Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale

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

08 Draft. Pour is light redish amber with a thick frothy head. Aromas of piney hops, citrus, sweet malt, and some fruit. Flavor is hops upfront and throughout. Some nice malt presence also. Body seemed to be somewhat thin and watery. Overall a great brew.

Amber pour from bottle. Amber color, spicy caramel flavor with hoppy bite. Not a fan of winter beers, but this one really did not hit home with me.

12 oz bottle. Very nice spicy hop aroma, with a variety of hop qualities, pine, tangy citrus, sweet apples, minor mango grapefruit and berry, with a rich caramel that comes through well for the malt side of things. Very pretty pour, with a milky white cloudy bubble head, good retention and lacing, fairly cloudy opacity, and mahogany orange color. Theres a good tart bite right from the get go, lots of hops that are not unbalanced in least, and that dont seem to over power me at all though i could see how they could to some, pine and berries to start, a good floral herbal hop kick in the middle that combines with a sweet fruit mix to make a very full and flavorful finish and linger that seems to just last and last, which is no problem at all for me. A truly delightful beer that really does seem to brighten my day in the dark, cold winter months. Thank you sierra nevada for creating a beer of such high quality.

2008. Celebration pours amber and clear with a sticky off white head and nice lacing. The smell is pine, caramel, bitter citrus and, although this is repetitive, distinctly hoppy. The flavor is cleanly bitter with hop flavors that come through with more pine and floral strength than citrus. I am not a big fan of their pale ale. I appreciate Sierra Nevada and their role in brewing, but it almost seems like they sacrifice some quality to pump out so much of the pale ale. The Celebration strikes me as the beer that the pale ale should be. The hops are clear, clean and bitter. There are no off flavors and the whole package is immensely drinkable. The feel is a tad watery, but it does not get in the way of the flavor. Sierra Nevada is obviously capable of making great beer and lots of it. I just wish I could find this beer as easily as the pale ale and all year round. In my mind, this is the definitive American IPA against which all others should be judged. Sidenote... While some might find the hops to have a spicy flavor, I do not believe that SN adds any of the normal holiday spices to this beer. I feel a bit confused by a few of these reviews.

On tap at Barleys Smokehouse. Deep amber with a minimal off-white head. Smells of grapefruity hops with a nice malt back. Flavor of hop and more hop. Piney, and a tad bit of malt for balance. Awesome.

Favorite Christmas beer of all. Lots of spice. Sweet. I drink it when offered, but not a huge fan.

12 oz bottle. Reddish orange with light off white pinkie sized head. Malty hoppy nose. Brown sugar, molasses? Super sharp on first drink. Too cold Im guessing. Bit astringent after the too light fruitiness fades. Wow, yeah, maybe Ill try one again later to see if its just not matching my palate right now, but I am WAY not loving this beer right now.

Bottle: Hoppy with X-mas spices, raisins, nuts, berries, nice twist to the IPA. Worth a celebration!