Hopped up in Chico

I learned a few things on our recent trek to Chico. One: hops taste terrible. Two: Sierra Nevada beer is tasty, tasty, tasty.

I could say the beer is tasty, tasty, tasty, tasty, tasty, tasty, tasty. That’s seven “tasty”s, one for each generous taste visitors are given when they take a free tour. But, frankly, I didn’t like all seven.

Sierra Nevada has been around for a couple of decades and has grown up to be one of the biggest microbreweries in the country. Independently owned, the brewery enjoys a large footprint in this pretty northern California college town that perches on the edge of the foothills.

 I was surprised at how much, being a non-beer drinker, I enjoyed this tour. Our guide was a young woman who apparently had a master’s degree from Chico State in something related to beer chemistry.

She took us through science of beer-making, able to answer questions from home brew hobbyists and beer aficionados (i.e. the many college students in our group) without losing the rest of us. We saw the hops room, where bales of hops were stored, and were escorted into various rooms where giant vats stewed and bubbled. It was Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory all grown up. No beer river to swim in, though, our tour guide noted.

The 90-minute tour was thorough and fun and included information on how the business was focusing on being energy and water efficient.

And, of course, there was beer.

One taste is handed out at the beginning of the tour. At the end, we were led into the tasting room and that’s where the other samples quickly flowed by tap into chilled glasses. 

Forgive me for not jotting down their names. I was busy tasting.

Sierra Nevada is known for being a little hoppy and bitter. Its Pale Ale, the one most often found in supermarkets, is the least bitter and was my favorite. There were six other increasingly bitter that we tasted, ending with a sludgy concoction known as Black Ale. I can’t explain how that left some smacking their lips and draining their glasses.

It’s also unexplainable how cops don’t patrol this area for DUIs but, as our driver, I was glad I didn’t drink all that was offered. The tasting glasses are generously filled. Not that anyone was complaining.

Note to future self: Remember to book a tour online in advance. We waited more than an hour to get on a tour and only got in because a group didn't show up on that rainy Saturday.