Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
| Sierra Nevada Brewing Company | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Chico, CA United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Opened | 1979 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Annual production volume | 680,000 barrels | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Owned by | Ken Grossman (independent) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Sierra Nevada Brewing Company was established in 1979 (with its first beer sold in February 1981) by homebrewers Ken Grossman and Paul Camusi.
History
Camusi retired in 1998 and sold his share in the company to Grossman. Located in Chico, California, Sierra Nevada Brewing is one of the most popular craft breweries currently operating in the United States. Their Pale Ale is world renowned, and the brewery produces almost 700,000 barrels of beer per year. Their specialty brews include the winter brew Celebration, like the pale ale only hoppier with hints of oak and cinnamon, and Summerfest, which is citrusy and sunny. Their beer is consistently rated high in BeerAdvocate.com's Top 25 list, and has been featured on many television shows, including Friends and Sex in the City. In 1989, after moving the brewery to its current location, Ken added The Sierra Nevada Taproom and Restaurant, which serves lunch and dinner. More recently the brewery opened "The Big Room", a live music venue located inside the brewery's facilities, and featuring world-class acts from country, bluegrass, folk, rock, blues and other musical genres.
The facility is to be entirely fuel cell powered by 2007.
The Sierra Nevada Brewing Company's Pale Ale is the second best-selling craft beer in the United States, behind the Boston Beer Company's Samuel Adams Boston Lager.
The brewmaster is Steve Dresler who has been with the brewery since 1983 when their output was 25 to 30 barrels a week. While commonly referred to as a microbrewery, their production has outgrown that label and they are more properly called a craft brewery.
Sierra Nevada has sponsored a professional bicycle racing team since 2001, now co-sponsored by Kodak EasyShare Gallery.
Beers
Sierra Nevada Classics
Pale Ale
- Alcohol Content: 5.6% by volume
- Beginning Gravity: 13.0 Plato
- Ending Gravity: 2.8 Plato
- Bitterness Units: 37
- Yeast: Top-fermenting Ale Yeast
- Bittering Hops: Magnum & Perle
- Finishing Hops: Cascade
- Malts: Two-row Pale & Caramel
Porter
- Alcohol Content: 5.6% by volume
- Beginning Gravity: 14.5 Plato
- Ending Gravity: 3.8 Plato
- Bitterness Units: 40
- Yeast: Top-fermenting Ale Yeast
- Bittering Hops: Goldings
- Finishing Hops: Willamette
- Malts: Two-row Pale, Munich, Chocolate & Caramel
Wheat
- Alcohol Content: 4.4% by volume
- Beginning Gravity: 11.5 Plato
- Ending Gravity: 2.3 Plato
- Bitterness Units: 27
- Yeast: Top-fermenting Ale Yeast
- Bittering Hops: Perle
- Finishing Hops: Spalt
- Malts: Two-row Pale, Dextrin & Wheat
Stout
- Alcohol Content: 5.8% by volume
- Beginning Gravity: 16.0 Plato
- Ending Gravity: 4.8 Plato
- Bitterness Units: 60
- Yeast: Top-fermenting Ale Yeast
- Bittering Hops: Magnum
- Finishing Hops: Cascade & Willamette
- Malts: Two-row Pale, Munich, Caramel & Black
Seasonals
ESB (Early Spring Beer)
- Alcohol Content: 5.9% by volume
- Beginning Gravity: 14.9 Plato
- Ending Gravity: 3.6 Plato
- Bitterness Units: 45-46
- Yeast: Top-fermenting Ale Yeast
- Bittering Hops: English Challenger
- Finishing English Challenger & East Kent Goldings
- Dry Hopping: English Challenger
- Malts: Two-row Pale, Maris Otter & Crystal
Summerfest
- Alcohol Content: 5.0% by volume
- Beginning Gravity: 11.8 Plato
- Ending Gravity: 2.8 Plato
- Bitterness Units: 32
- Yeast: Bottom-fermenting Lager Yeast
- Bittering Hops: Perle & Saaz
- Finishing Hops: Saaz
- Malts: Two-row Pale, Dextrin & Munich
Anniversary Ale
- Alcohol Content: 5.9% by volume
- Beginning Gravity: 14.9 Plato
- Ending Gravity: 3.5 Plato
- Bitterness Units: 46
- Yeast: Top-fermenting Ale Yeast
- Bittering Hops: Chinook
- Finishing Hops: Cascade
- Dry Hopping: Cascade
- Malts: Two-row Pale, Caramel & Munich
Celebration Ale
- Alcohol Content: 6.8% by volume
- Beginning Gravity: 16.0 Plato
- Ending Gravity: 4.0 Plato
- Bitterness Units: 62
- Yeast: Top-fermenting Ale Yeast
- Bittering Hops: Chinook
- Finishing Hops: Cascade & Centennnial
- Dry Hopping: Cascade, Centennial & Chinook
- Malts: Two-row Pale, English Caramel & Dextrin
Limited Selections
Bigfoot Barleywine Style Ale
- Alcohol Content: 9.6% by volume
- Beginning Gravity: 23.0 Plato
- Ending Gravity: 6.0 Plato
- Bitterness Units: 90
- Yeast: Top-fermenting Ale Yeast
- Bittering Hops: Chinook
- Finishing Hops: Cascade & Centennnial
- Dry Hopping: Cascade, Centennial & Chinook
- Malts: Two-row Pale, English Caramel & Dextrin
Harvest Ale
Specialty Drafts
Pale Bock
- Alcohol Content: 7.0% by volume
- Maibock/Helles Bock Style
India Pale Ale
- Alcohol Content: 6.9%
- Bittering Hops: Magnum
- Finishing Hops: Goldings
- Dry Hopping: Goldings
- Malts: English
Brown Ale
- Hops: Goldings
Crystal Wheat
- Malts: 65% wheat malt, 35% barley malt
Blonde Ale
- Hops: Perle, Styrian Goldings
- Malts: Maris Otter English
Best Bitter Ale
Ruthless Weiss Beer
- Unfiltered
