Is it that time already? It seems as though I was just in jeans and a tee shirt. It’s past the middle of November which means it’s Celebration season. This classic American IPA is one of the oldest of its kind. First brewed in 1981, Celebration Ale is one of the very few hop forward winter holiday beers; much different then and even now than your typical spiced winter ale. You could say that Sierra Nevada considers fresh dried hops as the “spice” for theirs. The brewing team at Sierra Nevada are masters at producing some of the world’s fi nest hopped up beers and Celebration is a shining point in their portfolio. If American IPA has a gold standard for current comparisons, this would be it. Defined by a bold blend of minty pine and citrus in the nose followed by a nutty caramel malt body and a clean bitterness, this IPA has classic written all over it. It makes me want to go back to the year of my birth to see how the beer has changed over the last 34 years. Beer is, of course, a farm product and variances in barley malt yields, hop alpha/beta acids and many other contributing flavor compounds result in a slightly different beer every year, no matter what. What I do know is that I certainly will be having more Sierra with my Thanksgiving dinner. This beer is delicious, just like my mom’s pumpkin pie!