Sierra Nevada’s 2026 Festival Lineup Is Here — And It’s Delicious
Legendary Brew Returns: Sierra Nevada x Blues & Brews 2026
We’re hoppin’ with excitement! The Telluride Blues & Brews Festival is proud to welcome back our longtime partner and craft beer icon — Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. — for another unforgettable year in the San Juan sun.
A true OG in the craft beer world, Sierra Nevada has been brewing bold, award-winning beer since 1980. With state-of-the-art breweries in both Chico, California and Mills River, North Carolina, their passion for quality and innovation hasn’t just set the bar — it built it. From sustainability efforts to legendary hops, Sierra Nevada continues to lead the pack, one pint at a time.
HERE’S WHAT THEY’RE POURING THIS YEAR:
Prepare your palate for a killer lineup of festival-ready brews, including:
Premium PILS Lager – Crisp, clean, and made for mountain sunshine
Pale Ale – The iconic hop-forward classic that started it all
Hazy Little Thing IPA – Juicy, unfiltered, and full of citrusy swagger
River Ride IPA - Lean into rapids of tropical hops, then kick back with a crisp finish
Mango Little Thing IPA – The hops drive, the mango shines, and each sip is lush and refreshing.
Go Two Low-Alc IPA - Half the strength. All the flavor.
OKTOBERFEST Festbier – A special collab brew that’s rich, malty, and made to toast with
Trail Pass NA IPA – A non-alcoholic IPA that packs all the flavor, none of the fuzz
WHERE TO FIND THEM:
Sip your way through the fest at the Sierra Nevada Beer Truck, VIP bars, House of Brews, Blues Stage bars — and the exclusive Camp Pale Ale.
Whether you're here for a juicy IPA, something crisp and sessionable, or a non-alcoholic brew that doesn’t hold back, Sierra Nevada’s got a beer for every kind of festival-goer. Come thirsty — and come ready to cheers to the mountains, music, and magic of Blues & Brews 2026!
Step Inside the Camp Pale Ale Craft Beer Lounge
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is proud to present the Camp Pale Ale Craft Beer Lounge — your exclusive gateway to rare, small-batch, and vintage brews you won’t find just anywhere. During the festival, Sierra Nevada will tap into their vaults to unveil limited-release beers typically only available at their Chico, CA or Mills River, NC breweries — plus a few surprises brewed just for special events like this one. And yes, the classic Pale Ale will be flowing too.
These beers are available in very limited quantities. So swing by early and often to see what’s pouring!
West Ghost IPA - A modern apparition of the classic West Coast IPA. This beer’s a fresh take with aggressive hops, understated malt, and a clean finish that disappears as quick as it came. Hauntingly hoppy, ghoulishly good. Let it be known: West Ghost is in the house. 7.2% ABV | 60 IBU
Barrel Aged Narwal Imperial Stout - We sent our original Narwhal Imperial Stout into bourbon-barrel hibernation. After nearly a year, Narwhal rises from the dark depths of our cellar, transformed with notes of oak, vanilla, and coconut layered onto the Stout's malt flavors of dark chocolate and espresso. It’s all in the barrel-aged beauty sleep. 11.9% | IBU 55
Boat Plane West Coast Pilsner - It’s a boat; it’s a plane—no, it’s a Boat Plane West Coast Pilsner. A true hybrid, this beer soars with IPA hop character and Pilsner drinkability. Krush, Citra, and CTZ hops provide dank citrus flavors, while a decidedly Pilsner malt bill keeps things smooth. Enjoy the ride. 6.0% ABV
Reader Choice West Coast IPA – Collaboration with Russian River Brewing, Info coming soon! Be amonst the first to try the beer at the Telluride Blues & Brews Festival.
LavaLamp Double Hazy IPA - Lava Lamp Double Hazy IPA is a retro-styled 8.2% ABV imperial hazy craft beer featuring a thick body and bold tropical fruit flavors. 8.2% ABV 49 IBU
Let’s take a closer look at the lineup…
Premium PILS Lager
ABV: 4.7%, IBU 25
Ken Grossman started Sierra Nevada with a purpose: Bring together the craftsmanship of European brewing with distinctive American flavor. That’s exactly what we set out to do with PILS. Like the legendary European pilsners that inspired us, PILS is brewed with precision and balance. Its brilliant clarity and tight, white foam reveal our commitment to quality, from selecting the purest ingredients to our brewing process. Each sip reveals a smooth, crisp body with just the right amount of sweetness, a pleasant hop character, and hints of citrus peel, all leading to an endlessly refreshing finish.
Pale Ale
5.6% ABV, IBU 38
Pale Ale’s unique piney and grapefruit aromas from the use of whole-cone American hops have fascinated beer drinkers for decades.
Hazy Little Thing IPA
6.7% ABV, IBU 40
This is hazy with modest bitterness and intense hop character. Making an unfiltered hop bomb may seem crazy, but to us, it’s a hazy little thing called IPA.
River Ride IPA
ABV 6.2% IBU 43
Lean into rapids of tropical hops, then kick back with a crisp finish.
Mango Little Thing IPA
ABV 6% IBU 20
Mango Little Thing bursts with tropical hops, bringing bright flavors of mango, citrus, and stone fruit to this hazy IPA. The hops drive, the mango shines, and each sip is lush and refreshing. ABV 6% IBU 20
OKTOBERFEST - COLLABORATION FESTBIER
ABV 6%, IBU 25
Each year, we partner with a German brewer to create a traditional Oktoberfest, but this modern Festbier breaks the mold. A collaboration with innovative Bavarian brewer, Hoppebräu, our 2026 Oktoberfest is lightly dry-hopped for a hint of floral character, balanced by biscuity flavor thanks to Munich malt. But it won’t last long; this seasonal beer will be gone before you can say prost!
Go Two Low-Alc IPA
ABV 2.8% | IBU 32
Half the strength. All the flavor. Go-Two IPA brings bright citrus and tropical hop character at just 2.8% ABV, giving you the full craft beer experience in a lighter, more drinkable IPA so you can enjoy a few without compromising tomorrow.
Trail Pass - NA IPA
ABV <0.5%, IBU 35
Grab a Trail Pass and start a new adventure with miles of flavor. Explore the hoppy notes of citrus and pine from Amarillo® and CTZ varieties in non-alcoholic Trail Pass IPA. The silky malt body and clean hop bitterness are just what you’d expect from a world-class Sierra Nevada IPA, yet it’s less than 0.5% ABV.
“It meets all of our criteria for what we would consider a craft IPA—not necessarily even a craft non-alcoholic IPA, but a craft IPA,” says James Conery, Innovation Brewmaster at Sierra Nevada.
Trail Pass uses traditional brewing methods, not alcohol removal, to create full craft flavor below the 0.5% ABV non-alcoholic threshold.