Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale

Celebration Ale is a special ale for the holidays.  Featuring the first hops of the growing season, this pioneering IPA is full of complex flavors and aromas from the generous use of whole cone American hops.   At least, that's what it says on the bottle.   I'm not really a huge fan of IPA's, or really much of a fan at all.  So this beer is going to put my palate to the test.  Although I do like citrus style IPA's and I cheated before I made the purchase, Celebration Ale has a citrus base.  Due to it's above average ABV (6.8%) I'm going to dismiss this as a session beer before I even pour it/smell it/taste it etc..  This beer is a gold medal winner and yadda yadda.  Ya know?  The usual.

A:  Dark ruby, almost copper-like color.  Most likely best described as caramel colored.   Nice frothy head and the lacing is out of this world.  All over the glass.

S:  Tons of citrus hop in the smell, but not to the point where it is too much. There's also a piney scent that lingers as well as some bready malts.  Maybe a hint of caramel or my mind is playing tricks on me.  Beautiful smelling beer.

T:  At first, I get a very sweet citrus flavor, immediately followed by pine and bitter hops.  The bitter taste does disappear rather quickly and leave with a caramel/bready taste.  The end of the beer though finishes with bitterness coming back. The most distinct hop used it's definitely cascade (which give off the bitter citrusy taste).

M: Medium bodied with medium carbonation.  A rich and smooth beer.

D:  Very drinkable. You can put this beer down quickly and want to grab a few more.  At close to 7% ABV I didn't think pre-taste that I would feel this way.   

Grade:  It's a shame that such a well rounded beer is a seasonal one.  This is one of the beers you could enjoy all year around.   Definitely a solid two thumb up brew.   I wish I had bought more than just one.

Sierra Nevada Kellerweis Hefeweizen

A - Straw golden yellow color. Fluffly inch head. Quickly dissipates to a small white ring around the top of the beer.

S - The smell was actually a bit of a turn off to me. The smell was really just, ehh. Kind of a wet rotting leaf smell, mixed with banana. Seriously, the best way I can describe it is during autumn when it rains and all the leaves on the ground just get soaked and damp. Yeah.. that's the smell.

T - Thank god the taste is a hell of a lot better than the smell or I'd have trouble stomaching this one. (It's rare in my experience that it actually happens like this too.) Banana and clove dominate the taste. You can taste a hint or lemon, or my mind could just be playing tricks on me. I would have prefered to have a stronger banana taste, (even though it dominates the taste it doesn't really smack you in the face like you'd want) It's more of a dull banana taste, although not the least bit bad.

M - A very thin almost watery style too it. Very crisp though.

D - I won't even beat around the bush and say yeah.. pretty good session beer. YOU CAN POUND THESE. I could sit here and drink these all day long.. if they didn't have alcohol in them that is.
But definitely very very drinkable. I'm convinced that even a beer drinker wouldn't taste this beer and spit it out and say disgusting. It's that good.

One of my favorite beers.

Two Thumbs Up!