Sierra Nevada Founder Ken Grossman Talks Craft Beer History and the State of the Beer Industry

[@MoreBeer_]

Thank you so much to Ken Grossman and the team at Sierra Nevada for letting us bring this interview to the beer and homebrewing communities! 🙌 Make sure to subscribe for more! 🍻 kzbin.info/door/v58v5jA_N-kdVMpLB-yL5w Listen to this episode as a PODCAST wherever you listen or here 👇 🎧 www.buzzsprout.com/1918800/14142133 Are you Professional Brewery? Sign up for Wholesale Pricing at MoreBeer! Pro and Save Big! ➡ morebeerpro.com/content/mbpro_open_an_account?ref=2B

[@cmcurran5]

Not many hour long interviews hold my attention quite as much as these. Amazing content

[@MoreBeer_]

Love to hear that, thanks for watching! 🍻

[@birdsongblossoms8547]

I got my undergrad degree at Davis in '74. I was home brewing in my dorm room and found Dr. Lewis in the food science dept. who kindly supplied me with yeasts and advice. My interest was moving in the direction of starting a commercial craft brewery back in my home town in Marin County. However, I had some sobering conversations with Dr. Lewis who described the exceedingly arduous process of such an undertaking. I was too stupid and lazy for that kind of thing and ultimately went into motion picture finance law in Los Angeles. I have a lot of respect for Ken Grossman's accomplishments in this field.

[@jasonf2252]

Great video and LOVE the insight! I went on a west coast beer pilgrimage to as many of my favorite breweries that I could schedule. My favorite, was Chico and Sierra Nevada so we headed there for a tour and meal. I was admiring a SN shirt in their gift store when I heard a man behind me say "Did you enjoy the tour and your visit?" I turned around and there stands Ken Grossman, to my bewilderment. As a low rent home brewer, my jaw hit the floor. Ken was nice enough to allow me to take a photo with him. He is a beer hall of famer, a priceless advocate of the industry, and a gentleman. I will never forget it.

[@guitarmike4ever]

That was one of the best interviews of a legendary brewery I've seen. Fantastic questions, insight, and answers. Definitely happy to be a customer of both MoreBeer and Sierra Nevada.

[@MoreBeer_]

Means so much to us to hear that. Cheers, Mike, thanks for being a customer!

[@bughunter1766]

As a fellow hick with a pickup truck I thoroughly enjoyed the malt hauling story. And as a decades long customer of both Morebeer and Sierra Nevada, and as a probable Pale Ale Desert Island beer confessor, I must say this was one of the more captivating videos I have watched. And I've watched it twice already today, just in case I missed something. Thanks to both Vito and Ken for taking the time to produce this. Cheers and happy Brewing!

[@jeffroach3722]

Amazing interview....I think this should be a series.... Vinny next 🍺

[@bigpopbrewing]

These interviews are so awesome! Keep up the good work, Vito. I love learning from the greats like Ken.

[@MoreBeer_]

Thanks, Ryan! 🍻

[@mrgarypaterson]

This is what the craft beer industry is all about!

[@gonnafish]

Sierra Nevada is my go to brewery- Hazy, Torpedo and Celebration are all great!

[@chuckchaney3588]

Awesome interview! Amazed by the whole business behind beermaking and Ken's knowledge. We just went to the Asheville NC Sierra Nevada brewery and had a great time on the tour. Loved the Sierra Nevada Narwhal Imperial Stout and Atomic Torpedo!

[@MoreBeer_]

Awesome! Cheers Chuck 🍻

[@erikzett]

👍I have a ton of beer memories of Sierra Nevada when I lived in Placerville in the early 80s - this interview made those come to mind, I remember driving to Byron Burch's shop in Santa Rosa that Ken mentioned. We visited the brewery late 80s and were blown away by the bar and the fresh beer of course

[@MoreBeer_]

That's so cool to hear! Cheers, Erik! 🍻

[@MrChristopherMolloy]

A GREAT interview with one of my heroes! A great walk down memory lane! Thanks!

[@MoreBeer_]

One of our heroes too! Glad you enjoyed, cheers! 🍻

[@Mountainrock70]

You’ve been sending me text messages. This one got my attention. Subscribed now. I first tried SN Pale Ale in 92’ good memories !

[@curtpick628]

Great interview. A hell of a lot of knowledge and advice here. Love the PA and Celebration. Well done.

[@MoreBeer_]

Thanks, Curt! Glad you enjoyed 🍻

[@MatthewRulla]

Excellent interview with Mr. Grossman! I hope Sierra Nevada continue the Hop Forward / West Coast Style brews. I would happily buy a whole beer truck's worth of Torpedo, Pale Ale, and Celebration every year. Delivery in Olympia, WA (forklift ready and waiting). I home brewed in So Cal with the Maltose Falcons, Pacific Gravity, and Long Beach Homebrews for over a decade. Now that I'm up here, I see lots of brewers in Washington State have closed recently and the trend looks grim for quality, flavorful, and consistent products.

