Why does..

It doesn't.

They didn't.

Either:

(1) Your pub/bar/retail store, or their distributor, doesn't keep it right and it's gone off,

or

(2) You've changed.

My money is on (2), because while SN has changed very little in the past 25 years, the competition has changed quite a bit, along with the tastes and expectations of beer geeks.

J> It doesn't.

Stig wrote:

Jon Binkley:

I assume we're talking about SN Pale Ale. (I like their Porter, but don't find it often.) I agree with Jon about Stig's probably changed (#2), not the beer. I find that wonderful: that we change and move on. Our taste buds change too. Or I should say: the circuit of taste buds brain changes, probably mostly due to physiological changes and our personalities. (Which are two sides of the same coin.)

SN Pale Ale was a revelation for me in 1990. Now it's sorta dull. It WAS a lesson for me though: I don't just dig heavy Stouts like Guinness, I like hoppy stuff as well. And now anything less than a double IPA just seems sorta dull to me. I may be different in five years though.

On the flip side: by 1985 you'd have to pay me to drink a can of Budweiser. But recently, during a heat wave, late at night our house was still 80 degrees. And I'd been drinking water and iced tea all day long. There were a few cans of Bud left over from a party in the back of the fridge. I tried it, and quite enjoyed it. It was like beer-water, and it was very cold and refreshing. I was surprised how much I liked it. But that's a special case...no pun intended. But I wasn't really drinking it as "beer." More like "something cold that's not water or tea."

You could be right about this, but it's interesting, I have two other friends who have complained about the same thing about it (Sierra Nevada Pale Ale). I think I first tried it from tap, but the bottled stuff seems so, ah, bitter..Not sure how else to put it. But my beer taste has definitely changed in general, so I cannot argue with that..c

Well, then there's a third possibility. Bottled and draft SNPA are actually two different beers, not simply two different presentations of the same beer. I actually like the bottled version somewhat better-- I think the bottle conditioning makes it a bit fresher tasting-- but of course, your mileage may vary.

If there's one thing about SN beers, imho, they have always been consistently very good and for my area,(big mega brew loving town) consistently fresh.

Their Summerfest Ale has been one of my staples for this exceedingly hot summer.

Summerfest is a lager-- unfortunately, the only one they seem to bottle anymore (I miss their Pale Bock). I agree Summerfest was quite good (and refreshing) this year.

Oops. My bad.

unfortunately, the only one they seem

The bottled SN Pale Ale *is* bitterer than the draft one. Also I think its alcohol content is a touch higher.

I think SN's bottled regular beers taste the same from one six pack to the next, assuming they're fresh and well-kept. However, some of Sierra Nevada's seasonals, especially their Celebration Ale and Bigfoot barleywine, do seem to vary a bit from one year to the next. Just about every beergeek I talked to agreed that the last Bigfoot was particularly good.