Where's the free beer?

Bottling assembly line was quiet.  Have to take the tour M-Th to see it in action.

Packing area also was quiet on a Sunday.

Yes, hospitality time!

That cup is full of hops, which one of the guests decided to take home with her.

Big glasses for just sips of Pale Ale.

As we left I looked at all those stainless steel vats on top of the roof.

...a rain barrell, made from wood which was felled on site.  It will actually hold some of the water recycled from parking lot drainage for grey water use.

In about a year the whole plant should be finished, with restaurant open and gift shop.  I would like to return to see the bottling aspect.

A bit more on beer

Our tour guide showing us a working beer processor...ok.  Where's the free beer?

Yes, chemists test all kinds of things, but this was just a fun display.

Looking through a window (thus reflections) at the bottom of one of the vats which extend through the roof, holding thousands of gallons of beer.

Yes, those vats...

But where's the free beer?

Bins full of ...

Hops...different plants make different flavors in beer, apparently.  So we got to walk around smelling a very pre-beer smell, and could pick up a hop or two if we wished.

This was part of our tour of the Sierra Nevada Brewery a few weeks ago.  Thought I'd try to show you some of the last pics.

Visit to brewery

Our guide for our free tour of Sierra Nevada Brewery

Copper clad vats, stainless steel inside, are already processing the beers

Some of the controls showing

Though much of the brewery is still under construction, it's been producing for the last year...Pale Ale is a favorite.

During production days a sip can be tasted right out of the vat

Copper is everywhere, just for the gleaming pleasure of it, and I wonder if it's treated so it won't turn green, (inside and outside also!)

I showed a few more pictures of the brewery tour HERE the other day.  And there will be more coming of the hops room and the architecture, and the setting, and even the bottling assembly line.  Just a few.

And a quote for the day:

We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that something deep inside us is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit.

e.e. cummings