[@andrewlonero8003]

It's so sad about Anchor closing. They were one of my favorites and I have lots of great memories from visiting them. This was a great interview with Ken about some of that history!

[@rickbrink7008]

Awesome Interview! So good to hear the stories and history, straight from the source- of one of the most iconic breweries of our time. Thank You both for bringing this to us!

[@andrewbeane6015]

Amazing interview!

[@MoreBeer_]

Cheers, Andrew! 🍻

[@philhofland5501]

As a fermentstion science addict who rarely drinks alcoholic beer but ravages on NA products im hapoy to see Sierra jumping into that market. Keeping my eyes open to see when it hits ths market.

[@hanswolters1781]

It has appeared now, at least on the West Coast

[@aqacefan]

What a wonderful history lesson!

[@michaelmeline3956]

Great interview

[@MrPsiman]

Love that they didn't sell to mega corps like so many have. Still great stuff and a super fresh brewed Pale Ale in the summer here in Cali is awesome. It's just a super solid versatile beer. It's what got me into beer in high school in the 80's. Yeah also Samuel Smith stuff also. I was looked at as a freak in high school that would drink great beer and not drink the stuff like Bud and Coors

[@SANDRALAMOTHE-k5l]

good show

[@jpallen719]

I was just there! Love that place!

[@MrPsiman]

It's Bigfoot season. I have not spotted any yet but early January is usually when they appear.

[@JIMMBAY1]

I alway everything!. #Gr8VideoAndContent. #MerryChristmasTooAll. I had Tik Tok Once & Never again!!!...

[@MrFadefury]

There’s definitely a lack of appreciation by the new wave of craft drinkers as to just how groundbreaking SN was with their first beers, but also the fact that those same beers are still to this day world class examples of the said styles. Bottle/can conditioning has almost no appreciation it seems like these days, but I always enjoy that Ken still goes into great detail when the topic comes up. Not to mention that of appreciation for oxygen levels, beer degrading, etc.

[@scottgoebel4671]

Great interview, who is next?

[@michaelgillespie1206]

I need to do something with my home craft brewery, I've got a great name for it that I don't tell anyone, because I don't have it copyrighted or protected, but it's a super name.

[@MrChristopherMolloy]

Another question I would've asked would've been why haven't many American brewers, including Sierra Nevada, had success with Bavarian style Wheat Beer? I actually can't remember if Sierra Nevada has ever brewed any other than an experiment perhaps. The last great American Bavarian style Wheat Beer was from Brooklyn Brewery, but it's been discontinued for many years.

[@AdamKeele]

They did Kellerweiss, which was a favorite of mine for quite a while. They did a filtered wheat early on and it’s still available at the brewery. Bavarian wheat beers had been my go-to style in the 2000s, and could pretty readily find them until the rise of IPAs. I’m pissed they are hard to find now. I think the biggest reason why breweries stopped doing them was to make more room for IPAs, and it was also the added expense of having a separate yeast for it - to do it right - and if you weren’t doing step mashes, and had good lautering capability, it’s harder to brew. I think to do it properly it’s a more difficult style to produce than IPAs. Also, you don’t get as many uses out of the yeast as well to get that good banana and clove flavors.

[@MrChristopherMolloy]

@@AdamKeele Thanks! Yes, I remember Kellerweiss now that you mention it, but I don't remember it being widely available or around that long. Do you have a favorite bottled/canned Bavarian style Wheat Beer from an American producer these days? I can't name one.

[@MrChristopherMolloy]

Question: What was the first genuinely hoppy high IBU beer? Was it Sierra Nevada Pale Ale? To my recollection it was, but it would've been interesting to learn what Mr. Grossman's answer would be?

[@AdamKeele]

Pale Ale for the time was probably the hoppiest beer around. It certainly was where I was in the 90s still. Russian River one of the early ones to have some high IBU beers (especially in the Blind Pig Brewing days).

[@MrChristopherMolloy]

@@AdamKeele The question really is did he invent the style or was he exposed to it somewhere? Was there anyone making anything even remotely like It?

[@1mctous]

Anchor Liberty Ale (33 IBU's) and Bass Ale (49 IBU's) were both available when Ken Grossman got started.

[@MrChristopherMolloy]

@@1mctous Funny, I wouldn't have thought either of those were that hoppy? Especially the Bass.

[@stuker69]

Brewery tour plsssssss

[@DavidR76]

Can I say one thing? Get a tripod.