Tehama - The Magazine

4 TEHAMA - THE MAGAZINE, May 2019 by Mandy Feder-Sawyer What began as a teenager's experiment that Ken Grossman hid from his mother in 1969 with a home-brewing kit, has turned into an international phenomenon in the beer world. Coupled with his love of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Grossman created Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., leaving his home in Los Angeles and heading north to Chico. By 1976, Grossman took a gamble and opened a home- brew shop that evolved into today's gold standard for business all over the globe. Sierra Nevada made its first trial batch of beer, five barrels of Stout, in 1980. Grossman built his brew house from scratch, mainly using recycled dairy equipment. He had to test his handy work with something rich and heavy. It was followed by the now-famous Sierra Nevada Pale Ale that sparked the American craft beer revolution. In 1983, Sierra Nevada startled onlookers with its malt-and-hops giant, Bigfoot, clocking in at nearly 10-percent ABV and 100 IBU. The Barleywine-style ale became a cult classic. "The goal was simple when we started: make incredible beer. But there's more at stake, so we brew and do business like the planet's future depends on it, because it does," Grossman stated. Tours of Sierra Nevada open up a world of ingenuity. Nearly everything is recycled. It's called locking the loop; everything from steam to shrink-wrap is recycled. But aside from the usual tour information, there's plenty going on behind the scenes. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. has been working to reduce its carbon footprint by shifting a great deal of transportation to more eco-friendly modes. The company began importing grains from Canada on its own rail spur completed off of the main Union Pacific Railroad line. The brewery boasts a biodiesel processor. All used vegetable oil from the Sierra Nevada Restaurant and Taproom is collected and processed on-site into a useable alternative fuel. It is used in the company's fleet to help offset the consumption of conventional diesel. F the le of be Sierra Nevada sets the standard for sustainability, quality, fun

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