There are certain beers that you can't help but associate with a specific time of year, and there might be no better example than Sierra Nevada's Celebration IPA. As the year begins to wind down and we enter the holiday season, our eyes instinctively start scanning the shelves for those striking red labels. Once you've enjoyed that first pint of Sierra's signature seasonal release, it's hard to resist leaning into the holiday spirit. Sierra brews this recipe every year with their most recent haul of fresh, hand-selected hops, making each release slightly unique to past iterations. Even though our clone kit doesn't contain fresh hops, we strived to make a recipe that celebrates the character of Cascade, Centennial, and Chinook hops with heaps of citrus, piney, and floral notes.
Our Holiday Hops kit is a classic West Coast IPA with a distinct, but balanced malt character, deep reddish color and plenty of hop bitterness to match the bite of winter weather. Cascade, Centennial, and Chinook hops are employed up and down the brew schedule, from the top of the 90-minute boil to the final dry hop addition days before packaging. We highly recommend using a Chico yeast strain for fermentation—it's a Sierra Nevada ale recipe after all!
Liquid Malt Extract (LME) vs. Dried Malt Extract (DME)
MoreBeer! recipe kits are offered in both Liquid Malt Extract and Dry Malt Extract so that our customers can choose the format that best suits their needs and brewing style. LME is a viscous liquid, similar in consistency to maple syrup. In addition to being the more affordable option, many brewers find LME easier to handle than dry extract. DME is more condensed and comes in a powder format that is similar to baking flour. Although it’s a little more costly, DME is naturally lighter in color and stays fresher for longer. We highly recommend DME when brewing light colored beers.