Thursday 7:55 A.M.– Few experiences rate up there with brewing at Sierra Nevada; getting married, nookie experience number one, or even squirting out a honey boo boo or two. The crusty-eyed beer campers and I march to the pilot brewery, lips zipped and eyebrows clenched. Picture the movie Reservoir Dogs slow-mo walking scene and you’ve got it. Serious shit is to be had today, and we know it. Life changing romantic shit, and we fucking love it. The halls of Sierra Nevada are lined with photos of greatness. The arousing wisp of beer being brewed makes me nervous, excited, and have to pee really bad.

Sierra Nevada’s pilot brewery sits in mid-campus thirty spiral steps up. Out of breath, clammy, and still Chico-buzzed from shenanigans six hours prior, the brewhouse greets us like an old friend. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but this steel diamond-plated pimped out ~~penthouse~~ brewhouse brings this game to a whole new level. Five brewing vessels sit before us like ripe carrots poking out of the ground: two brew kettles, mash tun, lauter and a whirlpool. Hot to the touch with steam pouring out, I secretly dry hump the mash tun without anyone looking. With her hatch open, I inhale deeply taking in a fog bank of misty cereal-like essence. During batch 1’s sparge, freshly pitched chocolate malt blots dark hues like an angry octopus.

“Let’s mill our specialty grains and pick out the hops” says Scott Jennings, Sierra Nevada’s (North Carolina) head brewer. For reference, a typical five gallon homebrew batch would need around fifteen pounds of malted barley to get a ~7% beer. Today, all twelve of us proudly hoists a 40lb sack into the mill for a photo op. Muscles flexing, safety goggles gleaming, cameras snappin; the sacks are no sweat except for the one. Willis, a fuzzy fro-headed musician from Chico misses the mark and dumps the grain on the ground. “Beer name! Let’s call it “Pull a Willis” says one camper. “How about “Free Willis?” A vacuum slurps them into an enormous mill, sprays them, and sends them straight to the mash tun. While the grains rest at 152F, we head to the hop room.

Sierra Nevada’s hop room smells better than a room full of cold-hard cash. 200 pound bales of whole cone hops are stacked around like a padded room in an insane asylum. Sierra Nevada uses 100% whole cone hops, something I wasn’t aware of. Hop schedule in hand, Scott gives us each orders and I’m in charge of two pounds of Sorachi Ace. Clawing at the huge bricks of hops with my hands, a sticky green dust coats my fingers like I finger-banged Tinker Bell. Other campers frolic in the hops like kids in the snow. Dropping to the ground and making hop angels is not out of the question. At beer camp, anything is possible.

Mash complete on batch two, we watch the sparge happen with a push of a button. Aside from hop additions and grain milling, everything is highly automated allowing brewers to focus on quality, repeatability, and creativity. I had visions of sweating my ass off at grain-out. The actual hardest part of beer camp is picking the name for the beer, which we still have no solid ideas.

During camp, most beer names are derived from something funny that happened, an inside joke, or something obscure that fits that style. “How about Black Tricycle?” referring to our night out at the Bear in Chico. The bar has timed tricycle races in the middle of the place. Broken handlebars, hitting people, followed by chugging a nasty beer at the end; I wish I went to Chico State for college. Another name, Menage a Noir,makes the circles but doesn’t really catch. Katabasis? Nah. Black Tabby? Nope. Dubbel Double DIPA? Naming a home-brew is one thing, but a beer that has the possibility of being distributed nationally has bigger implications. (Update…IT IS!!! Look for it in August 2013)

Our second night out with the hospitable Sierra Nevada team, one of the campers, the 6’10” pony-tailed ren-fairrish Michael Lipton pulls out a deck of cards to do some tricks. “Of course he knows magic tricks.” I think to myself. The trick is actually impressive. He repeats it over and over over pizza and Celebration at Woodstocks. Steve Grossman suggests, “what about Sleight of Hand?”. It actually works. Style wise, a black Belgian double IPA is something I’ve never heard of. Our goal as a team was to create something unique with this rare opportunity…mission accomplished!

