Sierra Nevada Brewing Factory Tour

Here are some photos from a tour of the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in Chico, CA. In the interest of time I'll summarize the tour and company as follows: our tour guide talked way too fast and did a generally poor job. But the company is very impressive. They have tons of great beers that aren't widely distributed and many others that never leave the brewery. And their energy savings efforts are awesome. They have the largest privately owned solar array in the nation! And they just started canning their Pale Ale and Torpedo (an IPA). Cans are better because they weigh less (lower carbon footprint), are easier to recycle, and make the beer taste better (UV rays are bad for beer). Get your beer in cans! 

Hops, mostly from Washington.

The bottling and canning floor.

                                      

This gizmo goes three stories underground.

Copper plated three-story gizmos.

Smaller gizmos.

Spotlessly clean stainless steel.

Fancy colors (i.e., copying the Russians who do the same in all industrial buildings)

Fuel cells.

The largest privately owned solar array in America.

The end of the tour, the end result, and the best part of any brewery-- the tap room.