I agree about people’s memories - especially mine! Another factor that I am continually amazed at is how my palate changes. I might pull another out of the six pack tonight and enjoy it more than last night’s. Last night we had a birthday dinner for my son-in-law which entailed some whiskey (neat) a great meal with lots going on spice-wise, followed by 2 other IPAs. The last beer of the night was the Celebration.
i am in agreement that its probably more memory - if Celebration were a year round thing you’d never hear this discussion most likely.
however, i don’t think natural variance of the hop harvest should be discounted. i remember a year ('08 or '09?) where the centennial harvest in particular was very poor - very yellowy and poor yields - IIRC it was due to suboptimal rainfall. anyway, the beers I made with centennial that year were noticeably not the same and i use a lot of that hop.
I also recall a particular year - might have been 2011 when the very first batch of Celebration to hit shelves was noted as very harsh in bitterness. A forum member contacted SN and they were aware of it - the Chinook that year had a sharper bite than normal and they had adjusted to account for this in subsequent batches.
if you talk with any pros, most will tell you they often make slight adjustments to recipes with each new harvest. Vinnie Cilurzo changes the hop combo/proportions on PTE over time.
I actually enjoy the slight variations even if they are imagined. In a world where consistency seems to rule the day (fast food, mega breweries, etc) a little unpredictability is welcome. Some people must have the same tree same decorations same music every year. Some like seeing the changes. I dont LOVE Celebration, but I do like it a lot and look forward to it showing up every year to kick off that holiday spirit. Samuel Smith too! And yes, even Jubelale
I agree with what you’re saying, Jim. I like that my beers vary a little from batch to batch. Even when I nail one totally, I’m liable to change it up the next time I brew it, just to try something different. I guess what I was getting at was that I always found Celebration consistently good from year to year, where last year’s seemed mediocre. Hell, they could keep the grist the same and use different hops varieties each year and I’d buy it if it were good.
Ah, so perhaps that’s why my tastebuds seemed to back up my mistaken belief in the recipe changing. 2013 and 2014 are the only years I’ve tasted Celebration.
I have a hard time calling it an IPA. I know it fits the definition. Just one of those things where I refuse to get with the times. In the 90’s (not sure when they changed it) it was just called Celebration Ale, with no reference to IPA. Although back then I’d never heard of an IPA either.
I went to college in Chico, which is where I got my taste for ales and Sierra Nevada. Celebration and Bigfoot both really hit that nostalgia button for me. The first time I ever tried (and loved) craft beer was on Halloween just before these beers came out. They were the first 2 seasonal beers I ever had. I still remember trying to chug a Celebration in my dorm room. Back when I was young and dumb and thought the goal was to drink as many as I could as fast as I could. I have a compulsion to buy a six pack of each every year.
Celebration certainly isn’t a modern take on IPA, but it’s a solid beer and it’s one that really paved the way for the hoppy beers we all love today.
Hey I’m a wildcat, too. I imagine they added IPA to the label to increase appeal when people at browsing the shelf. I imagine Stone started calling Ruinten a triple IPA for the same reason.
I was at Beer Camp in the fall a few years back, when Celebration was being brewed. These are the bags of dry hops for it. Each one is for 400 bbl.
Very cool. I’d love to go to the Beer Camp sometime,
Celebration is the seasonal I look forward to the most and I think this year’s is solid. The helpful stocker at my grocery store put it underneath a stack of Torpedo and SNPA, so maybe it tastes better because I had to work for it 