Beer camp #94 is officially closed. Downtown Chico treats us like kings on the last night. We hit the Banshee, Raw Bar, and a few other spots before calling it a night. I’m smitten! I always knew Sierra Nevada is environmentally conscious, but now I know the heart and soul that drives it. The brewery is a living, breathing model of how any business should run. As they expand operations with a new brewery in North Carolina, I can’t wait to visit and perhaps, dry hump a warm mash tun as well over there!

Reservoir Dogs hop heist complete! No one got shot or lost an ear!

Release parties! OC will have two Sleight of Hand release parties at 6pm! Please RSVP so we can get an idea how many are coming!

2/21 at Out of the Park Pizza in Anaheim Hills
2/26 at The Playground in Downtown Santa Ana
There are releases in San Diego and LA as well. If you are interested, leave a message below or on Twitter.

Edit! Here’s some SD and LA tappings:

San Diego: Feb 24 at Churchills: and one at KnB Wine Cellars on either 3/2 or 3/22…I’m confirming. L
LA: Blue Palms on 2/22; Tony’s Darts Away on 2/23, and maybe two more.

On a liquid-smooth decent into Sacramento, my upper bicuspid pops like it was hit by a road-side bomb. It’s all “black hawk down” in my mouth as I writhe in near fetal-position. Grasping two empty micro bottles of Hornitos Tequila, the lady next to me asks if I’m okay. Getting a visit from the goddamn tooth beaver before an epic week is the last thing one needs. Should I rip the tooth out myself? Should I go to an emergency dentist? One thing’s for sure, I’m not going to miss a minute of Sierra Nevada Beer Camp.

Steve Grossman pics us up from the airport.

Bags grabbed, five other campers and I hitch a ride to Chico with Steve Grossman of Sierra Nevada. A ninety-minute drive normally, however rush hour traffic in the rain makes it an even two. I ride shotgun. Beer knowledge is being bounced around the van like ping pong. Steve is stoic at the wheel, looking mildly like Paul Newman in the movie ‘Winning’. “Where are you all from?” Steve asks, “where are you going to have your kegs tapped?” I nervously massage my gums and search yelp for dentists in Chico near my hotel. “Out of the Park Pizza in Anaheim Hills” I mumble. “It’s one of the best craft/homebrew friendly places in OC.” I say. “Never heard of it” says Steve.

An hour later at 7:03 P.M. Ripe from the emergency dentist, I bounce into Sierra Nevada’s tap room for pre-camp supper. All of the winners of Beer Camp #94 are at the table, some I recognize from their videos. My first beverage of camp goes down medicinally – Ovila Dubbel aged in pinot barrels. It’s dirty red, dry, fruity, with a fine bubbly mouthfeel that massages my throbbing gums like jacuzzi jets. The second Dubbel chases down an 800mg Ibuprofen and a leg of lamb. What happens in Chico stays in Chico! The dentist said my sinus cavity popped from the cabin pressure, striking a nerve on my tooth by the say, I’ll be fine.

Ken and Steve Grossman of Sierra Nevada welcome us to the brewhouse.

Next morning Wed. Dec 5, 7:48 A.M. – Beer Camp #94 is officially open! Safety goggles and earplugs in tow, it’s time for Sierra Nevada History 101. Steve Grossman fires through a PowerPoint filled with 30+ years of photos from the beginning. I sit bleary-eyed in this beer fueled fantasy, reminiscing about my first Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. I recall pulling one out of an icy cooler at a party with no idea what it was or who brought it. I was shocked. Twenty plus years later, the bright citrus hop aroma and flavor still sticks with me. I can close my eyes and think of that beer and actually taste it. The smells walking around this brewery bring it all back…and it smells like victory! (Here’s my horrible contest entry video by the way, it mildly pokes fun at this Blair Witch Project trailer.)

