Sierra Nevada Founder Ken Grossman

On this episode of The Mash-Up, we cross off something incredible from our bucket list - drinking a Pale Ale with Ken Grossman at Sierra Nevada! 🤯

We had the absolute honor of visiting Sierra Nevada in Chico, California to talk to one of the most pivotal people in the history of Craft Beer about his history, brewing Pale Ale and Celebration, and the story of the Chico Strain and the Hop Torpedo. Then, we get into brewing topics like bottle, can and keg conditioning, reducing oxygen in the brewing process, and whole cone hops versus pellet hops. And finally, we talk about the state of the beer industry, starting off with the recent closing of Anchor Brewing, the changing preferences of consumers, NA Beer, and much more. 

Thank you so much to Ken Grossman and the team at Sierra Nevada for letting us bring this interview to the beer and homebrewing communities! 

0:00 Intro
0:47 Ken Grossman's Original Homebrew Shop
4:40 Inspired by Anchor Brewing to Open a Brewery
10:15 Getting the Grains for the First Batch at Sierra Nevada
14:13 The History of the Chico Strain of Beer Yeast
17:58 Ken Grossman's Desert Island Beer
20:20 Bottle, Can, and Keg Conditioning Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
23:47 How Many Barrels of Pale Ale Have Been Brewed?
25:07 What Still Makes You Passionate About Brewing?
31:58 History of the Sierra Nevada Hop Torpedo
35:25 Whole Cone Hops versus Pellet Hops
37:23 Reducing Oxygen in the Brewing Process
40:26 Anchor Brewing Closing
46:27 Embracing New Styles and Consumer Preferences
49:57 NA Beer and the Next Trends in the Industry
53:08 Hop Water