Sierra Nevada Celebration. Has the recipe changed over the years?

From a Full Pint interview with Sierra Nevada's Bill Manley (aka "sierranevadabill" here on BA):

 

I believe it's changed. Go back a few years and I thought it was wonderful. Then the last two years seemed different and lame. After a lot of fine folks here at BA talked about it this year, I went out and bought a cold pack and it's delicious. Maybe my taste buds are playing games with age, but it seems the current crop is where it was when I first had it.
PS: this was discussed a week or two ago, hopefully nobody will blast you for bringing it up again...

 

As good as it ALWAYS is.

I think we will that "spiciness" on it. I taste it, too. My absolute favorite this time of year.

 

Funny, the power of suggestion is an incredible thing. I purposely try not to read any reviews of a beer before I review it myself. I can taste new things from sip to sip just by reading that someone else tasted some specific flavor. Is the flavor really there and I was just missing it before? By looking for it, did I find it? Or did my brain just decide that there should be nutmeg and cinnamon in this Celebration and therefore tricked me? That's why blind taste tests are so awesome.

Dope

 

I love this beer. I feel like the ABV% used to be higher

 

Was there ever actually spices in this beer? I know there isn't now, but was there ever? Why do people always associate this beer with spics, is it because it comes out at Christmas time and has a log cabin on it?

 

Never spices. I was having this same discussion with people back in the early 90s, when I was homebrewing my own version. I had a 'cheat sheet' from SN at the time that listed the ingredients and gravities (very much like what they put on the website these days) and there were no spices mentioned. People still insisted that they were in there; it is the power of suggestion I suppose- like you said, having to do with the season and imagery on the label.

 

Did I say I love it? I love it! The price is right too! I'm a Sierra Nevada fan. For me, some of the best value beer on the market.

 

Really love this beer. Just picked up a sixer not knowing anything about it and absolutely loved it

 

I drink this every year. It may be the same recipe, but this years batch is superior to last years. 2012 batch just tasted dull to me.

 

Sn has said it is brewed the same. Hops are an agricultural product, and vary from year to year, so yes there can be yearly differences even though it is brewed the same.

Some breweries will use many different varieties from several locations in a beer to get a mean flavor or bitterness that stays fairly constant.

 

The answer, quite simply.

NO

Same stuff, different year, always great. Thanks for playing, GAME OVER

 

Spices in beer are disgusting anyways, I don't care what anyone says. If Celebration had spices in it I'd never drink it again

 

I mostly buy single bottles/cans of beer - I like variety and don't like to drink the same thing all the time; occasionally if it's something I know I like I'll get a 6 pack. When Celebration comes out I buy a 12 pack. Easily one of my favorite beers. Every year the topic of spices (or lack thereof) in this beer comes up...

 

Always loved Celebration and honestly, I never thought there were spices in it nor do I taste them. It's an ale brewed with fresh hops from the harvest, always has and always will...

I would say that if anyone remembers it being "better", it's probably because it's an excellent example of an "old school" American IPA and we've all gotten used to the new hop varieties and restrained malt bill. Celebration has it's fair share of crystal malt and classic US hops. It ain't Cali hop water like what everyone else is/trying to brew these last couple years.

 

Spicy characters can come from a variety of sources other than spices -- especially certain hops.

 

Friend of mine is a flavor chemist and says that people's taste buds are pretty limited. If given an cherry flavored candy and it's not red and they are not told what flavor it is- they can't tell the flavor. Smell is also a key ingredient of course.

 

I am HORRIBLE blindly eating jelly beans and discerning what I am tasting. Some are very easy, but some I feel like I KNOW the flavor, but can't say what it is until someone tells me, and then I think "of course, that is exactly what it is"

 

http://beeradvocate.com/community/t...e-changed-over-the-years.135975/#post-1965457

 

Ha, it's funny how it comes up every year. Some people here take offence and will flame this vehemently. My theory is that because of its red, snowy, wintry label, it evoques a winter warmer, instead of an IPA. Thus some people think christmas, so they associate it with cinnamon and nutmeg and gingerbread cookies and frolic.

 

Is it possible that some people confuse SN Celebration with Anchor Our Special Ale, which is spiced and does change every year and both go back to the 80s?

 

I've always guessed it was something like that. I just don't see how anyone could think it was spiced. Maybe the savory, resin-y, finish/aftertaste?

 

IMO , yes.

 

A real nice fresh hop, I remember a bitter bomb, but this one is very nice.

 

It's me. It's me.... Sorry but maybe just the hop variations over time coupled with me drinking more hop bombs. I can take or leave this. Maybe because it gets here 6+ weeks old to start with... Used to love this beer, used to homebrew a clone in Hawaii, I loved it so much.

I'd rather have some 5 week old TIPA right now

 

For whatever reason, the Centennial hop harvest this year was one of the best we've seen in over a decade. The hops are incredibly oily and have a distinct, strong floral/rose-like character this time around. The 2013 Northern Hemisphere and Celebration Ale both benefited immensely from these excellent Centennials. I wish we could take credit for this, but sadly, Mother Nature has us trumped. With hops as good as these, all we can do is get out of the way and let them shine. I agree, though, Celebration this year is excellent. My fridge at home is filled to the brim with bottles.

-Bill

 

Celebration has not changed. On the other hand, and I might as well start it now and really jump the gun, Nugget Nectar has been different since the brewery moved from Harrisburg to Hershey.

 

That explains why it took the enamel off my teeth this year.

Can I send my dental bill to Chico?

 

“Celebration has not changed.” Why would you say that? In the prior post Bill Manley (of Sierra Nevada) explicitly stated that Celebration is different this year due to the fact the 2013 crop of Centennial hops is distinctly different.

“For whatever reason, the Centennial hop harvest this year was one of the best we've seen in over a decade. The hops are incredibly oily and have a distinct, strong floral/rose-like character this time around.”

Cheers!