Sierra Nevada Celebration

[melting]

Someone please give me an alternative to this that is available year round. It's absolutely fantastic with just the right amount of bitterness.

I laugh when I remember the commercial saying "Always smooth, never bitter". Well, that doesn't work for me. Bitter is better for my taste.

Chris

[Joeluka]

SN's Celebration Ale is an Indian Pale Ale (IPA). This type of beer is huge right now in the Beer Advocate world. There is a whole DOUBLE IPA thing going on where the proof's range from 8%-12%. Now I don't know if your into Big Beer companies or the Micro-brewer's. I myself prefer to support the little guys so they can keep coming up with new and exciting beers. Some people prefer the Bud/Miller/Coors scene ( Think JB white and JD of beers) Anyway, I don't know what kind of selection you have available so I'll link to a great site for beer and I'll bring you right to the IPA page.....

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style/116 - this for regular IPA's

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style/140 - this for the stronger version ( my favorite)

I suggest setting out with a list to try.

Be careful though, You can cellar beers and getting into aging them can get $$$$$, especially when you buy the amount of whiskey I do.

I hope this helps

[nor02lei]

Someone please give me an alternative to this that is available year round. It's absolutely fantastic with just the right amount of bitterness.

I laugh when I remember the commercial saying "Always smooth, never bitter". Well, that doesn't work for me. Bitter is better for my taste.

Chris

Chris,

I would suggest Red Hook India pale ale. Not really as thick as the celebration but a very nice typical American fresh hop character and at least in Louisville it was available in both liquor stores and grocery stores for 1 buck or under when I visited in September.

Leif

[Sweetmeats]

Speaking of India Pale Ale, one of my favorites is Stone Brewery's Ruination IPA.

Here's some quotes from their website about bitterness you may like.

"The real lead-in line should of course read "Stone Brewing, experts in
pushing the limits of the IPA style, brews up another winner." And a winner
it is. Patterned after the famous Stone Anniversary IPAs, this new brew is
born. Weighing in at massive 100+ IBUs (International Bitterness Units) and
7.7% alc/vol, this baby is a screamer!"

The average IPA is 40 IBU's.

"Not surprisingly, those who seek, crave and rejoice in beers with big, bold
bitter character will find true nirvana in Stone Ruination IPA. However,
Stone CEO Greg Koch comments "I have found it quite interesting that people
who previously felt that bitterness in beer was unappealing have discovered
joy in the startlingly bracing and uniquely refreshing bitter character of
Stone Anniversary IPAs.""

http://www.stonebrew.com/

[TBoner]

melting,

Just saw this. Given where you live, you really ought to check out Dogfish Head Brewery in Delaware. Their products should be readily available near you, and their 90-minute IPA is very close to the Celebration in terms of high bitterness balanced by sweetness (and both lack the overwhelming citrus of many American IPAs - the citrus character is there, but so are pine, earth, and floral aromas...very well-balanced and bitter strong ales).

[jesskidden]

Someone please give me an alternative to this that is available year round. It's absolutely fantastic with just the right amount of bitterness.

According to their website, SNCA has a bitterness of 62 BU, so look for a US IPA with a similar rating (altho' actual flavors will vary with the hops used). Sierra Nevada is now bottling it's IPA (listed on many sites as "English-style"- same ABV as CA, but don't know the BU's off hand)- tho' it's not listed on their website other than as a draft only selection, and the labels have the year on them, so it, too, may be seasonal. (But, it's cheap- I paid around $25 a case when it first hit NJ).

Other year-round IPA's in the Northeast that I like are Victory's Hop Devil, 60 and 90 Minute Ales' from DogfishHead (the '90' being a hoppier and higher in alcohol than SNCA, tho'), Stoudt's, if you get 'em fresh, the West Coast's Green Flash and North Coast's Acme and Red Seal IPA's and MA's Harpoon's, Ipswich, etc. are well respected. In addition, I just acquired some New England IPA's through a trade that I wouldn't mind putting into my normal rotation if they were available in NJ- Sea Hag (in cans), Thomas Hooker and Trinity.

If you like your IPA's hoppy both in flavor and bitterness, don't age them but drink them as fresh as possible (HopDevil, for instance, has a "Best by" date of only 3-4 months from bottling and drinking it even near that date is often disappointing for me- I only buy it if it's got at least 2 months to "go"). Hops' fragrance and flavors are the first things to fade when beers age in the bottle.

[Edit]- Oops. Didn't notice that this was an old thread... Beer rec's still work, tho'...

[Phischy]

As a homebrewer, I would recomend looking locally first as it'll always be fresher and cheaper than something from the other coast. I saw some Victory Hop Devil out here in San Diego, but at $10/6pk I balked. I wanted to try it to see how it compares to West Coast IPA's but that was more than I really wanted to spend when I can get a confirmed good beer for much less.

One of the local sepcality pubs, O'Brien's, had an IPA night last friday. 11 IPA's on tap, I made it through 5 before I forgot what I was drinking. 1 stood out above all others: Russian River's 'Pliney the Younger'. I must say, one of the best beers I have ever had. Stone is just north of me, I'm not all that impressed with their beers. They just have a good marketing campaign.

Usually if you do a 'brew tour' and go to the local breweries in your area you can sample and figure out what you enjoy.

Otherwise go grab a few 6ers of IPA and see what you enjoy.

A double IPA isn't a bad idea for my next batch...

[melting]

Funny, I forgot about this thread. Actually I did have some Hop Devil about two months ago. Loved it and really didn't mind the $14.00 a twelve pack price. It's not really that much more than what I pay for Sam Adams at $21.99 a case. Well, ok it's 6 bucks more a case, about a quarter a beer.

It's kind of a running joke at the shop. I gave one to a big time Bud drinker and he just about spit it all over himself trying to get it out of his mouth. His girlfriend laughed so hard about how he hated the taste in his mouth. See if you guys can figure where she was going with this and you get the joke.

Chris