Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

As with many craft beer breweries, Sierra Nevada is also run by a passionate hobby brewer. Hardly anyone has had as much success with their company in such a short time as Ken Grossmann. The American started as a teenager in his bedroom and is now at the top of the American craft beer breweries with Sierra Nevada.

Great, greater, Ken

From the beginning, Ken Grossman was a wild boy. He was always enthusiastic about technology and took apart everything that his mother couldn't put away fast enough. When he wasn't busy tinkering, Ken was out in the wilderness with his friends. Their territory was the Sierra Nevada mountains, whose raw, untouched nature fascinated the boys. However, Los Angeles soon lost its appeal and Ken, who happened to meet Chico in California on a road trip, decided to move there on a whim. It was through a friend's father that Ken first came into contact with home-brewed beer and the process of brewing captivated him immediately and never let go. The brewing equipment he had collected up to that point moved with him to Chico and became the basis of his small shop for brewing supplies. Here he supplied hobby brewers with everything their hearts desired and even gave brewing courses. His own home brew continued to develop in parallel. In addition to his friends and acquaintances, strangers also began to ask for his beer. In 1980, the time finally came: Ken built his own brewery out of old milk kettles and other recycled items and brewed his first official beer. He even bought his own German brewery, but was only able to install it years after he had bought it and shipped it to America because he didn't have the money to do so. In 1987, the time finally came and the new brewery brought with it an increase in enquiries. Today, Ken can hardly keep up with demand. No wonder, after all, he brews excellent beers like his Pale Ale or the Torpedo Extra IPA .

Hey Chico!

When Americans hear "Hey Chico," they immediately think of Ken's beer. Sierra Nevada in Chico, California, is one of the most popular craft breweries in the USA. The Californians stand for the real, innovative beer experience from overseas. But that doesn't mean they've been an insider tip for a long time. In order to meet the increasing demand away from the US West Coast, Sierra Nevada's second brewery was opened in Mills River, North Carolina in 2014. Since then, the Californian exotics have also been found in German retail stores from time to time. Brewed from fine American hop varieties, Pale Ale is now firmly established as the second best-selling craft beer in the USA for good reason. In addition to the classics, a new type of beer is developed every year, to which a small amount of fresh yeast is added before bottling. This principle is called "bottle conditioned," which further optimizes the taste and shelf life of the beer through bottle fermentation.

Why are we explaining this? It never hurts to show off your knowledge at the next get-together.

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