Sierra Nevada Brewing Company

Commercial Brewery in Chico, California, United States 🇺🇸
Associated with 4 Venues

Established in 1979

Contact
1075 E 20th St, Chico, CA, 95928, United States
Subsidiaries
Sierra Nevada Brewing Company owns 1 brewery:
Description
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. was founded in 1979, with founders Ken Grossman and Paul Camusi expanding their homebrewing hobby into a brewery. Sierra Nevada is considered one of the earliest and most influential breweries which spawned the craft beer movement of the 1980s-90s.

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8.4
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8.5 | Flavor - 8.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

Bottle, 2025 vintage. Rich roasted malt aroma with notes of dark chocolate, coffee, licorice and molasses. Pours inky black with a thin mocha brown head that has little retention and a thin ring of lacing. Starts with roasted malt, licorice and molasses flavors as well as having a rich, full body and slick, viscous mouthfeel. Finishes quite smooth with dark chocolate and coffe flavors. Very nice imperial stout.

Tried from Bottle from J&K Liquor on 23 Mar 2026 at 00:41


7.8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Bottle from Hi Time, Costa Mesa. Drank at my mate Joe's place on 21st March 2026. Lovely beer all round, clean and clear amber body, off white crown. Boozy, malty and far too easy to drink for a 9.6% ABV

Tried from Bottle from Hi-Time Wine Cellars on 21 Mar 2026 at 21:00


6.5

Tried from Can on 21 Mar 2026 at 14:42


7.1
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 6.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7

Pale yellow with small white head and strong effervescence. Milk, barley malt, grass, and orange peel aroma. Moderately sweet citrus, creamy barley malt, and moderately bitter grass and orange peel flavor. Good body.

Tried from Can on 20 Mar 2026 at 23:55


7.4
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7.5

Creamy white good mostly lasting head. yellow colour. Moderate malty and hoppy aroma. Heavy bitter flavor. Long heavy bitter finish. Oily palate.

Tried from Can on 18 Mar 2026 at 10:07


6.8
Appearance - 9 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5.5 | Texture - 9 | Overall - 6.5

Can from Ingles mix a six. Sometimes old, sometimes fresh, sometimes I can't read the born on date, sometimes they're not stamped. Sat in the fridge a few months anyway. Pint glass at home while roasting some corned beef.

Big, cascading head. Slow to recede.
Sweet oj, pineapple, fresh grapefruit, maybe pog-adjacent smell, some confectionary.
OJ & beer mimosa flavor, sweet red grapefruit, moderate herbal astringency middle end, some actual grapefruit pith on the tail, a twinge of sourness & a hint of very faint orange oil. Really juicy but fails during the team-building exercise & now we can't win the dumb gift card. Not everything new needs to be sweet.
Frothy, solid carb, good acidity, just enough bite.

Okay enough.

Tried from Can from Ingles Market - Asheville on 17 Mar 2026 at 22:41


6.6
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6.5 | Flavor - 6.5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

2026 vintage
12 oz. bottle
9.6% ABV
Packaged on: 12/12/25
$13.49 6-pk @ Publix

Note: The brewer states that this beer will continue to develop in the bottle for years to come. Which is why I indicated the vintage that I am reviewing.

AROMA: Mildly sweet, with mild floral scents, bread, spice, and hops.

APPEARANCE: Pours an deep amber with a 4-finger, tight-frothed, tan head that dissipates very slowly with excellent lacing. Very inviting!

TASTE: As the beer first touches my palate, I get a brief sense of sweetness that is immediately overcome by moderate-to-high levels of bitterness. Individual flavors are somewhat masked by the bitterness, but I get faint flavors of grass, malt, and caramel.

MOUTHFEEL: Full-bodied with a smooth, creamy texture at the beginning of a sip and then it transitions to a much coarser texture. Which is probably due to the bitterness level and the ultra-dry finish. Carbonation is average.

OVERALL: I've only had a few barleywine beers over the years, so I am certainly no expert on them. But I find this one to taste nothing like the others I've tried in the past. This one is very hoppy and tastes more like an or American strong ale than a barleywine beer. I was genuinely excited to try this beer because I haven't had a barleywine beer in ages, and thought this would be a nice change of pace. But I found myself disappointed because, to me, this was just another hop-forward ale .

The beer is actually a well made beer. It just wasn't what I expected for a barleywine beer, nor anything I would have bought had I known what it was truly like. I've tried many other beers from this brewer, and have enjoyed the vast majority of them. However, I won't be buying this again. Simply because it doesn't fit the barleywine style, or at least not my interpretation of the style. I have a few bottles left so I will let them develop in the bottle, for a year or two, and give them another try. But I'm not holding my breath.

Tried from Bottle from Publix - Winter Springs Town Center on 15 Mar 2026 at 17:38


6.8
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 6.5 | Flavor - 6.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7

Month old can
A: Lightly hazed pale dirty gold with a tall ragged white head. Good retention and elaborate lacing.
S: Sharp citric and floral aroma suggests grapefruit and wafer cookies.
T: Tart and lightly bitter. Heavy grapefruit and pith but with just a slight balancing sweetness.
M: Very light and softly carbonated with the familiar "feathery" mouthfeel but no hop burn.
O: A light hazy with no pineapple, peach or hop burn? Count me in!

Tried from Can on 14 Mar 2026 at 22:10


6.3
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Dose 0,355l: Helles Goldgelb, dezente Trübung, kräftiger stabiler mittelporiger Schaum; leicht fruchtige + malzige Nase, leichte Süße, Zitrusnoten, helle/eingelegte Früchte, florale/grasige Hopfennoten, Malz, Karamell, etwas Honig, leichte Hefearomen, Kuchenteig, fruchtig-malzige Bitterkeit; frischer + leicht fruchtiger Körper, leichte Zitrusnoten, helle/grüne Früchte, florale/grasige Hopfennoten, leicht kräutrig, Limettenabrieb, Malz, Getreide, spritzig, deutliche Kohlensäure, leichte Hefearomen, Brot, Brotkruste; malzig-trockener Nachgang

Tried from Can from Craftbeer Shop on 14 Mar 2026 at 11:18


7.5

Tried from Can from Beyond Beer on 13 Mar 2026 at 22:57