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Adventure & Passion

Our Story

From restless youth to craft beer pioneer.

Ken Grossman was a wild card from the get-go.

As a toddler, he took things apart faster than his mom could keep up—the toaster, the washer, outlet covers. Tinkering turned into inventing, and learning in school didn’t compare to education in a backyard shop. Ken fell for science, though, thanks to the father of a close friend. Visiting their house, Ken always saw and smelled curious bubbling jugs: homebrew.

Adventure & Passion

Our Story

1969
Ken buys his first homebrewing kit (and hides it from his mom—he was a teenager).
1970
Ken discovers freedom in the Sierra Nevada mountains. He and his friends trail hike and mountaineer, often for 7-10 days at a time.
1972
Tired of Los Angeles, Ken joins friends on a road trip to Chico, California. This is Ken’s kind of town. He moves there two weeks later—homebrewing supplies in tow.
1976
Helping Chico Brew
Ken takes a risk and opens The Home Brew Shop. It starts slow, but he builds momentum by teaching classes to first-timers. Ken’s own homebrewing gets more serious and sought after by locals.
1977
Ken drives to the hop source in Yakima, Washington. He convinces merchants to sell him hundreds of one-pound 'brewers cuts”—samples breweries used to plan big orders.
1978
Mountain Inspired
Homebrewing is legalized, and Ken wrestles with what’s next. On climbing trips to the Sierra Nevada mountains, his bold idea takes shape: build a brewery. Naming it would be easy.
1980
Hand-built Brewhouse
Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. makes its first trial batch of beer: 5 barrels of Stout. Ken built the brewhouse from scratch, mainly using recycled dairy equipment. He had to test his handywork with something rich and heavy.
1980
Hello, Pale Ale
On November 21, Ken takes his first crack at Pale Ale. Ten batches later, he finally nails it. New on the scene, Cascade hops give Pale Ale intense aromas of pine and citrus, a signature that soon sparks the American craft beer revolution.
1981
The debut of Celebration®, a fresh-hop IPA brewed for the holidays. It’s a new take on beers of the season, which are often spiced and sweet.
1983
A malt-and-hops giant, Bigfoot® startles onlookers. Clocking in at nearly 10% ABV and 100 IBU, the Barleywine-Style Ale becomes a cult classic.
1983
Transatlantic Brewhouse
Ken gets a tip on a beautiful copper brewhouse for sale in Germany. The price is right—sort of. He can afford to ship it overseas, but there’s no money to install it. Once in California, the brewhouse sits in storage for years.
1986
Despite clever modifications and makeshift expansions, Ken’s original brewhouse hits max capacity with demand still rising.
1987
Building Fresh
Ken breaks ground on a new brewery, the 20th Street location we still call home today. At last, he can uncrate the 100-barrel German brewhouse, give it a shine, and put it to work.
1993
Harvest Ale is the nation’s first “wet hop” beer: hops are plucked, delivered, and go right into the brew kettle, all in a 24-hour window.
1994
The brewery’s production grows 50 percent several years in a row. Ken starts making plans to keep up.
1997
Doubling Down
Ken goes all in, adding a 200-barrel brewhouse just a stone’s throw from the original 100-barrel German system. It’s a major expansion—new fermentation cellars, complex infrastructure—and Ken figures it’s the last one.
2004
We install four hydrogen fuel cells to drastically offset our energy consumption. It hints at more ambitious efforts to come around sustainable brewing.
2007
More Energy Creation
Our first phase of solar panels goes up, capitalizing on Chico’s blazing sun. The system grows to more than 10,000 individual panels, creating 2 megawatts of AC electricity—about 20% of brewery needs.
2009
The Hop Torpedo
We launch Torpedo® Extra IPA, our first year-round IPA. Our homemade invention called the “Hop Torpedo” takes dry-hopping to the next level, infusing more aroma without adding more bitterness.
2010
Demand is still rising, the Chico brewery’s out of room, and a big decision looms.
2012
We break ground on an East Coast brewery in Mills River, North Carolina.
2013
To bring our brewery spirit to the San Francisco Bay Area, we open the Torpedo Room, a neighborhood hangout in Berkeley, California.
2015
Brewing Out East
We officially complete our brewery in Mills River, North Carolina. Making beer on both coasts helps us ensure fresh beer gets everywhere faster. Ken Grossman’s son, Brian, steps up to lead the new location.
2016
Our Mills River brewery earns LEED Platinum Certification—the first production brewery in the U.S. to receive this honor. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is the top green-building rating system in the world.
2017
Always eager to innovate, we install a Tesla Powerpack battery system in Chico to help us better use the energy we produce. The Powerpack charges when energy demand is low, then kicks in when demand jumps.
2018
Resilience
Our Butte County community endures the most destructive wildfire in California history. More than 1,400 craft breweries join us in brewing Resilience Butte County Proud IPA, a fundraiser beer with 100% of sales going to Camp Fire relief. The overwhelming support helps inspire the Butte Strong Fund, a partnership devoted to the long recovery ahead.

Bigger Than Beer

Mindset

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.

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And the weekend starts in 3...2...1...
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Happy opening day!
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Puppies and beer
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The Death Ride
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Hazy Little Thing IPA wins gold!