Chico's Gem

Finding great beer beyond Chico
By James Sable

Anyone who has been to Chico, Calif. knows it's a great little town with an even better university.

Anyone with half a brain and a taste for great beer knows Chico is home to the crown jewel of California breweries, Sierra Nevada Brewing. So it's easy for me to figure out why I've become such a fan of microbrews over the past four years. Who wouldn't be a baseball fan if they lived next door to Mark McGwire? Get the picture?

I have many fond memories involving Sierra Nevada brews. Some of the best are Friday afternoons sipping samplers of 10 or more brews at the bar in the brewery taproom, or the smell of the seasonal Big Foot Barley Wine being brewed on a cold December afternoon.

One graduating friend of mine ordered a keg of Sierra Nevada India Pale Ale for his after-graduation party. Later that night, he asked a police officer for a ride home and ended up in Oroville at the police station. From this day on we call him "India Jail Ale."

So yeah, you could say I'm fond of the stuff, which is why I never expected to find a brew as well-rounded as my favorite, and the entire town of Chico's favorite: Pale Ale.

This being said, I must say I was not disappointed in what I found pouring from the taps in the breweries to the north. And I encourage all Sierra Nevada fans go north and try new beers, just don't forget to pack a few Sierra Nevadas.

So why did I leave Chico? For the same reason I live here; because of the beer.

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Sierra Nevada Brewing

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