An American classic, Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale is today’s pick. This intensely-hopped IPA sits at 6.8% alcohol and is widely regarded as one of the best American seasonal beers out there, as well as one of the oldest—it was first brewed in 1981!

Like a lot of these seasonals, this is a vintaged beer that can be cellared, as well. A great post on The Champagne of Blogs last month illustrates this: a vertical tasting of Celebration in Portland.

…an opportunity to do a true vertical tasting of six years of Sierra Nevada’s always amazing Celebration Ale. Woodstock Wine and Deli was offering 2002-2007 vintages on tap, in 6 oz. tasters, for the low-low price of $16. Celebration is probably my second-favorite holiday brew (no. 1 being Full Sail’s excellent “Wreck the Halls”), so I jumped at the chance.

Enjoy  a bottle of Celebration this Christmas, and put some more away for future holidays.

BeerAdvocate score: 90/100, 99% approval. RateBeer score: 3.8/5, 96th percentile.