sierra nevada brewery tour | Real Art Is Better!

Today is Thirsty Thursday again and that means it’s time to look at and think about new beer art, not to mention drink beer! This week’s beer painting is of Sierra Nevada’s Celebration Fresh Hop Ale. About 15 years ago I used to not like IPA, and my go-to brew was actually porter, if you can believe that. Way back then I was confused what Celebration Ale actually was, and I started to like what I was drinking and thought the nice floral qualities were simply spicy grains for a spicy holiday beer….right….wrong! I learned it was a fresh hop IPA and I was like, “Oh yeah, maybe I do like IPA,” and I came around. I can say I have been enjoying IPA for well over a decade now, and it has actually become my favorite style. I wish that Sierra Nevada was able to brew Celebration all year long, but sadly the hop harvest season is in October and the first batch of Celebration is being bottled right now. Two years ago in early November we made a pilgrimage to Chico to check out the facility and drink some Celebration right at the source! I highly recommend doing this if you happen to be in California. The guided tour is amazing! The success story about Ken Grossman and his startup business makes me believe anything is possible. The sheer size of the production facility is amazing and the copper kettles are so beautiful. When you finish the tour you get a 2 oz sample of everything they are currently serving, which ends up being over 20 ounces. I did a painting of the oaked Narwhal onsite after our tour. One of my favorite things about Sierra Nevada’s facility is the outdoor seating in the beer garden. Tasty food at super reasonable prices, and huge pints. If you are there at this time of year you can get Celebration on draft!

Cheers to the Celebration Ale, a seasonal beer release that is worthy celebrating!