We wanted to see if we could grow hops at our brewery in Chico, California so we planted our own hop field selecting our prized Cascade and Centennial varieties along with some specialty hop varieties to experiment with. To our surprise, we not only could grow hops, we were also able to harvest them in late summer due to Chico’s ideal climate.

Chico Estate Harvest Ale is one of the very few estate harvest ales produced anywhere in the world today. All the hops in the beer are grown naturally on the premises of our brewery in Chico. We pick the hops ourselves and then take them directly to the brew kettle, without being dried, just after picking so they retain nearly all of their natural oils and resins. It is made with Cascade, Centennial and Chinook hops. Until now, this beer has only been available in draft. Starting this year, we will be bottling it on a very limited basis, with plans to expand its availability as we expand our Chico hop field in the coming years.