Sierra Nevada is calling a time-out on Sufferfest, the athletic-inspired, better-for-you craft beer brand it acquired nearly two years ago.
“As we enter 2021, we are pausing production to explore what’s next for Sufferfest Beer Company,” the company wrote on its website. “As such, we do not plan to release any beers this year. As athletes know, the path to success is rarely a straight line, and it is time to find our bearing.”
First reported in Good Beer Hunting, Sufferfest is the most recent in a series of would-be competitors to Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Michelob Ultra to cease production. In July, Molson Coors Beverage Company announced its Saint Archer Gold brand would “hibernate” after half a year of disappointing sales. In the fall of 2019, Boston Beer stopped production of its running inspired Marathon Brewing Company 26.2 Brew.
Michelob Ultra, which has placed a heavy emphasis on fitness in its marketing, is the second best selling beer in the U.S., with off-premise dollar sales of $2.583 billion year-to-date through November 29, according to market research firm IRI. And non-alcoholic beer, which also leans into health and wellness consumer trends, has seen its dollar sales increase 38.8%, to $174 million year-to-date, according to IRI.
Sufferfest was founded by Caitlin Landesberg in 2016 as a “functional” beer brand with styles named for running terms, such as Taper IPA and Shakeout Blonde Ale. The beers were gluten-reduced and brewed with ingredients to aid in post-workout recovery, such as sodium and bee pollen.
Sierra Nevada acquired the company — the first and only such deal in the Chico, California-headquartered brewery’s 40-year history — in February 2019, giving it a toehold in the health and wellness world without having to compromise the full flavors it’s known for.
“They see the opportunity,” Landesberg told Brewbound after the acquisition was announced. “Enlisting a creative agency to develop an athletic beer or brand for them wouldn’t be part of their DNA.”
A spokesperson for Sierra Nevada declined to comment beyond the statement on Sufferfest’s website. But the move comes as larger craft breweries are reevaluating their priorities within their portfolios. Boston Beer Company’s Dogfish Head recently announced plans to shelve 120 Minute IPA, as well as SuperEIGHT fruit gose, Midas Touch and Palo Santo Marron. Deschutes announced plans to discontinue its cocktail-inspired flavored malt beverage line Modified Theory in September.
Sufferfest most likely lost that focus as consumers shifted their purchasing and supply chains tightened.
Sufferfest’s swansong aside, 2020 has been good for Sierra Nevada. Portfolio-wide dollar off-premise sales have increased 19.2%, to $299 million, year-to-date, according to IRI. About a third of that is from sales of its flagship, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, dollar sales of which have increased 6.7% through the end of November, landing it at the No. 2 spot on IRI’s Top 30 craft bands.
Three other Sierra Nevada brands have also made the Top 30: Hazy Little Thing IPA at No. 7, Torpedo Extra IPA at No. 17 and Sierra Nevada seasonal at No. 27.
Hazy Little Thing IPA, which is completing its third year on shelves, had one of the strongest growth years in craft beer, with dollar sales increasing 749.% to $86.8 million year-to-date, according to IRI.
With the success of Hazy Little Thing IPA comes the expansion of the Hazy franchise, with Big Little Thing, a 9% ABV imperial IPA.
Icing Sufferfest also doesn’t mean an exit from the better-for-you space. In February 2020, the company launched Strainge Beast Hard Kombucha, and the company will launch three new flavors in 2021. In the future, Sierra Nevada will roll out Agua Azul Hard Seltzer, a company spokesperson confirmed. The news was first reported by Hard Seltzer News.
Note: this story originally said that Agua Azul would launch in 2021, but the Sierra Nevada team could not confirm the forthcoming hard seltzer’s debut date.