Heartily agree. My parents were on a raft trip with the owner of Sierra Nevada and I guess he brought some of the Anniversary ale along with him (27th anniversary too, kinda strange). Needless to say they brought a case when I saw them the following week. Also, if you're a Sierra Nevada fan, and you live in Nor Cal. Keep your eyes open for Pale Bock in the late spring. It's basically fantastic, and seasonal/local only.

Umm what? Sierra Nevada, Fat Tire, Anchor Steam, Redhook....

These guys might have _used_ to be microbrews, but they aren't any longer. Craft brew is really the only distinction these days between the big three and decent tasting beers.

And if you do like Sierra Nevada over Sam Adams (and honestly, choosing an entire company as being better than any other company when it comes to beer is stupid), it's most likely because Sierra Nevada brews a lot less beer than Sam Adams (I'd be shocked if this wasn't true, but have no proof that it is). I know Sierra Nevada had to switch to a pop-top cap recently because the twist-offs let in too much oxygen. Distance from brewery is a big one too. Beer tends to taste a lot better fresh than after a week of shipping in some delivery truck.

Odd. I actually took a tour of the Redhook brewery two weekends ago and learned that Anheuser Bush actually owns a third of Redhook and because of this, the Redhook beers are tied to the Budweiser distribution network. This is apparently (if you believe my tour guide) the largest distribution network in the world, surpassing even coca cola.

I've never really spent time in the center of the country, or in the south, but I do know it's pretty easy to find Sierra Nevada in Boston and NYC. Same with Redhook. I might think it's more to do with the actual beers themselves, as a Sam Adams is still a lager, and not particularly strong, while Sierra Nevada doesn't really make any beer without a signature taste. Redhook's ESB is pretty mild though, so I can't explain that.

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If you look down at craft beers, you'll notice that Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale sells more than Sam Adams Boston Lager.

Now, while the Boston Brewing Company has a much larger overall production, I think it's hard to argue that somehow Boston Lager is a mass market beer while Sierra Nevada is not, anecdotal evidence as to where you can find what beer to the contrary. Especially since both dwarf in comparison to the big 3 (90% of domestic beer sales - the next 47 companies account for 8% ). Of the top 50 breweries, Sam Adams ranks 8th and Sierra Nevada 10th. They're really not that different in terms of production, especially when viewed relative to the industry as a whole.