Week 6 - The Mothership! (March 3-7, 2014)

The front entrance

I'm definitely starting to fall behind on my blogging. I'll just hit the highlights of last week. Monday was a test (did pretty well... top 3!), Tuesday was all yeast and fermentation, and Wednesday was a field trip to Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in Chico. Thursday and Friday were Engineering, Packaging and Sensory as usual, so let's  focus on the field trip.

Me with Dr. Michael Lewis (FANTASTIC man)

I probably don't have to say what I think about Sierra Nevada, but I will. They are fantastic. Whether you like the beer or not, the company is amazing. The place was immaculate and beautiful. Their spent grains go to their own cows, which they then serve in their own restaurant (the cows, not the spent grain). The entire facility is covered with solar panels. They have a 500,000 composter just to reduce the waste their personnel produce. They have hydrogen fuel cells. They recycle the carbon dioxide released from several processes. And I asked every employee I met if they like working there and it was a resounding, "YES, this is the best place I've ever worked... I would never leave" kind of answer.

As future brewers, we got a super extended tour and got to see parts of the brewery not seen on typical tours (pictures below). It ended with a scrumptious lunch in their restaurant and all the beer we could drink (though we didn't have time for enough). I left with a 4-pack of Bigfoot, their barley wine, which has become my new favorite. Amazing foam... Dr. Bamforth would be proud!

Their hop freezer. NOT your typical hop freezer. Since Ken Grossman still insists on using whole cone hops, they need a big freezer. 

Whole cone hop

The brewhouse. Vessels all the way from Germany.

Sweet (unhopped) wort straight from the mash. It will be boiled next in the kettle and hops will be added there.

Cool artwork surrounds the brewhouse portraying the brewing process. Each picture resembles a member of the Sierra Nevada family. This corner piece is Ken Grossman.

The torpedo. It's a Ken Grossman invention. Each of these vessels is filled with whole cone hops. The fermenter sits above it (rising several stories up). During fementation, the wort is sent through the torpedo 4 times to infuse it with hop aroma and bittering units. This produces their "Torpedo" (which makes up 15% of sales, 2nd to their flagship Pale Ale which makes up 70% of sales). 

A view through the catwalk to packaging at all the solar panels.

Packaging. Truly impressive. The only thing packaging can do is make your beer worse. There's a million things that have to get the beer to the consumer as it was when it was finished.

The amount of beer moving through here at full speed is mind boggling. 

I wouldn't mind my own truck one day.