The Celebration lasts all year
A few years ago, around the Holidays, I picked up a case of Sierra Nevada’s Celebration Ale. I enjoyed that year’s brew throughout most of the year. Then I picked up another case the following year. And then again and again, until it became a yearly tradition or as I like think “a yearly Celebration.” This is a beer of magnanimous proportions requiring a subtle aging so as to bring out its highest qualities of spicy hoppiness.
For instance, the 2005 batch pours with an elegant white head that ever so slowly dissipates producing light bubbles which last even longer. A deep amber hue in color and the pleasant smell of hops eagerly greets the privileged few that possess the patience to hold off drinking the whole lot during the holidays. Celebration’s taste has just the right amount of spices that permits this fine ale to be easily imbibed during warmer times as well as during the Holiday months. The finish has a restrained malt taste which is complemented by a slight spicy bitterness that leaves me anticipating the next sip.
Indeed, Sierra Nevada’s Celebration is cause for celebration and those epicureans who wait for this convivial beer to age have a festival of taste awaiting them!
September 4th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
[…] For 27 years the brewers of Sierra Nevada have produced some amazingly good beers. Topping the list is their monumental Celebration Ale, which ages like a fine wine (for a 10th of the price); what’s more, their aptly dubbed Anniversary Ale joins this grand list of epic beers with its pleasantly hoppy signature IPA bite complemented by a fine citrus and slight piney taste. Its hop nose with subtle malts and few bubbles producing a fine lacing invites the beer drinker to taste what is arguably the handiwork of poets. This beer has a wonderful hoppy backdrop that actually comes alive over time; indeed, drinking this beer at slightly colder than room temperature yields a wonderful drinking experience that leaves you searching for another bottle (after another) to imbibe. […]