Samuel Smith Winter Welcome

This is one of my favorites, although it seems pretty much maligned by the "winter beers must be hugely malty, spicy, hoppy, or all 3 crowd". Although I've got to say that it won't be good for long. Whenever I buy it I always buy the big bottles and *only* from a sealed case. This stuff gets lightstruck very quickly, and when it does - hooo boy is it ever nasty!

_Randal

Why waste time with it when we already have the Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale on supermarket shelves here in Cin. city?

Completely different beer is why. And delicious as well.

--Jeff

Completely different taste IMO. I like them both. The Celebration is a lot more hoppy, more like an IPA, where the Winter Welcome has a more malty, spicey taste.

bluestringer

Very happy when this one rolls around. Always enjoy it.

Sierra Nevada seasonal ale is cause for Celebration By Kerry J. Byrne Sunday, November 14, 2004

Beer lovers are infatuated with Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale - so they were thrilled to find that this hoppy harbinger of holiday cheer made an early appearance this year, hitting better barrooms and beer stores in late October. ``The wait is worth it, because it's always really good when you finally get it,'' said Frank Capobianco of Quincy, who personally consumed ``untold'' quantities of Celebration Ale last season, saving his last few prized bottles for the Super Bowl. Celebration Ale is the holiday seasonal from Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. of Chico, Calif., one of the nation's largest and most critically acclaimed beer makers. Sierra Nevada created one of the few indigenous beer styles in the United States in the early 1980s with its ``American-style'' pale ale, a beer inspired by a distinct Pacific Northwest hop variety called Cascade. Celebration Ale, meanwhile, has been a Sierra Nevada seasonal since the brewery's beginnings. But in recent years it's grown from a cult favorite to the nation's most eagerly anticipated holiday beer. What makes Celebration Ale so special? It begins with a spectacular golden-cranberry color that sparkles like the height of the holidays. The proteins in its rich, ample body contribute to a big, luscious, long-lasting head that clings to the glass as the beer is consumed, creating residual lacework. And, with a hearty 6.8 percent alcohol by volume, it inspires holiday smiles a little more quickly than most other beers. Mostly, though, Celebration Ale is distinguished by a lively aroma and complex flavors of cedar and pine that come from a generous dose of fresh hops. If it seems Celebration Ale changes from year to year, there's a good reason: It does. Like grapes, hops change from season to season, depending upon weather and other factors. Brewers normally take pains to adjust for these variables and ensure that each batch of beer is the same year after year. Sierra Nevada brewers are more lenient when they make Celebration Ale in mid-September, with Cascade and Centennial hops freshly picked just weeks earlier. They fully expect the beer will display the hop flavors particular to that year's harvest. Sometimes Celebration Ale has more bitterness; other times it has more aroma; some years the hops are more citric; other years they're more piney. Celebration Ale fans are fond of storing a few bottles each year so they can compare them to future versions. One quality that doesn't change from year to year is Celebration Ale's lusty, captivating aroma. Normally hops lose their aromatic qualities over time. But Celebration Ale is made with fresh hops at their ripest and most aromatic. These hops also are used in prodigious quantities. Celebration Ale boasts 62 bittering units - a measure of beer's hoppiness. (By contrast, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, a beer noted for its hop character, contains just 37 bittering units.) Today, Celebration Ale is nearly Sierra Nevada's most popular beer, second only to the brewery's Pale Ale, said brewery vice president Steve Harrison. ``Demand is really strong. It always has been,'' said Harrison. ``But this year we were able to get it out a little bit earlier because we have more capacity at the brewery.'' There's only one problem. Celebration Ale also is moving off the shelves earlier than ever, too. It probably will be gone by the end of the year. But there's hope at the bottom of that empty beer glass: Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine, a juiced up version of a Celebration Ale, hits the market in mid-winter.

Great report....I just hope Celebration makes it to Casper again this year.