So I went to the Sierra Nevada Brewery. Not the one in California, mind you, but the new one in Mills River, North Carolina. It’s really cool, a dedicated green brewery with huge solar panels and a rainwater collection system. There are scheduled tours that get booked up far in advance, but no worries. There’s a self-guided tour as well and that’s what I took.
After the tour, I hit the gift shop and bought some glasses, shirts, openers, mustard, and of course, beer. One of the more interesting beers I spied was Sierra Nevada Old Chico Pale Bock. I’d heard of this beer, but never seen it. It seems to be quite rare, so I grabbed a six-pack for myself and a few friends.
Sierra Nevada said about this beer in March of 2014:
After almost five years of local friends’ nostalgia and pleas, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. will reintroduce later this month its Pale Bock, a golden lager, exclusively in Chico and a limited surrounding area.
Of course, I didn’t buy it in Chico, I bought it in North Carolina. I’ve never seen it any store by the way. I’m not sure if this is only sold outside Chico and that limited area at the Mills River Brewery, but I wasn’t going to pass on a chance to buy it. It was brewed in Chico, however, not Mills River.
Sierra Nevada says this about where the name comes from:
The Old Chico Brewery operated between 1865 and 1899 and proves that Chico is—and has always been—a city with a passion for local beer. We built our brewery with local tastes in mind and our Old Chico Brand is an homage to that homegrown spirit, brewed for our extended local family in Northern California.
Here’s more from the six-pack holder:
Old Chico Brand Pale Bock is a beer of legend. Once a brewery-only treat, it was so coveted that we heard tales of folks traveling hundreds of miles to get it. Golden and robust, Pale Bock is back from its hiatus. We’re proud to reintroduce this full-bodied local lager, the perfect beer for the coming of spring in Northern California.
Sierra Nevada Old Chico Pale Bock has an alcohol content of 6.8% by volume and I paid $9.99 for a six-pack. My bottles are stamped "PKGD 3/12/2015." Sierra Nevada has released other pale bocks, most notably their Sierra Nevada Glissade Bock which if memory serves was less malty but just as hoppy. It was slightly less strong at 6.4% ABV as well. They also did a much stronger Yonder Bock tropical pale bock in conjunction with Cigar City Brewing as part of their Beer Camp Across America pack.
Sierra Nevada Old Chico Pale Bock pours to a bright golden orange color with a medium sized head of foam and a very flowery hop nose laced with hints of citrus. Taking a sip, the beer has deliciously toasty, candyish, slightly chewy light caramel malt up front with a bit of cooked corn flavor as is common for the style. The beer is slightly sweet into the finish, but at the very last the herbal, grassy hops arrive with a minty bitter buzz to balance the beer out and leave it slightly dry.
An excellent example of the style, perhaps hoppier than the Germans might make but extremely delicious all the same, and they got the malt right. It’s almost too easy to drink but packed with flavor at the same time. I love the beer and I love the history here. Highly recommended.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft
(G)=Growler