I've been to many of the most interesting breweries in the world and this by far is akin to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory and the best. If you're really into craft beer or a brewer, the "Beyond the Pale" tour on Friday's will let you see inside actual production. If it's under 105 degrees, you can see the packaging operation. Getting to try beer out of the cold crash tanks is about as cool as it gets. You get plenty of beers, so have a meal before and then eat at the restaurant and taproom later. That's a fine strategy. Even if you do a normal daily tour which is more restricted, you can still see the operation up close and Ken's beautiful copper kettles from an observation deck. Getting to stand (safely of course) near the western copper kettle with 8,000 gallons of ale nearing knockout was a special experience many of us will frankly never get to experience. The funnest part of the tour is in the end and has nothing to do with brewing, but I won't spoil the surprise.
You can also just go to the gift shop, which has a small bar with the same selections as the main taproom, but much quieter. Playing shuffleboard upstairs makes you feel like you're back in undergrad and if you spot Bigfoot walking around, please remember not to feed him. Ken bought Bigfoot, presumably as tribute to their barleywine. So, even if you're just stopping off, you can visit the gift shop and still get beer at the bar, or to go in the coolers where they also have cask conditioned varieties. They have beers they may not release for the public on a regular basis you can drink there as well and they're excellent.
The food is excellent and many locals come here for that alone.
They also have seltzers and hard alcohol for non beer drinkers and excellent food and service. The beer cheese used on the pretzel is the only I've ever liked in my life. They have their cadre of three mustards on the tables. They have covered outdoor dining as well. They can't allow dogs because of food safety laws being a production facility, so it's not that they don't want dogs or young people, it's just not safe or legally allowed. You get to walk with the Oompa-Loompa's in the chocolate factory, so I wish people who've left bad reviews would understand that. They're hands are tied. They are bike friendly and have the coolest bike racks you'll ever see.
Most people who work here interact like family and it's family owned with no cronyism; everyone works from the beginning-up and many stay their entire careers it'd seem. During the pandemic they had all the restaurant and taproom workers working in canning and sanitation, so they have a very broad knowledge and love for the brewing process. The brewery uses it's own solar power grid, water system and is one of few places in the world capturing their co2 and re-using it, so they actually give back to the power grid in Chico, helping the community. They brew 24 hours a day during the week in three shifts and still have incredible demand.
This was special for me because I've been drinking Sierra Nevada since 1998 and Ken has always been a hero for everything he's built and his amazing teams and facilities and with nothing. They built a second brewery in North Carolina, as they ship their beer cold, which is quite rare. They have tours running in NC now as well as similar facilities.
In case you wondered, Hazy Little Thing has become the top seller over the traditional Pale Ale we all know and love. read more