When Ken Grossman built his brewery in Chico, California in 1980, out of recycled steel and dairy equipment, the phrase “craft beer” didn’t exist. It’s first offering, Sierra Pale Ale, was a revelation. It was the first of what we have come to think of as California-style pale ales–flowery, with a bite, and in a departure from the mass market American breweries that dominated the industry, actual flavor.
Thirty years later, Sierra is one of the biggest American-owned* breweries in the United States. To celebrate its 30th anniversary, Sierra is producing four anniversary beers. (Hat tip to Grub Street San Francisco). The most promising of the bunch, to our eyes, is Fritz and Ken’s Ale, made in collaboration with another beer pioneer, Anchor Steam brewery’s Fritz Maytag. Fittingly, the collaboration is dubbed a “Pioneer Stout” and should be available in March. (To check out the other three offerings, as well as Sierra’s generally bad-ass web site, click here).
*We recently learned that Samuel Adams is now the biggest American-owned brewery. That would have been hard to imagine a decade ago.
beer, new york 