Our guest this episode is American craft beer legend Steve Dressler. Recorded at last month’s Jasper Beer & Spirits Festival we talk to the now retired brewmaster for Sierra Nevada about what it was like being a part of the birth of North America’s craft beer boom.

Steve’s 35 history with Sierra Nevada began right at the ground floor, putting bottles into boxes on their packaging line for $4 an hour. At the time the brewery and much of the equipment looked incredibly primitive compared to today but their processes were anything but. Built in an old transmission shop and using equipment repurposed from old carwash heating systems and a packing line allegedly used by Al Capone, the early craft brewery already had an enormous focus on quality control and were one of the first to use an on-site lab.

They started out just self distributing within Chico, California and after being featured in the San Fransisco Chronicle as “the best beer that’s being brewed now” the popularity of their beer exploded. The next decade would include an unbelievable pace of growth, at one point growing by as much as 35% year over year, and upgrading to a 100 barrel system and again to a 200 barrel system in less than 10 years.

As the brewery grew so did Steve’s role, and by the time he retired in 2017 he’d long since prepared his successors though what he calls “managing by getting the f**k outta there!” Since then he’s attended lots of beer festivals just like this one, and has been asked for advice and guidance by many growing craft brewers. He leaves us with three pieces of advice for new brewers anywhere in the world:

1. You need to get into making beer for the right reason: that you have a passion for making really good beer
2. Always go for the quality standard. Set your quality standards as high as you possibly can and prioritize it more than you think you need to
3. ENJOY THE HELL OUT OF IT!

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Let’s Meet For A Beer!

Alberta Beer Festivals: website | twitter | instagram

Steve Dresler: instagram

Sierra Nevada: website | twitter | instagram