Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale

Brewed by Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Chico, California USA

(35.5cl bottle, vintage 2008) Hazy, amber colour with a big and persistent, slightly beige foamy head. Moderately sweet and slightly bready (cara-)malty aroma with notes of citrus, grapes and piney, also nettle-like hops. Bitter-sweet flavour, medium bodied with a crispy mouthfeel. Solid cara-malty base with light traces of cough syrup and ethereally, fruity and spicy hops; dry and rich hoppy finish with well-rounded malty notes. Highly elaborated IPA (16.VIII.09).

Pours amber, with a fluffy off-white head.Very hoppy aroma. Malty flavour with a lot of piney hops to the end. Good IPA

This is truly a great IPA. I put this up against 60 min. IPA and Hop Devil and this one was the best IMO. They should make it year long. I’m rating this from memory, so I won’t go into details. Just try it, you love it. Awesome stuff.

Amber with a low, long-lasting head. Strong hop aroma; fruity with citrus. Amazing hop flavor, with a low key maltiness showing up stably in the background. A touch of sweetness is there under the bitterness. There is a bit of berry-like fruitiness. Doesn’t really taste very strong. Has an extremely bitter finish that lasts a long time. Just a touch of malt under there. An excellent beer.

I try to find this every year as it’s quite a delicious IPA brewed by one of our favorite hop artists out there - Sierra Nevada! Okay, so maybe it’s not the best IPA out there, but it’s still quite good and something everyone should try, especially if you’re a homebrewer and appreciate the history!

...celebrate good times, c’mon...let’s celebrate...let’s have a party tonight...

A fluffy white head rests atop a sea of oranges, copper, and precious amber. As her coppery tuft slowly recedes, she clings stubbornly to the sides of my glass while her center remains only as a thin shadow of her former glory, and for good reason; her nose. Billowing out from under her cover like a volcano spewing aphrodisiacal gasses, I am trapped by her allure brisk hops. Pine trees, pine needles, pink and yellow grapefruit, flowers, oranges and honey, with a final flourish of more floral esters. As brisk as her nose was, so too was her palate; clean and thinner than I was expecting, she is of a middle weight which allows her hops to shine further. Pine needles crunch underfoot, leaking esters and sticky sap while sliced grapefruit both quenches and invigorates my thirst. Tastebuds have been taken hostage as her palate settles firmly atop them. Warm spices and citric acidity linger in the finish while flowery esters and dry grass offer support from the background. Bright, crisp, and dry, the Sierra Nevada Celebration ale takes no prisoners, willing captive that I am.

Each year, Sierra Nevada’s Celebration Ale is a solid success, and this year is no exception. Seeing as I am rather new to the beer scene, this is only my second year of celebrating Christmas with the Celebration Ale. It will be interesting to see how next year’s notes compare to this year’s. Either way, an easy win and a holiday brew everyone should have in their fridge while enjoying the season.

Clear amber with very pale tan head. Malty aroma with a hint of spice. Full bodied, balanced malt flavor with some pine in the background.

Bottle at home 31/12/2007 Some carbonation. Very hoppy pine aroma. Amber coloured and very hoppy with a fruity and slightly dry finish. A great IPA to end the year with!