Sierra Nevada Celebration Sightings (2022)

Got an "in" at the brewery?

 

Celebration Ale availability map, Chico, California. It's coming.

 

In the Northeast thread, it's been found in Seabrook, NH already!

 

It's a holiday tradition!

 

Don't joke. At this rate, they probably will make it hazy.

 

Then consider my comments as part of the festivus holiday tradition of the airing of grievances. I have a problem with all of youse people who make the same stupid spice jokes about SN Celebration every year. It’s hack. Come up with some new material.

 

Someone help me out here, what's that line about Francis?

Calling Mr. Dickens* -- a little help in the Beer Talk forum.

*Maybe Dr. Seuss?

 

You'd prefer we argue about its fresh* hops instead?

 

It appears that Festivus is going to be extra exciting this year?

 

Just found it today at the Harris Teeter on Gate City Blvd. Greensboro. Packaged per the outside of the 12 pack two days ago

 

Picked up a 12-pack at a Publix here in Cola. Canned 09/30/22.

Definitely can conditioned. Carb level seems just a bit low (?), but flavor and aroma profile are phenomenal. Predominately pine in the nose, strong, lingering, and pleasant bitterness. Incredible, really. World class beer.

Cheers

 

This is somewhat contradictory -- can (or bottle) conditioning usually gives off some good carbonation -- or at least a nice, thick head.

By "definitely" are you seeing a statement of can-conditioning on the label?

 

Nothing on the label. There’s a decent layer of yeast sediment in the can. Good head retention, just seemed a bit low to me.

 

If SN distribution history stays the course, this will hit Connecticut around December 5th.

 

Looking good.

 

How's the malt character?

 

Background to the hops. Slight cracker character. There is little residual sweetness from the caramel malts. This iteration at least is all about piney hops. And dangerous. I could crush five or six of these in a sitting.

 

You guys are killing me here... I want it! I want it bad! And I want it NOW!!! Maybe a couple more days.... bummer if it's at the store tonight, already three beers in, can't drive at the moment...

 

Oh that looks Fn tasty. SN Beer Finder shows no Celebration in my area (90 miles from Chico), so I guess I'll just need to be happy with the Deschutes King Crispy in my glass.

 

It always has been far as I know. I doubt they would change the recipe or process for such an iconic beer.

 

Double dog dare you.

 

It seems to be they're content to churn out new labels for their hazies. Although I would not be shocked to see a Hazy Little Celebration on the shelves one of these days

We try to keep that pedantry to the Western forum. The rest of the nation isn't ready to grapple with issues of such tremendous import

 

I’m not a young man anymore, but…

 

Can't wait to see you post tomorrow.

 

I thought SN bottle conditioned beers spent 2 weeks (or so) hanging out in the brewery before getting shipped.

 

Thank SN, they're making it challenging with cryo fresh wet hops and all.

 

Correct, (former) SNB had posted the same in the past as well.

 

About the same for Ohio. Easily six weeks old before it drops here.

 

wahoo! Fresh hops all year long! (Do you have room in that foxhole you've been ducking into?)

 

I don’t know where in CT you are but in my neck of the woods, I can usually find it by November first or the first week of November. I couldn’t imagine waiting till December!

 

I was exaggerating. However, I have found most SN releases are talked about on these pages weeks before I see them.

 

I would have sworn you were wrong as I was sure I had seen can conditioned so I checked the packaging. Nothing on the packaging about can conditioned or on the can itself. However the date and time stamp on the bottom indicate packaged on 10/2/22 and I bout it on 10/20 so enough time for can conditioning. that stamp has an M at the end and I'm guessing that refers to Mills River.

 

I'm not certain that you guys are on the same page. 'Conditioning' can mean several different things that might happen during the period of getting a beer to the consumer. This thread from the Homebrewing forum describes the various process meanings that that word can have.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/commun...-does-conditioning-a-green-beer-cover.669171/

Holding an overly-hoppy beer back from shipping into distro allows the hop flavors to meld better into the final beer flavor so that any 'bad tasting' beer is avoided because it's still too green. That's the last thing that SN wants to have happen to this iconic beer. I think Bell's also does this with Two Hearted.

 

Bottle/can conditioned should ONLY mean one thing...

What is bottle conditioning? - Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. <<< link

"Bottle conditioning is a time-honored method for naturally carbonating beer. We dose back a small amount of fermentable sugar and yeast into the beer right before we package it. This fermentation creates the finished carbonation and flavors unique to our beer."


What is: Can Conditioning? - Allagash Brewing Company <<< link

"...it helps to carbonate beer. How it works: we add a small amount of sugar and yeast to the beer right before packaging. That small addition helps the beer referment inside the can creating the last bit of carbonation, preserving the beer’s quality, and enhancing its flavor.

A good question we’ve gotten: “is can-conditioned beer different from bottle-conditioned beer?” If it’s the same beer, not at all. For example, the same Allagash White goes into both our cans and bottles—often from the exact same tank."

 

We’re talking about carbonating the beer in the can homebrew style instead of forcing Co2 into a closed tank to carbonate it. Celebration has historically been carbonated this way along with multiple other Sierra Nevada brews.

 

@PapaGoose03 -- this is the page I was on.

 

For further discussion below is how Bill Manley (formerly of Sierra Nevada) addressed this topic in a past thread:

“Bottle conditioned beers are not completely still at conditioning, but they are WAY undercarbinated from an acceptability standpoint. We will centrifuge (or filter, depending on the brand) then pitch fresh yeast and dextrose into the beer prior to packaging. They will carbonate up to, 2.5-2.7 v/v in the bottle which is just about where we like it.”

https://www.beeradvocate.com/commun...h-hop-pack-in-cans.529947/page-6#post-5707549

So, as you can readily discern from the above the Sierra Nevada ‘method’ is sorta a hybrid: the beer prior to the conditioning process is carbonated but at a level below what is needed for the final product (e.g., about 2.5 volumes of CO2) and the addition of yeast & sugar (dextrose) along with conditioning time will get the beer up to the needed carbonation level before the beer is shipped from the brewery.

Maybe the batch that @alanforbeer purchased was a little ‘off’ in this overall equation? Perhaps the beers placed in the can was lower in carbonation than spec? Or maybe during the addition of yeast/sugar the amounts were off? Maybe if they just let the cans sit in the brewery a few more days the beer would get to 2.5 – 2.7 volumes of CO2. Maybe…

Cheers!