Our beer begins life as plump grains of premium two-row barley. In the malting process, the grains are soaked in water and allowed to germinate. Kilning or roasting the malted grains develops distinctive character and gives the beer its rich flavor, color, and body. We use only premium barley malts, and never corn or rice fillers.
Each year, we hand-select the finest hop cones from growers around the world. To achieve the complex hop character that is our trademark, we add different varieties of whole hops to the brew kettles at specific points during the boil. Bittering hops go into the brew kettles early to balance and offset the sweetness of the malt. The most aromatic hops are added near the end of the boil to capture the volatile oils that infuse our beers with their intense flavor and aroma. Our Bigfoot Ale, Celebration Ale, and other specialty beers receive an additional “dry-hopping” during the maturation period.
Yeast is the magical organism that works its alchemy on the malt and hops to produce our flavorful brews. We maintain and culture several different strains in our laboratory to produce our classic ales and lagers. Our ales are produced utilizing our original distinctive strain of top-fermenting yeast. This special yeast, and our carefully monitored fermentation profile, helps to produce the wonderful aromatic qualities found in all of our ales. We seasonally propagate a classic cold-fermenting lager strain to produce our range of traditional all-malt lager beers. We will often culture unique yeast strains from around the world to produce small batches of distinctive beers.
Chico's location at the base of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges affords us a pure and plentiful source of water. Our brewing water is pumped from a deep aquifer that is continually recharged by the snow and rain falling in the nearby foothills and higher peaks. Like all of our brewing ingredients, we carefully treat and monitor this vital raw material. Because of our commitment to the environment and our local community, we strive to use this valuable resource efficiently. Wastewater generated by the brewery is thoroughly treated in our state-of-the-art recycling plant before being discharged.
So what distinguishes an ale from a lager? It has nothing to do with strength, color, or bitterness. It’s the yeast and the fermentation temperature. Ale yeasts ferment best at warmer temperatures—as high as 75° F. Because yeasty foam rises to the surface of the beer, these are known as “top-fermenting” yeasts.
Lager yeasts, on the other hand, prefer cooler temperatures. They are called “bottom-fermenting” yeasts because they sink to the bottom of the tank at the completion of fermentation and during the cold-storage period traditional for lager beers. This process removes haze and gives lagers their characteristic clean, rounded tastes.
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