Day 10 of the 2nd Annual Advent-ure Calendar
Day 10: Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale
Sierra Nevada’s Celebration Ale is a classic holiday staple. It uses the first, fresh hops of the growing season, and no spices. We are surprised that this didn’t make the list last year. Its similar to Day 7’s beer, Anchor’s Christmas Ale, in that it changes year to year, but the change here is a little more faint and is due to the subtle variations from harvest to harvest. “First brewed in 1981, Celebration Ale is one of the earliest examples of an American-style IPA and one of the few hop-forward holiday beers. Famous for its intense citrus and pine aromas, Celebration is bold and intense, featuring Cascade, Centennial and Chinook hops—honoring everything we have at Sierra Nevada.” Sierra Nevada is known for their delicious and hoppy beers. It will be interesting to see their take on a hoppy holiday ale.
REFLECTIONS
Beard & Broad
Beard: Dammit I love this beer. There was a time in my younger beer drinking days that this was too hoppy for me, especially for a holiday beer. But, as my tastes have evolved I’ve grown to be a big fan of this. It’s another departure from the usual Christmas beers out there, in that it uses no spices. It’s just a fresh, awesome, amazing IPA and it’s exactly what I like to grab when I need a break from spiced or Belgian ales during the winter season.
Broad: This is a delicious beer but I don’t know if I would say it’s a delicious holiday beer. It smells like it may have some holiday spice but all I really taste is hops and a small amount of maltiness. It reminds me of almost every other Sierra Nevada beer–hoppy. I would drink this but I definitely would not classify this as a winter or holiday beer
Adam & Alex
Adam: I’m not a huge fan of IPAs (though they’re growing on me because Ben makes me drink them a lot) and I feel like Sierra Nevada makes everything real hoppy. I’m not a huge fan but I don’t hate it. On a positive note I absolutely love piney candles and this is like drinking one of those candles so there’s that.
Alex: At first I was overwhelmed with how hoppy this was. As I drank it, it grew on me, which is how IPA’s usually go for me. It smells like a Christmas tree, which is fitting for a Christmas beer.
Scott & CT
Scott: Scott: If this beer journey ended today, I’d be completely satisfied as the Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale is one of my new favorites of the winter season. It has just enough spice and smoothness but won’t let you forget it’s an IPA. I’ll be petitioning Apple to have iMessage automatically shoot out confetti every time this beer gets mentioned.
CT: I really like this beer. I get a nose of vanilla and the typical holiday spices we’ve seen thus far. But, the taste doesn’t really carry that through. I feel like if I drank this in July, it would be the same experience. It doesn’t seem like a holiday beer–just a really tasty IPA. Its Sierra Nevada so you know it’s going to be good and that alone would keep me drinking it all year long.
Lou & Jen
Lou: Hop hop hop! I don’t really love IPAs, but I like a nice winter inspired IPA. It has the malt to smooth it out, and the citrus and spice are refreshing on first sip. It lingers on the palette a bit too long, but overall a classic holiday beer
Jen: Another not-so-amazing beer for me. After a long day I was really looking forward to this one. It was a very traditional IPA Pale Ale with a lot of hops and winter spices tossed in. Overall, it was a decent beer, but I’m just not a fan of hops. My bed was calling my name a lot louder than this beer.