The “Great Debate” – Imagine a bunch of homebrewers collaborating on a beer the first time they meet. Throw those people in a conference room at Sierra Nevada with Scott Jennings, current lead pilot brewer and future Sierra Nevada North Carolina head brewer. We have to nail down a style of beer we want to brew in one hour. There are no limits! Scott guides us quickly like he’s leading a seance (without holding hands, sadly). I throw out the Belgian Double IPA idea, (another camper coined it as a “Dubbel Double”) which seems like a great start. One camper sets the tone stating we should do something unique with this rare opportunity. We all agree. The final decision is a Belgian Tripel-ish malt base fused with a Double IPA…and Black. I call it a “Big Black Belgian Double IPA”. Pilsner malt, some Munich and Chocolate malt for color. Hops? Simcoe to bitter, Nelson and Sorachi Ace are the additions; hop back, as well as dry hop. After an hour, the spirits leave Scott and we embark on a super-VIP behind the scenes tour of this hollowed sacred craft beer ground.

Terence Sullivan of Sierra Nevada knows every minor detail of the brewery and guides us through most of Day 1.

The Tour – If you haven’t read Sierra Nevada’s sustainability report, let me break it down quickly. Every square inch of the brewery that can have solar panels HAS THEM. The parking lot is covered by TRACKING SOLAR PANELS. Every leftover scrap of food and hops IS COMPOSTED. The compost goes to grow organic veggies and HOPS in their huge garden. Spent grain is fed to ravenous COWS and PIGS in the area. Delivery trucks use homebrew BIODIESEL. They built a RAIL SPUR to have grain delivered as green as possible. Nothing is wasted. Everything that can be repurposed IS. Have you ever drank a Sierra Nevada Estate Ale? It’s not just a beer, it’s the culmination of everything Sierra Nevada stands for…and it’s BEAUTIFUL.Check it out, okay?

Highlights of the tour:

Sampling fresh Torpedo from the fermentation tank. From now on, Torpedo will never live up that!
Seeing the Barrel Aged Bigfoot bottling line being prepped. Cork and cage, haters! I really loved the behind the scenes tour.
Tasting Barrel Aged Bigfoot in the quality lab from a beaker. I snuck an extra!
Frolicking in the hop field. Even without vines, it’s pretty damn nifty. Next time I drink an Estate Ale, I will add “notes of blogger foot”.
The bike! Twelve seats, two taps, three gears and a squeeze horn. I’m still giddy! Pretty much the Willy Wonka moment of the tour.

The kegging/bottling/canning line! I felt like a kid watching 200 barrels of Torpedo getting packaged. Fire in the hole!
The hop freezer! Being in a room full of200lb bales of hops is one of the best smells ever. Even better than Anne Hathaway, I’m sure.
The boyz in the hood are always hard, come talkin that trash and we’ll pull your card. Knowin’ nothin’ in life but to be legit. Don’t quote me boy I ain’t said shit.
The brewhouse. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Sierra Nevada has two of the most beautiful copper brewhouses I’ve ever seen. The old one, dismantled in Germany and brought over is visible from the restaurant. The newer brewhouse was added mimicking the look of the original. Knowing the history behind them makes them even more impressive.
Visiting the ‘Ovila’ Abbey. Twenty miles from Sierra Nevada Brewery, the Abbey is still being reconstructed. Watch a video about it here! If you ever visit SN, you must go here too! The wine they make is spectacular. (New Clairvaux Vinyards)
Two beers you can only get at Sierra Nevada: Visions of Sugar Plums (Quad with Abbey plums) and Ovila Dubbel aged in wine barrels. Photo taken in the actual Abbey!
Downtown Chico. I had some great times at Madison Bear Garden, Woodstocks Pizza and the Banshee. The kind folks at Sierra Nevada were super hospitable and a blast to hang out with! Thanks Hunter, Ryan, Terence, Justin, Steve, Ken, Scott, and my brothers of Beer Camp #94!