Sierra Nevada Celebration fresh hop ale. Nice and bitter, fizzy sweet amber colored hop burst of a beer.
Man I like this beer anyone got a recipe? Is it a piney citrus hop combination?
I picked up a couple of cases this afternoon. Man I love this beer too!
#1 on the Sierra Nevada runway… Bigfoot! Woo hoo! I’ve been reading about a limited edtion SN Bigfoot aged in bourbon barrels. Be still my beating heart!!
I picked up a sixer over the weekend. It’s good stuff.
Google search “Dean Larson christmas tree ale”. Damn near close to the real thing.
I’m on my third twelve pack.
There’s a place by me featuring this as one of their rotating taps. Had a few pints last week. Simply amazing. I think I may have to try the clone recipe at some point.
I was a big fan in years past, but I don’t like the fresh hop version nearly as much. Too much of a grassy hop flavor.
nice! I just looked it up. Looks like a tentative release date of may 2012. I have friends in Chico, you can get they are getting a call to keep their eyes open! only 100 bbls
its not any different than it was in year’s past - it always has been the first batch of dried hops of the season, it is just new marketing.
It’s exactly the same as in years past…that was verified when I was at Beer Camp. They had just released it and I drank a lot of it on tap. Verified with several people there that it’s the same recipe. They said that SN will give you any recipe you ask for. Here’s the Cele recipe direct from the brewmaster via a friend who works in the R&D lab…note that the hops times are backwards from what we normally think of. I.e., “0” is the first addition and “100” means after boiling for 100 min.
Malts:
Pale 2-row: 89%
Caramel (60L): 11%
Mash at 157.5 F
Original Gravity: 16.0 Plato
Ending Gravity: 4.0 Plato
ABV: 6.8%
Hops
0 min: Chinook & Centennial
90 min: Cascade
100 min: 2/3 Cascade & 1/3 Centennial
100 min: Whirlpool
IBU: 65
Dry Hopped with 2/3 Cascade & 1/3 Centennial
Yeast: SNBCo Ale
;D, well played.
Thanks for setting me straight on that. I guess it’s either something different in this year’s crop(s), or good old-fashioned faulty memory.
Wow 1 hour and 40 minute boil? Is this due to the fact that they are brewing something like 100 barrels at a time? I would think on a homebrew level we should not need to boil that long. I’m not doubting this is the recipe by any means (especially since it’s a pretty direct source), but I thought that Dressler gave the recipe out during a Brewing Network episode in which he stated Chinook in the beginning, then Cascade and Centennial at a 2:1 ration for a late edition, knockout, then dry hop. Grain ratio was the same as posted here. Maybe this episode was a while ago and they since changed.
I think an hour boil would be sufficient.
I don’t know what to say about the recipe variations…my friend went to Dressler and this is the recipe he got.
A 90+ minute boil is standard for most breweries. Part of the reason is probably economic (better hop utilization), but a lot of it is because big kettles tend to have lower SA/V, so a longer boil helps to drive off DMS. Home brewers are used to seeing 10-20% boiloff, but in a bigger brewhouse it’s typically <5%.
Denny said “note that the hops times are backwards from what we normally think of. I.e., “0” is the first addition and “100” means after boiling for 100 min.” So it sounds like the recipe Steve gave on the BN is the same.
I put everything into BeerSmith with a 60min boil time for a partial boil/partial mash recipe. From what I remember the gravity was right at what it should be and the IBU was damn near perfect too. I can post it tonight, I don’t remember the specifics right now except it was equal parts chinook and cascade at 60min, cascade at 30 and then 2/3 cascade and 1/3 centennial at 0min. I may try this out as my first brew of 2012.
I make this beer every year and an hour boil is long enough.
Here is what I came up with for a 60 min boil/partial mash (Based on 3 gal boil, and default AA from BeerSmith)
Estimated OG: 1.066
IBU: 65.2
Color: 11.6 SRM
ABV: 6.6%
2.5 lb American 2-Row
1.0 lb Crystal 60
Mash 157.5 for 60min
3 lb Light Dry Extract
2.5 lb Light Dry Extract (Late addition - 30 min)
1 oz Centennial (10% AA) 60 min
1 oz Chinook (13% AA) 60 min
1 oz Cascade (5% AA) 30 min
2 oz Cascade (5% AA) 0 min
1 oz Centennial (10% AA) 0 min
Wyeast 1056
Dry Hop 7 Days w/2 oz Cascade and 1 oz Centennial