Sierra Nevada Celebration Sightings (2022)

It depends on your municipality and even if you are putting them in the recycling they may still get sorted out and going into the regular trash unfortunately, there's been a lot going on with glass lately. It's good that you are able to reuse them!

 

Yeah, that is indeed a distinct possibility (unfortunately).

Cheers!

 

Side by side of cans from Chico and Mills River. I didn’t set out to buy both, it just happened that way. The Chico ones were six packs at $10.99. The MR were in a 12 pack that cost $18.99.
Chico on the left, MR on the right. Carb. is high on both, but even higher on the MR. Chico is mostly clear, MR is partially cloudy. Chico aroma is all pine. MR has pine with citrus in the background. Chico is more bitter and less sweet than MR. Both finish dry. Even Mrs. Marley1 could taste a difference.



@JackHorzempa @SierraTerence

 

They aren’t nearly as cloudy as what we had last year, but the over carbonated issue is definitely still there. I’ll see if I can find any pictures that I emailed to them last year.

 

So far I have only purchased one six-pack and it was from the Mills River brewery. I concur with the aspect of highly carbonated and slightly hazy.

Cheers!

 

I bought my 5th 6pack yesterday. It seems like there's more in town than last year. I'll drink to that!!

 

Failed to find a 6 pack anywhere so settled for 12-pack cans. I'm glad I did. It tastes better than ever this year - but it could be because I'm so burned out on the hazy stuff, my palate is ready for more traditional IPAs again. Looking forward to Nugget Nectar next!

 

I was at three places yesterday. One had none, one had a few six packs and the last stop had a mountain of 12 packs. I’m enjoying this beer.

Enjoy

 

Just picked up a 12 pack at Wegmans. 10/20/22 packaging date. Latest date I have scene.

 

Did you get the bottles? Found some and picked up a 12er of them.

 

“seen”.

 

Not been to Delaware yet. Bottles are at TW. Probably be there after thanksgiving.

Enjoy

 

I visited the local BevMo and asked two staff about the location of Celebration. One waved me towards the Christmas beer section. The second asked, "Ale?" the ale is over there. Neither of these youngsters knew what I was asking about. The BevMo website indicated that the store had it. I could not find it. I left a little miffed but knew there were other local slightly more costly options.

 

Saw 12 pack bottles on sale for 16.99 at a local grocery. I'll be headed there on Friday to pick that up I suppose. Maybe grab another 6 of cans for a side by side

 

That is a good one sentence summary IMO.

Cheers!

 

Cannot overstate how great this beer is. Look forward to it every year and buy it every year.

 

Is it just me or is this years Celebration tastier than past years? Could be my taste buds changing but I swear I’ve had this beer every year for about a decade, always thought it tastes the same, but this year the flavors and aroma jump more and more juiciness and less bitter than the past.

 

I came across a six pack of cans that were canned on 11/01 and refrigerated so I ended up picking one up and I am trying one from the pack now. Very carbonated, lots of head, and just about the perfect balance between malts and hops until at the end and then it's hops and a bit dry. This does seem to be a bit "juicy" and I'm picking up more fruit than in years past I think, and it's a little hazy as well. I'm not saying that they messed with the recipe but this is probably the freshest I've ever had it and it's definitely a bit more complex when fresh.

My feelings are about the same but it's satisfying my hops craving right now and I'll drink to that. Budmo!

 

Yeah, this topic has been discussed in the past.

In some back & forth with Bill Manley (the Sierra Nevada Beer Ambassador of that time) it was mentioned that with the 'fresh' hop aspect of producing Celebration Ale that the qualities of each year's hop crop will be quite impactful to the flavor profile of the beer. As one point of example, in some year's the beers have more of a rose aroma/flavor from that year's 'fresh' hops (Centennial hops) while in other years rose aroma/flavor is absent.

Cheers!

 

Just picked up my 3rd 12 pack this year, so it’s looking like a 2-3 case season. My first was cans and the 2nd was bottles, both from the Mills River location. IMO, the bottles are superior by far. I seem to get more of the rose character on the nose and the flavor seems to pack a bigger punch in the bottle.

 

I would like to hear how using bottles helps enhance hop flavors and packs a bigger punch. I am not trolling.

 

If I were a betting man, I would say tank conditioned cans and bottle conditioned bottles.
That's just a guess on my part.

 

That was also my guess. As in bigger punch, I meant a more prominent flavor. @deanzaZZR

 

I'd also suggest that there's possible differences between the performance of the canning and bottling line.

I'm hoping to set up a bottle v can side by side this week so I'll report my findings

 

Yes, please do.

 

I did a blind test between a can and bottle, both poured into identical glasses. They were bottled within about a week of each other in mid-late October from Chico. I chose the bottled version as my favorite, but just by a little. To my taste, the bottle had a slightly brighter hop profile, while also having a deeper, more supple malt profile in the middle.

 

I have done numerous side by sides with various beers and your take was like mine: the bottle is better, but not by much. I do prefer the pours that I can get from bottles vs cans, though.

 

I would be interesting to know what the Sierra Nevada QC panel think on the topic of bottles vs. cans for Celebration?

Cheers!

@SierraTerence

 

Do the labels on the bottles read "Bottled Conditioned" as they did in the past?

 

I may have missed the memo, but where is bottled Celebration available? I’ve only seen cans in 6 and 12 packs. I’ve always preferred bottled Celebration to canned.

 

Have it here in rural PA. Thought it was cans only until they popped up at my local spot.

 

It's here in northern California. Only 12 packs and not all stores have them. Some just cans

 

While checking on line for Celebration at TW I see that the different stores in my area have different supplies. It could be a combination of bottle vs cans vs 6-pks and/or 12-pks.
So, if you are able to use that tool to find out.

 

Well I did my side by side of can v bottle. Can dated 10/03, bottle 10/12. Both from Chico. Ultimately, they were very very similar beers. It was some considerable effort to pull differences out. The head from the bottled beer was both better from the start and more persistent. My nose couldn't find àny distinct differences. On the palate, I felt like the canned beer was a little sharper. A more prominent grapefruit note and maybe some more pine. The bottle is a little softer at the edges with a bit more of the rose/floral notes. The bottled beer felt a bit fuller.

Again, these distinctions are pretty minute and it would be easy to overlook them if I weren't searching for them. Also, while I think the bottle beer is closer to what I think of as the archetypal Celebration flavor profile I think I might have enjoyed the canned version better today. Maybe I was just in the mood for a bit more bite.

Lovely beer all around

 

"Fuller" is a good way to describe the bottled version. I also thought the differences were pretty subtle, and I really had to put some effort in to characterize them. And I think it would be hard to say one is objectively better than the other, but I decided I liked that fuller, softer bottled version a bit more. At least at that moment I did.

For those in NorCal, I found cases of bottles at Costco. 28.99.

 

Yeah I ended up getting the 12 pack for about 19$ out the door at a local grocery chain. Great deal for a great beer

 

After having almost 3 12 packs of Celebration, I’m craving something hazy and less bitter. Probably in the minority, but anyone else?

Don’t get me wrong, this beer is great. But, starting to lose its appeal quickly.

 

I've been like this with IPAs since I've been drinking them and they quickly become "one note" for me and I need to switch to something else. And while I love variety I do not have this issue with any of the other styles that I like and if I had to I could drink those repeatedly.

 

I don't think I've chosen to drink 3 12 packs of any one beer in a month. I've bought 3 12 packs of Celebration, but shared them all and probably only drank a single 12 pack in that time. I bought a 6 pack of Porter and a 6 pack of Narwhal last time I went to the store