Sierra Nevada Celebration est arriv!

K

Kevin Roberts

Kevin Roberts
One of the yearly highlights of my seasonal drinking cycle is the yearly arrival of Sierra Nevada's winter seasonal Celebration. This year's version just showed up in Iowa City, so it was time to give it a shot. It's always made with the current year's hop harvest and finished with loads of Cascade and Centennial hops. I'd been feeling like its quality had been slipping a touch, finding last year's aromatically flat (relatively speaking) and a bit weedy, dull overall. This year's arrival shows a return to form (or at the very least a better hop harvest this year) Bright and aromatic with the tandem attack of grapefruity cascades and the more orange-toned (to me) centennial. Good solid dose of clean bitterness, with the classic clean american ale yeast signature of SN, balanced by a nice moderate shot of crystal maltiness. Delicious.

And a heck of a lot more exciting arrival than that other recent harvest thingie that shows up sometime in November.
 
And a heck of a lot more exciting arrival than that other recent harvest thingie that shows up sometime in November.
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If you've got a problem with brussels sprouts, you've got a problem with me.
 
originally posted by Yixin:
Drink and hold?
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Not for too long. I've actually cellared quite a bit of both celebration and bigfoot. For the the bright hoppy celebration (which is sort of what I crave out of it) the next 2-3 months are going to be the best. I didn't find it too green/raw, but if you do a month in the bottle should round that out a bit, but this is a pretty herbal beast, so if you find most hoppy beers green/herbal, that's not going to go away for a while. It goes a nice middle age at the 12-24 months old, where there's still quite a bit of rind-y bitterness, and there's this "ghost of hops" character that is interesting, then when you get real old (5+ years) you get into the elegant decline phase. Definitely more of a slow death than any sort of improvement. I drank a 2002 celebration while moving my cellar this summer, and it certainly wasn't dead, but definitely in the oxidative decline phase. I'm not exactly deliberately aging these (or even bigfoot, which is more ageworthy than celebration) but if I miss a couple bottles, they are a nice surprise to find 6+ months down the road.
 
originally posted by Kay Bixler:
And a heck of a lot more exciting arrival than that other recent harvest thingie that shows up sometime in November.
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If you've got a problem with brussels sprouts, you've got a problem with me.
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I've been making brussels sprouts like they're going out of style. Both roasting them (with and without hummus on the side) and this shredded brussels sprouts/bacon thing that I've been making.

I was thinking a bit more along the lines of "Initials B.N."
 
My first reply was somewhat in jest, but thanks for the response. I used to drink a lot of SN (the pale ale) back in CA.

I like the heavily hopped bitters either very fresh (when from cask) or with about a year (in bottle). God I miss the UK sometimes.
 
No brussels sprouts yet in my farmer's market. Maybe this week. I won't avoid them, but I can't say I've ever actively looked forward to them either.
 
originally posted by Kay Bixler:
And a heck of a lot more exciting arrival than that other recent harvest thingie that shows up sometime in November.
Click to expand...

If you've got a problem with brussels sprouts, you've got a problem with me.
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only spoofed sprouts are good sprouts. be it the carnivore version with bacon or steamed with a dash of sugar. or why not fried.
but pure, unspoofed brussels sprouts - yuck.
 
and while the vegetable disorder is on air - unspoofed beetroots are pretty gross, too.
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:
originally posted by Anders Gautschi:
unspoofed beetroots are pretty gross, too.
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How old are you?
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young. spiritually speaking. too old to change my mind towards beetroots, i'm afraid. don't mind a fresh beetroot gazpacho however, if that makes you feel better.
 
originally posted by Anders Gautschi:
originally posted by Kay Bixler:
And a heck of a lot more exciting arrival than that other recent harvest thingie that shows up sometime in November.
Click to expand...

If you've got a problem with brussels sprouts, you've got a problem with me.
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only spoofed sprouts are good sprouts. be it the carnivore version with bacon or steamed with a dash of sugar. or why not fried.
but pure, unspoofed brussels sprouts - yuck.
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I will admit to liking my Sprouts best spoofed as well, shredded then sauteed with bacon, pinenuts, and dried fruit, all with a splash of good vinegar. However, unspoofed and high heat roasted with salt and pepper and a touch of oil is good too.
 
I love roasting vegetables but if we're going to pursue this analogy it's probably a form of spoof as well - similar to heavy extraction.

You wouldn't do it with perfect vegetables that you wanted to taste in their purest state, for example.
 
The key is to find freshly cut sprouts still on the stalkthe tinier the better, blanch until tender, drain and saute briefly in butter, salt and pepper. If you're a wuss add some Dijon.

It's the best cabbage ever.

Ever.
 
originally posted by Kay Bixler:
The key is to find freshly cut sprouts still on the stalkthe tinier the better...
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Sure, I agree. But let's not exaggerate the stalk aspect. There are plenty of stores that love to display them that way because of the dramatic presentation and association with freshness, but with shipped-in raggedy product. If only people would look more closely at the actual vegetables instead of the presentation, they usually tell the whole story themselves.
 
I think Kay's recipe is what I'd go for most of the time. However, with SN Celebration, the spoofed version with bacon is probably a better pairing.
 
originally posted by Anders Gautschi:
originally posted by Kay Bixler:
And a heck of a lot more exciting arrival than that other recent harvest thingie that shows up sometime in November.
Click to expand...

If you've got a problem with brussels sprouts, you've got a problem with me.
Click to expand...
only spoofed sprouts are good sprouts. be it the carnivore version with bacon or steamed with a dash of sugar. or why not fried.
but pure, unspoofed brussels sprouts - yuck.
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If you're talking raw, you're right.
 
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