Craft Beer Revolution

American beer, in particular craft beer, nearly disappeared in the aftermath of Prohibition. What was once a brewery-on-every-corner industry, with roughly 3,000 in the late 19th century, had become a novelty by the time Ken Grossman launched Sierra Nevada. “The year I started, 1980, represented the low point for the US brewing industry,” Ken writes in his book Beyond the Pale, “with a mere 40 legacy breweries in existence.” What’s more, the flavor wasn’t there; industrial lager, despite its overt blandness, prevailed at bars and stores.

So Ken, alongside other craft pioneers like Fritz Maytag of Anchor Brewing and Jack McAuliffe of New Albion Brewery, sparked a revolution with rebellious beers like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Ken set out to “leave a lasting impression on the drinker, and we wanted [Pale Ale] to have a distinctive hop character.” Ask the nearly 10,000 American breweries today, and many will point to Pale Ale as inspiration.

History of Pale Ale

Sierra Nevada helped shape the American standard for Pale Ale, but it was British brewers who set the style in motion in the 1700s. With advances in kilning, or the heating and drying of malt, they discovered new colors and flavors were possible in beer. The English-style Pale Ale took shape, featuring mild-mannered and earthy English hops balancing delicately against sweet and bready malt character.

Jump to the late 20th century when Ken Grossman stamped an American take on the style: bold hops, and lots of them, squarely in the spotlight. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale shocked taste buds in 1980, but those piney and citrusy Cascade hops soon launched craft beer into the mainstream. Almost a half-century later, fans are still ranking Pale Ale number one.

Pale Ale Characteristics

American-style Pale Ale is most celebrated for its hop character, which can range from floral and fruity to fresh pine needles or the sappy resin of a tree. Malt affords Pale Ale its balance, imparting notes like caramel or fresh bread to complement the hop bitterness. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is also bottle conditioned; an extra dose of sugar and yeast, put into the bottle (or can!) right before packaging, creates natural carbonation — and more flavors. “I even get a little bit of fresh apple from the bottle conditioning,” says Sierra Nevada’s Terence Sullivan.

This style’s flavor might be bold and complex, but the medium body and smooth finish make Pale Ale highly drinkable. Pale Ale alcohol content (ABV) also stays modest, starting in the mid-4% ABV and topping out around 6% ABV. The color of a Pale Ale, often measured as a numerical SRM (Standard Research Method), is somewhere between 5 and 10 — think pale golden to light amber. It’s a thing of beauty: a freshly poured Pale Ale glowing in a glass.

How Pale Ale tastes

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The Passion for Pale Ale

At the second annual Great American Beer Festival in 1983, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale took first place. (It was a “consumer preference poll” until 1987 when professional judging began; Sierra Nevada Pale Ale won a medal that year too.) It became the benchmark for American Pale Ale, inspiring countless breweries and beers to come. And it was a precursor to the emergence of India Pale Ale (IPA) as a dominant style in American craft beer, pushing the intensity and range of hop flavors to new heights. Sierra Nevada beers like Celebration IPA and Torpedo Extra IPA are touchstones of that style. But how exactly do Pale Ales veer into IPA territory? Dive into the key differences between them.

PALE ALE VS. IPA

Three cans of Sierra Nevada beer in a pile of hops

Pale Ale Homebrew Recipe

Ken Grossman opened a homebrew shop in 1976, and that’s where his hobby transformed into his lifework. Ahead of Sierra Nevada opening in 1980, Ken perfected the Pale Ale recipe in true homebrewer fashion: making 5-gallon batches nearly every week until it was ready for 10-barrel primetime. We’ve adapted that 5-gallon recipe right from Ken’s original logbook, and we tossed in some helpful tips. Now let your brew day begin.

Homebrew Pale Ale

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