The Brew SiteAdvent Beer Calendar 2021: Day 5: Sierra Nevada Brewing Celebration IPA
Today is Repeal Day, in which we celebrate this date (December 5) in 1933 when Utah became the final state needed for a majority to ratify the 21st Amendment to the United States Constitution, thus ending Prohibition in the U.S. To commemorate the day, today’s Advent beer is a Christmas classic: Celebration IPA from Sierra Nevada Brewing.
Celebration is one of the longest-running American holiday ales, and it set the template for many of the other seasonal celebration ales to come. It’s an annual favorite and one to look forward to every year, and this year’s edition marks the 40th year this iconic beer has been released.
Sierra Nevada calls this a “Fresh Hop IPA” but not in the “wet” sense; rather, the brewery sources the best, freshest just-kilned hops of the season’s harvest:
Each year for hop harvest season, which typically occurs August through September, Sierra Nevada brewers travel to the Pacific Northwest hop growing region to select the most premium lots of Cascade and Centennial to be featured in Celebration Fresh Hop IPA. The premium picks are kiln-dried and transported to the brewery as soon as possible so the brewers can begin production of the beer right away to capture the citrus, pine, and floral notes when they’re at their absolute peak.
Celebration is 6.8% alcohol by volume and 65 IBUs, and its awash in citrus, pine, resin, and warming caramel notes—a classic American IPA to toast the holidays and the repeal of Prohibition.
Sierra Nevada is one of the oldest and most venerable craft breweries in America today, releasing its first beers in 1980. Many beers, expansions, and locations later, the company is still going strong and many of its beers—Pale Ale, Celebration, Stout, and Bigfoot among them—can be considered iconic examples of American styles today.
Celebrate Repeal Day with Sierra Nevada and a glass of Celebration IPA today!
Find Sierra Nevada Brewing Celebration IPA on:
Image credits: Sierra Nevada’s website.