2014 Celebration Ale

Could be a higher carbonation level at that particular bar? That could increase perceived bitterness.

 

Not sure because I have a keg of it in my kegerator, it could be the different carbonation levels. I'm doing a side by side right now with sips of water inbetween each tasting. The bottled version was crystal clear while on tap was a bit cloudy. Very simliar in taste/flavor besides the stronger bitterness.

 

I don't see how there is anyway you can say the recipe hasn't changed since the start. I think breweries, especially SN put a lot more thought into the science of how its going to taste...first they do use different hops. And that does vary from year to year due to weather condition and availability. But I think there is a concentrated effort to keep our palates interested every year. Otherwise there wouldn't be much input on this thread. Think about this: a lot think SN pale ale is the go to for the consistency it had from the start, that's not why we are discussing this brew...

 

i agree to a extint but I am sure the recipe is pretty much the same and to the Tee every year. Granted as you stated i am sure there will be a change because of different batches of hops but there recipe is pumped into a computer and is measured to the persice amounts to keep the syle and offering consistant year after year...

 

Used to love it, but they lost me in 11... don't remember why, but it was not pleasant. maybe I'll give it another try this year.

 

Bought a 12 pack of '14 and was disappointed. This was a favorite of mine in years past. Found an old '13 and thought it still tasted better than '14 after sitting in a cooler for a year.

 

i think it's missing some of the grapefruit notes

 

I have been binge drinking celebration since its release, and the first batch I picked up (9/30) definitely tasted a little off. All the others (10/10 and 10/17) have been great.

 

I've been drinking this every year during the holiday season since I was able to. It comes out every year at the right time, during the holiday season, with the proper name. Solid beer.

 

I had the same experience with a 9/30 batch

=/

 

Am I the only one who gets slightly annoyed by their usage of "fresh hop" to describe the beer? Maybe it's because we're surrounded by hop fields and get to experience dozens of actual "fresh hop" beers every year, but IMO fresh equals wet, and calling it fresh hop when they're using "freshly dried hops" seems misleading. That's like me drying some basil from my garden, making pesto with it, and telling everyone that it's "fresh basil." They go into some semantic justification for it on their site, but AFAIK they are the only brewery to use the term "fresh" to describe "freshly dried" hops.

Also, I don't buy their claim that the recipe has remained unchanged. According to their site, the hop bill includes Chinook, which didn't exist when they started brewing the beer in 1981.

 

You know the rule, no "fresh hop vs. wet hop" discussion in the main forum, man. :-)

There is historical precedent for that definition of "fresh hop" as Jesskidden and others will tell you, but you are not alone. We're not going to change Sierra Nevada's mind on the matter, so we just have to let it slide in most situations.

 

I can't say whether this year's Celebration is different from any other year. In looking at my past review of it, I seem to be enjoying it more this year but I suspect the change is in me and not the beer.

 

...and more bitter.

 

65 IBUs with the latest harvest of whole cone centennial, cascade, and chinook hops ... but not hoppy.

I often wonder what people mean when they say 'not hoppy'. Not bitter? Too much malt to balance the hops?

 

I realize it's a losing battle, but the problem (from my perspective as a retailer) is that pretty much every beer drinker in this region equates "fresh" with "wet", so now we've been dealing with countless customers asking when SN started making a "fresh hop" version of Celebration.

 

Wet Hop versus Fresh Hop
Over recent years, there has been some confusion about the difference between fresh and wet hops. While it may seem like semantics, to us it’s an important distinction.

Wet Hops are un-dried hops, picked and shipped from the growing fields within 24 hours.

Fresh Hops are the freshest dried hops to come from the fields, typically within seven days of harvest.

Over 90% of the world’s hop harvest happens between August 31 and October 31, and these hops are used throughout the calendar year. Can hops possibly be the same on November 1, one day after harvest, as they are on July 25, nearly one year after growing in the fields? The answer is no. We think of hops like dry kitchen spices—the flavor of thyme or rosemary right after the jar is opened is far more intense than it is six months later. The same can be said for hops. There are ways to control the way hops age and to reformulate and readjust as some of the aromas fade, but there’s nothing like the magic of the first bales of hops as fresh as can be. That is the stuff dreams are made of!

 

The actual "claim":

It's all out there and easy to find if you look hard enough.

 

You can't trust the judgement of someone who says, "Good beer. Will never buy it again."

 

I still find that to be dubious given that Chinook wasn't released until 1985.