Celebration Ale - Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico

You know, I like to think that my ideal picture of Christmas is pretty mainstream. My list of favorite Christmastime things includes eggnog, chocolate covered pretzels, fudge, stuffing and so on. Something that has never ever crossed my mind in regards to festive holiday season flavors would have to be India Pale Ales. Maybe it's just me, but I prefer to eat and drink rich, sweet and savory things during the holidays... Bitter IPAs just don't sound appetizing when I get into Christmas mode. I mean, I can totally see having egg nog in one hand and a Vanilla Porter in the other hand. If you haven't caught on yet, Sierra Nevada's Celebration Ale is an IPA, a hoppy and bitter beer that I want no where near my turkey and gravy. Gross...

If I'd had this beer in July or even September it would have seemed to fit the season so much better. This isn't a bad IPA by any means. It's strongly hopped and tastes like a tree. It doesn't have as much citrus twang as summertime IPAs, but aside from that it's pretty much indistinguishable. So as a year-round IPA this beer isn't bad, but as a Christmas seasonal it really just doesn't work for me.

I don't know how else to say it, but super hoppy and bitter IPAs just don't seem Christmasy to me. That alone is cause enough for me to pass this beer by at the store. Much better writers than I have given this beer rave reviews so maybe I'm just missing something...