes gets mentioned) happens more often than SNPA "love."
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Beezer94 said:
It is probably mentioned (I can think of now 2 posts ever) because it is available just about everywhere in the continental US. And Sierra Nevada is the 2nd largest craft brewery in the US, and SNPA is their flagship, so more of it than any other fairly-hoppy beer in the country.
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K... probably not as many threads as I thought. It's just not really a fav of mine and it seems to be mentioned alot. As a newbie homebrewer I didn't understand the deep foundations SN had in craft brewing, which is why I asked so hope I didn't offend anyone with the tone in my OP. :mug: Still doesn't make sense why Old Chicago would try to pair it with Guinness tho! :confused:
 
As previously mentioned, it is available all over. I know that if I walk into a place that has a mildly "independent" vibe to it, or is trying to "get with the times", that I can pick up either a SN, a Rogue, or a DFH. It doesn't have to be my favorite beer in the world, but I am eternally grateful that I can at least have a good beer. Additionally, it opens up a lot of conversation from people who want to know what I'm drinking.
 
I love SNPA. I find that if I'm somewhere with no other craft offerings, it's still available (and a good leap above most of Sam Adams offerings).

That said, I'd have a hard time seeing that in a Black and Tan myself. My preferred Black and Tan has always been Guinness and Smithwicks.
 
I love SNPA. To me it is the quintessential APA.

A poster mentioned it being too dry. To me that's how a pale ale is supposed to be: dry, crisp and hoppy. I think many breweries make their pale ales, and even more so their IPA's, way too malty. Sierra Nevada defined the style in America, and they seem to be one of the few who brew it the right way. At least in my opinion. ;)
 
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is the American Pale ale. It quite literally defined the style. Sierra Nevada has also done more for home brewing than any of brewery I can think of. On top of that, they are a stand up company, as environmental conscious as any company you'll ever find, and they make excellent beer.

You'll be hard pressed to find anything but love for Sierra Nevada because they are a hard brewery to hate.
 
I can honestly say snpa turned me on to craft beers. It was the first beer i fell in love with and didn't mind paying 10 bucks for the pitcher of it. I tried the other Sierra Nevada ales and they weren't as good as the pale ale. Whether people like it it not. I will agree its a great brew.
 
cmj141 said:
I can honestly say snpa turned me on to craft beers. It was the first beer i fell in love with and didn't mind paying 10 bucks for the pitcher of it. I tried the other Sierra Nevada ales and they weren't as good as the pale ale. Whether people like it it not. I will agree its a great brew.
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I think for a lot of us, SNPA is like your first real girlfriend. You've grown, changed, maybe you like something different now. She's grown, changed, and has been married multiple times and has 6 kids. That still doesnt change the fact that back when you were 16 she was the best thing you'd ever experienced, and she will always carry a special place in your heart as a result.

I don't really drink SNPA anymore, but I remember drinking my first one and going "What is *This*?" and getting that first real taste of just exactly what beer can be...

I don't know if that makes sense, but is makes sense to me, I've been drinking since 4:30 EST :p
 
hnsfeigel said:
Still doesn't make sense why Old Chicago would try to pair it with Guinness tho! :confused:
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Black and Tan is supposed to be Stout and Bitter. SNPA, although it is an American style pale ale isn't as crazy as it sounds. Plus, IMO its a much better beer than Bass (a pretty mediocre bitter) and Harp (a very bad lager).

Black and Tan has a much looser description than most would think.
 
I'm sure Guinness would love for everyone to buy into the "black and tan HAS to be Guinness and Harp!" thing...
 
I still love SNPA, but haven't had it in a while. Looking to make a pale ale myself and might just try a clone of that.

You'll find a wide variety of beers being used in a Black and Tan. Generally the Black is going to be Guinness, but the Tan varies a lot. Somewhere on the Internets is a huge list of different names given to the different combinations of beers.

I've always known Black and Tan as Guinness and Bass, but as long as they pour it right. I went to a place one time where the bartender simply poured the two of them together. WTF??

I had the waitress bring me two bottles and a glass and I showed her how to pour it right. She was impressed. The bartender was pissed.
 
