Beer Camp, Day One

As many of you know, this correspondent won a competition to be one of ten out-of-state residents chosen to attend a two-day Beer Camp at the Sierra Nevada Brewery in Chico, California.

The day began as I met my fellow campers from Arizona, Ohio, Oregon, Virginia, Nevada, North Carolina and New York as we discussed the type and style of beer we would brew during our stay in Chico.

Prior to camp we had agreed to make an IPA. At the meeting we decided it should be a Double IPA with a complex mix of hops, malt, barley and yeast.  Those among us who are practiced home brewers talked in more technical terms about specific varieties, bitterness units, specific gravity and alcohol content.

The discussion lasted almost two hours, and while we agreed on how the beer should look and taste, we were warned to come up with name as soon as possible, because most groups who participate in beer camp debate long and hard about a name, and having a beer name is essential for registration of a beer with the federal government and states.

We also learned about Sierra Nevada's history as a company started by friends who learned the art of brewing as teens, and thirty years producing 700,000 barrels a year.

The remainder of the morning was spent touring the plant with Terance Sullivan, viewing everything from grain storage and mill to wort tuns, fermentation tanks and filtration.  In the process we learned that Sierra Nevada has worked hard to make its operation sustainable, using solar panels, CO2 capture and recycling, heat transfer and use of waste grain for feed for the farmers who provide beef to Sierra Nevada's brew pub.

At the end of the morning, we picked hops from Sierra Nevada's estate crop on premises.  The company also grows some barley, but most hops and barley are purchased from growers outside of California.

After a hearty lunch we climbed aboard the 12 seat bar cycle, a multiple pedal vehicle with a small bar at its heart, to view travel to the bottling and storage operation, the labs (where the precious Sierra Nevada yeasts are coddle, nurtured and stored).

On Friday, our group begins its brewing day.  The good news: our beer will be shipped to local distributors so that we can share some with friends, and our favorite local establishment will have the opportunity to stock a small supply of the beer.  Look out Eli Cannon's.

We were treated to pizza and beer for dinner at a restaurant in downtown Chico, which, like Middletown is a college town (Chico State's enrollment is around 15,000).  Chico has a lovely downtown, and it was filled with people at the last of its summertime, nightime, farmer's markets which offered amazing produce and specialty foods, three live bands and activities for kids.  Several of the main streets were closed to vehicular traffic and clubs were filled, and the streets teeming with people.