Sierra Nevada Brewery Tour

We went to the second largest micro-brewery today ... Sierra Nevada in Chico. My dad (a beer aficionado) was perhaps the most excited for the trip, but my mom, grandma and I were all looking forward to the tour as well. We started off at the gift shop and by looking at the impressive antique Santa collection they have, then it was tour time. We got to smell the hops, see the grinder, take a look at the various tanks and learn about the entire process before heading in to see where the beer is bottled and packaged for shipping. The tour finished up with free beer tasting, not a bad way to finish up if you ask me.

Beyond the tasting and tour I was impressed by the fact that they produce most of their own electricity through solar panels on every roof and hydrogen fuel cells and they ship their used barley to farms throughout the state as feed for cows. They also offer benefits similar to what you might get at Google or Facebook including "beer bucks" with every paycheck (redeemable for free beer), an onsite health clinic and free childcare. We were hoping to eat at their onsite restaurant, but the wait was more than an hour, so we headed to Paradise's Black Bear Diner. Of course I had a "Cheeseburger in Paradise" and strawberry milkshake. It was a great day trip from Sacramento and hopefully we will go on the tour again and have an opportunity to eat at the restaurant.