Chronicles of Beer - Sierra Nevada

Brewhouse Tour - Mills River, NC

Since you are almost certainly a fan of beer (who isn't?) this brewery needs to be added to your must-see list. It is always refreshing to see people who take extreme pride in what they do. Every aspect of this facility is engineered to perfection.

I adored the small details that make the place so special. The property on which the brewery sits is nearly 190 acres nestled along the beautiful French Broad River. Much of the land remains intact, but the trees that were removed to construct the various buildings and other structures were all cut by hand. The timber was then processed by two local mills and all the wood used in the brewery and other buildings is constructed from this timber. Those of you who have tiled a floor before will also be amazed every floor surface in the facility is tiled.

I was particularly enamored with the main room which imported volcanic tiles that contrast beautifully with the copper jackets for the kettles.

Each piece of equipment throughout the facility had these blue valves connected with status LED's that would indicate which flow mode was active. I wish I could have seen the control room as I imagine it is full of "esoteric lights & dials & meters that I would never understand." Gone are the days of piles of hoses and flow errors. The QA lab appeared to be equipped with every biological device imaginable. The warehouse was idle during our tour but I plan to come back and see it sometime during the week. Our tour guide, Neil, said the best time to see the warehouse in action was middle of the business week.

There is no better smell on the planet than a room full of hops. We smelled a variety of hops which I believe were sourced from Washington state. I was thrilled for the opportunity to actually rub some hops in my hands.

I want to extend a huge thanks to Neil (our tour guide pictured below) for the insightful tour. His in-depth knowledge and experience is unsurpassed.