And here’s the irony: Ask a craft brewer which other brewers he most admires, and he’s likely to mention Sierra Nevada. The Chico, California, brewery is considered to be sacred ground, and its beers expertly crafted. “When you die as a brewer, you go to Chico,” says Matthew Brynildson, brewmaster of Firestone Walker in Southern California.
One of the reasons Dogfish Head’s Sam Calagione got into brewing in the first place was because he so loved the taste of a Sierra Nevada holiday beer called Celebration Ale. The esteemed brewer Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River Brewing Company never lets his home fridge run dry of Pale Ale. “It’s a perfectly balanced beer,” he says. But “perfectly balanced” is having a hard time competing with macadamia nuts. Now that hundreds of small-batch and wacky beers are being made (often trying to outhop each other with extremely bitter flavors), the moderately hoppy, medium-bodied ale seems boring by comparison. You can get it at any corner liquor store. It’s on tap next to MGD at nearly every bar. It’s too mainstream for somebody who wants exotic, and too ubiquitous for somebody who equates quality with rarity.