Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale

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

2007 vintage. This ale pours a gloriously deep, hazy orange colour with a thick and stable off-white head that leaves a pleasant lacing around the glass. The aromas are malty sweet and fruity at first, but later it develops a spicy, burnt hop quality. The flavours are dominated almost entirely by the hops. There are notes of burnt caramel to be found, but primarily - but not overly - a spicy hoppiness fills the mouth. This rather thick ale lingers on the palate for some time leaving the drinker with a long-lasting spicy bitterness.

Deep orange amber, quite hazy, big orange-tinted head. aromas of grapefruit, resin, and toffee. Palate structure is a nice sweet malty backbone with loads of cascade character (grapefruit, resin). Dry finish with big bitterness. I like the malt structure better here than in the Mendocino White I had earlier in the evening.

Bottle. Amber-brown. White head. Aroma has nuts and malt. Quite sweet. Flavor is round and brings malt and nuts.

Bottle. Pours copper with thick, dense off-white head. Aroma is pungent hops- fruity, piney. Flavor is toasted grain, mellow fruity esters and fruity, slightly prickly hops. Finish has massive piney hop flavors and bitterness. Thick, creamy wonderfully full and creamy mouthfeel with touches of oily hop resin.

June 2006 - 2005 Version - I think I’m rating this numerically higher than I think it really should be. Aroma is citrusy hops. Flavor is citrusy hops. I don’t find it so amazingly complex as others do. The appearance was great, huge head, beauty orangey color and tremendous lacing. The mouthfeel was nice and thick, yet creamy. Those bump up numbers. The flavor was predominantly citrusy hops, maybe a touch of pine. Some malt distinguishable, but not much, maybe a touch of caramel. An okay IPA, but I wouldn’t run out to get it.

350 ml bottle at home 2008-02-02. Pours a cloudy bright orange color with yeast haze and a thick, lasting head. The aroma starts off sweet and fruity with notes of mandarin, grape and apricots. The head note is slightly more piny and focused on the sweet grape. Somewhat nutty with a hint of caramelly malt. Frothy mouthfeel. Big and sweet with lively carbonation. Very soft at the start. The bitterness becomes more noticeable and comes to the front after you swallow, leaving the beer balanced and rich. The bitterness is really nice. Earthy and only slightly piny. Again, only a touch of roasted caramel malt before the aftertaste of hops take over. Very nicely balanced and characterful. After a few sips, the hops really become dominant. Not the most complex IPA.

Smells of sour citrus hops. Pours a clear copper with a big foamy off-white almost tan head. Taste is pungent hops with a very dry/bitter finish to it. A very nice IPA, not quite as good as I imagined Sierra Nevada’s IPA would taste though.

copper/bronze with nice, frothy 2 finger head, slight haze. big hop aroma with slight malty notes. not the smoothest for me. was not what i was expecting for a "seasonal," in that i generally expect a warm malty beverage. this one does however have a night balance of hops and malts. i prefer this one straight out of the bottle. not bad by any means, but not great. would go great with a hawaiian pizza!