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Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

United States · Regional · ★ Award winning · Known for a full range of styles
★ Award winningKnown for a full range of styles

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. was founded in Chico, California, by Ken Grossman and Paul Camusi and brewed its first Pale Ale in 1980, using the then-new Cascade hop. A second brewery followed in Mills River, North Carolina, in 2014. The company is still independent and family-owned, with Brian Grossman representing the second generation as chief brewing officer, and ranks as the second-largest craft brewery in the United States by volume. The range spans hop-led pale ales and IPAs, the hazy Little Thing series, lagers, seasonal releases and a non-alcoholic line.

39Beers
8Styles
6.7%Avg ABV
1980Founded
Consistency· share of beers above catalogue avg
9%
catalogue avg 47%

Beers by Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

39 beers
Atomic Torpedo
Imperial IPA · 9.2%
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Barrel-Aged Narwhal
Imperial Stout · 11.9%
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Big Little Thing
New England Double IPA · 9.5%
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Bigfoot
Barleywine · 9.6%
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Boat Plane
West Coast Pilsner · 6%
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Celebration
American IPA · 6.8%
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Cosmic Little Thing
New England Double IPA · 8%
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Go-Two
Session IPA · 2.8%
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Hazy Little Thing
New England IPA · 6.7%
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Hop Bullet Magnum
Imperial IPA · 9.5%
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Hop Forward
American Pale Ale · 5.5%
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Hoptimum
Triple IPA · 11%
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Juicy Little Thing
New England IPA · 6.5%
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Kellerweis
Hefeweizen · 4.8%
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Lava Lamp
New England Double IPA · 8.2%
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Mango Little Thing
New England IPA · 6%
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Mellow Little Thing
New England IPA · 4.5%
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Narwhal
Imperial Stout · 10.2%
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Northern Hemisphere Harvest
American IPA · 6.7%
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Old Chico
American Wheat Ale · 4.8%
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Otra Vez
Gose · 4.9%
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Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
American Pale Ale · 5.6%
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Sierra Nevada Pale Bock
Heller Bock · 6.8%
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Sierra Nevada PILS
German Pilsner · 4.7%
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Sierra Nevada Porter
Porter · 5.6%
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Sierra Nevada Springfest
American IPA · 6%
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Sierra Nevada Stout
American Stout · 5.8%
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Sierra Nevada Summerfest
German Pilsner · 5%
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Skiesta
Pale Lager · 4.7%
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Southern Gothic
German Pilsner · 5.2%
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Torpedo
Torpedo
American IPA · 7.2%
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Trail Pass Brewveza
Alcohol-Free Pale Ale · 0.5%
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Trail Pass Fest Brew
Alcohol-Free Lager · 0.5%
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Trail Pass Golden
Alcohol-Free Pale Ale · 0.5%
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Trail Pass Hazy IPA
Alcohol-Free IPA · 0.5%
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Trail Pass IPA
Alcohol-Free IPA · 0.5%
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Tropical Torpedo
American IPA · 6%
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West Ghost
West Coast IPA · 7.2%
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← scroll to see all 39 beers →

Brewery DNA

The recurring character behind the beers

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. brew a broad range across 8 style families.

Signature · 39 beers
IPA 19Lager 7Pale Ale 4Stout 3Strong 2Wheat Beer 2Sour 1Porter 1

Across these 39 beers, 4 notes keep showing up:

citrusy
31 of 39 beers
bitter
29 of 39 beers
hoppy
25 of 39 beers
dry
20 of 39 beers

Four notes carry across the range. That's a tight house style — most breweries in the catalogue share just one.

Compared with the wider catalogue of similar styles:

typical for similar stylesSierra Nevada Brewing Co.
in no beersin every beer
fruity
in 8 of 39 · typical similar styles brewery: 2 in 5
Notably less fruity than typical.
How we measure this

Two thresholds are at work here:

  • The signature list shows notes that recur in at least 6% of this brewery's beers. A low bar — enough to flag a pattern, not high enough to call it an exclusive trait.
  • The peer comparison below shows only notes where this brewery's coverage differs from similar breweries by at least 20 percentage points. A higher bar — enough to call a real difference, not a nudge.

A note can appear on the signature list without appearing in the peer comparison: it recurs here, but similar breweries do the same thing.

Brewery performance
How their beers place in the hopIQ ranking.
Top 71%
average beer performance
0
beers in the Top 100
4 / 34
beers above the median
#1541
best ranked beer
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

Their beers place in the Top 71% of the catalogue on average, across 34 ranked beers. One clear standout well ahead of the rest.

Similar Breweries

hopIQ exclusive

Based on style overlap and flavor profile

Yukon Brewing
Canada
95%match
Smithers Brewing Company
Canada
95%match
Holgate Brewhouse
Australia
94%match

About Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. was founded in Chico, California, by Ken Grossman and Paul Camusi and brewed its first Pale Ale in 1980, using the then-new Cascade hop. A second brewery followed in Mills River, North Carolina, in 2014. The company is still independent and family-owned, with Brian Grossman representing the second generation as chief brewing officer, and ranks as the second-largest craft brewery in the United States by volume. The range spans hop-led pale ales and IPAs, the hazy Little Thing series, lagers, seasonal releases and a non-alcoholic line.

Other breweries from United States

Southern Prohibition BrewingHalf Acre Beer CompanyPrairie Artisan AlesFirehouse Brewing CompanyCarton Brewing Company+ more →
Location
Chico · California · United States
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