We went a little out of our way to visit Chico, California. The fact that the recommended motel in the Lonely Planet had a pool helped, but the main reason was the Sierra Nevada Brewery. I only knew their Pale Ale, but there had to be more where that came from!

Arriving at the brewery at dinner time, we decided to wait at the bar having some tasters before having dinner in the restaurant. I ordered the ‘sampler plate’ and was kind of surprised to receive 16 (sixteen) small glasses of beer for only $12! Me happy!

I tasted in order on the tray, so that might wrong or right. I liked it!

Vienna Lager
Bread, malt, quite stale and a little dull. A recreation of old style vienna lager, but apparently, that’s not my style!

Estate Homegrown Ale
Grapefruit, cereal and a likeness to the Raging Bitch by Flying Dog. Crisp and quite bitter.

Blonde Ale
Very crisp, but apart from that a rather boring beer. A little herbal but mainly rather dull.

Hopsichord
Fruit and hops! It reminds me of BrewDog’s Trashy Blonde, and I like that. Enough bitterness to keep me satisfied but its never overpowering the fruit.

Ovila Saison
A triple style seasonal ale. Acidic, like a whisky mash. Very tasty and the finish is mostly acidic again.

Bad Luck Blonde
Rather flat on the nose and very easy going. Somewhat floral and slightly fruity on the palate. As the blonde ale, not much happening.

Old Chico Crystal Wheat
A white beer style brew, but more clear and slightly more acidic. A little hint of citrus and maybe basil and other leaf herbs.

Tumbler
This one smells like a celler with wooden casks of beer. Smooth but with a certain spicyness and fierceness.

Kellerweis
Somewhat acidic on the nose, but the flavour is very nice. Smooth and filled with spices. Definetly like the German Weizens.

Oktoberfest
Rather neutral on the nose. The flavour is a bit sweet and stout-y at first. It gets better and more bitter. The finish goes back to the sweetness.

Torpedo IPA
WOW! Bitter to the brink of being too much. Grapefruit and other citrus fruits. Also some passion fruits. IPA to the max!

Bigfoot
This barleywine has got it all! Fruit, hops, malt and all in balance. I really, really loved this!

Draught
Reminds me of Citra hops, but in a regular beer…

Pale Ale
I knew this one, and drank a lot of it this vacation. Its good, and a dangerously easy drinker. Close to the same level of the Punk IPA, but a little more mainstream.

Porter
Malt, milk chocolate and much lighter than the next one.

Stout
Thick and sweet, with lots of roasted malt. Some coffee too.

As you notice, this was a highly varied visit to a very big craft brewery. They have long ago stopped being qualified as a micro brewery, since they’ve grown quite big. What is cool, however, is the sheep in the hop fields and the craft feel that it has to it. A lot of different styles of beer, with many different results. The fact that in the afternoon it was over a 100 F/40 C didn’t helps the dark beers, but it did the hoppy, bitter ones a bit. Good stuff! If you’re around, go there!