Sierra Nevada Brewing Company

The Sierra Nevada Brewing Company's Chico campus is a pilgrimage site for craft beer enthusiasts. The large, well-designed brewery on East 20th Street offers free guided tours of the brewing operation, which is more impressive than most: the facility is meticulous, with extensive solar panels, water recycling, and an on-site water treatment plant. After the tour, the Taproom and Restaurant — a large, barn-like space that feels genuinely welcoming rather than corporate — serves the full range of Sierra Nevada beers alongside food that goes well beyond typical brewery fare.

The Pale Ale is the obvious order, but the small-batch taps and seasonal offerings are worth exploring. The brewery also holds regular events including the seasonal Beer Camp festival. Tours run daily; reservations are recommended for weekends. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner. Located a mile or so from downtown, it is easily reached by bicycle or on foot from the university.

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A story
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, first brewed in 1980 by Ken Grossman and Paul Camusi in a converted space in downtown Chico, is widely credited with launching America's craft beer revolution. Grossman had been a homebrewer with a strong preference for the hop-forward ales he'd read about in British brewing books; the result was a beer with more bitterness and aroma than anything commercially available in the US at the time. The brewery moved to its current purpose-built campus in 1989 and has since grown into one of the country's largest craft brewers — though it still feels like a local institution.