Beer and Wine April Newsletter: Brewery of the Month
Love hoppy beers? It seems like almost everyone does these days, so I wanted to highlight a brewery that is very dear to me, both as a native Chicoan and as a hoppy beer fan. The Sierra Nevada Brewing Company was founded by Ken Grossman and Paul Camusi (who has since retired and sold his share back to Ken) in 1979 in Chico, California. Ken had developed a passion for fermenting from his childhood friend's father in Southern California, and brought his hobby with him to Northern California when he relocated to Chico after falling in love with the town during a north state bicycle trip.
Back in the late 70s, there was no such thing as a “micro-brewery”, and there was no equipment that one could buy to start up a small-scale brewery, so Mr Grossman traveled all over northern California and Oregon buying old stainless steel dairy equipment and scrap metal. He taught himself to weld, repurposed all those old tanks and vats, and viola! The Sierra Nevada Brewing Company was formed. His first brew was a stout, the recipe of which has changed very little over the last 30 or so years, but then on new ground, it was the American-style, hop-forward pale ale that was the first official batch in 1980. Generously hopped with Cascade cones that Ken originally sourced from Washington state himself, called simply Pale Ale, this brew is still to this day the one that all other pale ales are measured against.
That first year, they sold 950 barrels. The next year they doubled that and introduced their first IPA, called Celebration, which is still brewed and released as Sierra's winter seasonal. Today, Sierra Nevada produces over 800,000 barrels of beer per year and employs 450 people.
In 2010, Sierra Nevada won the “Green Business of the Year” award from the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Having over 10,000 solar panels covering its rooftops and parking lot, they use 2.6 megawatts of solar electricity on the premises (they produce an estimated 80-90% of their own power at the brewery) and built their own water treatment plant so that they can reuse their own spent water as irrigation for their organic hop farm.
This is the origin story of the explosion of hop-bombs all across the country today; we owe their success to Ken Grossman and we are proud to carry their beers. Come on in to see what new offerings are available.