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

Tap at the Archer:Sparkling brown,beige head. Great malt nose. Lots of malt, lots of hops,light alcohol heat, huge long hop end.Great lace

Tried from Draft on 25 Nov 2002 at 09:56


7.8
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8

2021 release: As noted below, in 2006, I haven't been keeping notes on this beer though I do drink it every year. I've been hearing yet again that its sweeter, more malt forward than previous years, but I gotta say, my notes, mental or written, do not bear this out. This has always been a 80s/90s style American ale, full of the classic C-hop citrus and pine notes, and a fullish malt body charged with crystal malt. It was never a west coast IPA, and we shouldn't pretend it was. 2006 Beer: I apparently haven’t made a habit of making notes across years, but I wanted to make a note this year, as other have noted, the hops seem just a tad a muted this year. On the whole though, I like it like that, it seems more balanced to me. There also seems to be no lack of finishing bitterness. Lastly, I noted a sweaty/cheesy element that I might attribute to stale hops, which could account for the reduction in finishing hop character. 2002 Beer: Alot more hop bitterness than before, but the hop aromatics and flavors seem muted by the bitterness. Sweet round malt up front works, but is quickly overpowered by the bitterness. No subtlety, just a large bitter hammer. No more hint at lemon rind or citrus, no layers of hop flavor other than intense resin. I wonder if they’ve not been influenced by the recent wave of Imperial IPA’s and their whopping 100 IBU’s. Numbers are going down this year. Appearance is fine: bright amber, hazy, extra large stiff creamy head. 2001: Its all here this year. Nice reddish tinted gold color, with large rocky almost creamy head that holds together forever, and thick lace in the glass. There is a sweetish caramel malt presence in this beer, but its damned hard to pay any attention to it, because this beer is all about hops. Aroma blasts you with spicy citrusy hops, and the flavor is tingly all over the mouth, with notes of grapefruit, pepper, and lemon zest, with a bitterness that is somewhat like you’d expect from chewing on a lemon rind. Outside of the hop flavor, this beer actually isn’t really bitter. Its very well balanced in that department, actually. 2000 brewing: This as always remains a world-class IPA. Nicely bitter, but its the hop flavor and aroma that really make this one fun. The malt is firmly present and keeps a nice balance.

Tried from Can on 19 Nov 2002 at 13:32


7.9
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8.5

Those hops really smack you in the face, wow! This is very complex and malty. It''s almost as good as Victory Hop Devil. It tastes very similar, but with the hop factor magnified.

Tried on 06 Nov 2002 at 18:59


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

Updated: Copper gold copper, huge white creamy head, which left an inch high dollop in the bottom of the glass when I had finished. Light malty and musty aroma, with some fruitiness and a tingle of citric hops. Flavor was light and balanced, with a touch of light fruity malt and tingly hops. Creamy malt palate. Not as great as I remember it, but still a pretty good beer, and one of the best with such a wide distribution.

Tried on 30 Oct 2002 at 09:29


6.8
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

Rerate from tap at FB. Clear Bright deep golden, golden cream. Dry leafy hops, grass, a hint pine. A bit chalk, pilsneriish finish., 6 3 7 3 14 From Tap: Tasted it when too cold. Dark amber hue. Nice full, hoppy taste. A bit like lemon ice tea.

Tried from Draft on 21 Oct 2002 at 10:00


7
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

Very dark but not opaque. Slight shade of garnet showing through. Huge creamy dark tan head, lasts forever with heavy lacing. Rich malty aroma with caramel notes, plus some cinnamon and spicy hops. Smooth presence up front, a little sharp and tangy with medium roasted flavors. Predominantly dry. Heavy mouthfeel and strongly bitter finish. Like their porter, there's an almost plastic-like aftertaste but not as pronounced. Still, a finish twanginess is not altogether pleasant.

Tried on 07 Oct 2002 at 07:13


8.5
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 8

One of the very first US microbrews I sampled. By then I was knocked over by it's hoppiness, but immediately fell in love with the citrusy hop aroma, combined with the lightish body and overpowering bitterness. A couple of thousand beers later I don't find it very dramatical anymore, just pleasant and balanced.

Tried on 05 Sep 2002 at 07:26


6.2
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Rerate: Cloudy yellow color (if you swirl the sediment in). Crisp and somewhat citrusy (lemon) with some body, and more flavor (mostly a zesty maltiness) than most clean American wheats. But still, as a clean American Wheat, it is somewhat bland, and lacks distinction.

Tried from Can on 15 Aug 2002 at 10:01


6.4
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

2002 draught. Probably one of my least favorite styles of beer, but Sierra Nevada does a good job. had it on tap, and it was good. Had a good round malt character, good bitter notes, with an even character and of course. . . hops.

Tried from Draft on 09 Jul 2002 at 12:05


6.6
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

2002 draught. Wow, hop_sing really liked this one, i better try it again, but i had it on tap and was left thinking. whats so special about this? just another good AIPA. seems like SN ran out of ideas for this one and just made a modest traditional AIPA. certainly nothing wrong with that though. 6/3/6/3/12
Draught 4/16/05Been a looooong time since I had this last, so was interested to see it on draught at American Flatbread. Chewier, caramelier malt than I recall, with juicy hops flavor and light yeast nuances. Yes it is well made, but perhaps a touch two-toned (juicy/floral hops...caramel malt). But I like juicy, flavorful hops much more than I like beat you over the head bitter hops. Medium-full body. Golden-amber-caramel color, white head, some retention. Creamy mouthfeel. 7/4/7/4/14

Tried from Draft on 09 Jul 2002 at 12:03