A Secret Sierra Nevada Beer Gets Its First Official Release Ever

Sierra Nevada’s most exclusive offering will finally show face.

Published November 19, 2024

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Updated November 19, 2024

By now, many a beer drinker knows Celebration, the beloved annual that Sierra Nevada releases every fall. But unless you’re extremely well-connected, or just plain ol’ lucky, you’ve likely never tasted the beer’s more intense, incredibly elusive sibling.

That’s because Celly Drippins, as the beer’s called behind the scenes at Sierra Nevada, is an extremely rare version of the famous fresh hop IPA.

It’s so rare, in fact, that it’s never received an actual release, only impromptu appearances in the brewery’s taproom, if not reserved entirely for the company’s internal holiday party.

That’s all about to change.

On Friday, November 22, the brewery’s Mills River taproom in North Carolina will host the first-ever official tapping of Celly Drippins, catering to local demand and growing hype.

“In the last several years, the beer has gained local notoriety,” says Ashlee Mooneyhan, a communications manager at Sierra Nevada. “We received calls and inquiries asking about an estimated release date and availability for the season.”

Brewer’s cut

To be clear, Sierra Nevada isn’t engineering artificial scarcity with Celly Drippins. It’s simply the nature of the beast.

The beer is made with the leftover drippings collected after dry-hopping Celebration, which uses fresh Cascade, Centennial and Chinook hops packaged into large nylon bags and suspended into fermentation tanks by a wire.

hop bags — Dry-hopping Celebration with fresh hops requires suspending large amount of hops from nylon bags.

According to the brewery, it takes 5,000 cans of Celebration to make a single serving of Celly Drippins, hence the beer’s elusive nature. The result, however, is a uniquely concentrated IPA.

“The flavors and aromas of fresh hops in Celly Drippins are intensified by the beer’s extra contact with the hops during the dry-hopping process,” says Brian Grossman, the owner and chief brewer at Sierra Nevada.

“Beer lovers lucky enough to get their hands on it should expect all the complex floral, rose, and piney notes they love about Celebration,” Grossman adds, “but with a more pronounced depth of flavor and aroma.”