SN has the best quality control out any craft brewery, combine that with one of the most simple and enjoyable west coast pales ales and they just dominate the category. I've almost never had an outdated SN PA.

The fact that the bottle condition is also a bonus to my health - so that's why I love it and others as well I gather.
 
hnsfeigel said:
Still doesn't make sense why Old Chicago would try to pair it with Guinness tho! :confused:
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probably cuz Old Chicago does a lot of things with food and drink that they shouldn't. have you had their 'pizza'? it's a disgrace to the city they took their name from, thus the reason us native Chicagoans never hear about Old Chicago Pizza until we move to another city.

and about SNPA, it's pretty much the definitive American Pale Ale, the one which others are judged by how they compare. not to mention, it's the flagship beer of one of the best known American microbreweries, and is known worldwide as one of the better examples of the style. now as for it being the tan in a black and tan, well, it makes as much sense as Harp, or some of the light lagers some places use in B&T's, but as far as i'm concerned if it's not made with a dry stout and an English pale, it's not really a B&T.
 
I pretty much concur with what "Yuri Rage" said. I see a whole lot more preoccupation with the "extreme" beers here on HBT than any large amount of discussion on SNPA (or any other PA, for that matter). I enjoy SNPA, along with several other commercial PAs, and it's high enough quality and been around so long it might even be termed a benchmark for the style.

At this point I will wax somewhat discursive, as this thread is already tending in that direction. I will be heading into my fifth year of homebrewing this spring. My first three years were spent making batches that hardly ever repeated a recipe. I suppose I was searching for what I liked, everything from hefes and belgians through PAs, IPAs to porters, stouts and barleywine.

Opening on season five, my plans involve perhaps 80% repeating recipes that I know, like, and are enjoyed by both myself and Mrs. Rico. Only a few recipes each in Spring & Fall are devoted to experiments, and neither the beers that have established themselves as regulars nor any of my experiments this Spring are clones of commercial beers. In fact, the only clone I made on purpose (a year ago last Fall) that was spot on and I've really enjoyed is the Founders Breakfast Stout in the recipe section. I enjoy it, but so seldom (ad it stretches my equipment to the limit) that I probably won't brew it again. My strangest experience with a new commercial beer, SN's Ruthless Rye, is that it's very close to a recipe I found on HBT several years ago (Ed Wort's BCB Rye IPA) and brew year-round. But that doesn't really count, since I brew the BCB Rye IPA and have for some time, and the SN is similar to it- so no cloning was involved, in fact, for all I know it was the other way around.

To get back around the long way to the subject of this thread, it still remains true that "There ain't no 'countin for taste."
 
SNPA is the gateway beer for many beergeeks. Don't ask me how, but the stereotypical frat guy who occasionally left the comfort of his "Bud light is better than Miller" deep discussions long enough the quaff a guinness or a corona (w/lime), now typically has a SNPA about as often as Guinness.

Unlike Guinness, SNPA seems to spark the "maybe there are other great beers I don't know about" thought where guinnes only inspired vaguely concieved and ill advised thoughts of playing rugby or viviting Ireland.
 
I drank it when I first started to brew. I bottle. A freaking 12 ounce bottle is $0.50 at the LHBS. SNPA is a little less than $1.00 a bottle around here. So, for another $0.50 I got beer with my bottles. It was worth $0.50 for a 12 ounce beer.
 
SNPA is a good pale ale, but I tell you this, don't try one after 22oz of West Coast IPA. After that palate wrecker, it tastes like BMC.
 
:off:

If anyone's feeling daring, try walking into a pub in the wrong part of Belfast and order a Black and Tan. And then duck. Or so I've been told.

If you look up the Wikipedia article on Black and Tans, you'll see why in the intro paragraph. Hah.
 
Qhrumphf said:
:off:

If anyone's feeling daring, try walking into a pub in the wrong part of Belfast and order a Black and Tan. And then duck. Or so I've been told.

If you look up the Wikipedia article on Black and Tans, you'll see why in the intro paragraph. Hah.
Click to expand...

I am well aware of what the Black & Tans were. I think this is one of those cases where a citation is needed for the original statement.
 

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