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Sierra Nevada
 scrapes in
 decent
 good
 excellent
 sublime
Sierra Nevada, Celebration Ale 2004 (USA) 
Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale is one of my favourite US beers, so the chance to taste their Celebration Ale - on sale from November to Spring each year - was very welcome. The beer pours a heart-warming rich, ruby colour with a creamy, off-white head. It has a wonderfully aromatic nose, crammed with spices, glacé fruits and deep, baked-plum pie aromas. On the palate this luxurious, dark, bitter-chocolate-tinged beer is a stunner, filled with exotic spice and nut flavours, a huge, hoppy streak of bitterness and all sorts of ebbing and flowing nuances of grapefruit, juniper berries and treacle: it is like fireworks in a glass. By no means a session beer, but what a sensational brew. 6.8% ABV, 35cl, �1.69, Sainsbury's. |  |
Sierra Nevada, Pale Ale (USA)
(RP) Pale bronze colour, topped by a big fluffy head of foam. The aroma is spicy and peppery from the hops, balanced by biscuity malt and tart citrus fruit. In the mouth, there is a superb balance of tart hops, juicy malt and tangy
fruit while the long and lingering finish offers a hint of vanilla pods and marzipan before it finally becomes dry, bitter and hoppy but underscored by sweet malt. It is a beautifully balanced and wonderfully refreshing beer. 5.6% ABV, 35cl, �1.39, Asda, Booth's, Luvians, Safeway, Sainsbury's, Waitrose.  |  |
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