Maybe you’ve heard? Sierra Nevada is now brewing near Asheville, NC, and we’re getting our first keg from them this Friday (cutting down the shipping time by 2/3 from brewery to our keg room).The release of Pale Ale from North Carolina is a milestone for the company and officially marks a new era in Sierra Nevada’s history. A couple weeks ago Sierra Nevada reached the 1 million barrel mark and this milestone surpassed every wild dream Ken Grossman had when he started in 1980. Still growing as an independent, family-owned operation, Ken’s son (Brian) has assumed the leadership role at the North Carolina brewery, signifying a new generation of beer innovation. Our palates have grown with Sierra Nevada throughout the years and Sierra Nevada continues to innovate and evolve alongside all of our palates.
Very soon Sierra Nevada will announce some new year-round beers, including a new IPA utilizing distilled hops (the first to do so) to give drinkers a new IPA experience. Other new beers on the horizon:
- A year-round pilsner called the Nooner
- An Oktoberfest collaboration beer with a different German brewery each year as a fall seasonal
- The Beer Camp concept will launch as a spring seasonal starting with the Ballast Point collaboration of this past summer
The Pale Ale is associated with so many fundamental memories that catapulted the movement to where it is today. For craft beer to maintain an impact on drinkers, drinkers need to know where craft beer has been. That is what makes the North Carolina release of the Pale Ale important and exciting. That and tasting the super fresh whole cone cascade hops like it was brewed yesterday. Happy Holidays!