This beer was brewed so that the brew club I'm it could have a clone competition with another brew club in the region. The competition was supposed to have been this last weekend but was delayed to due a series of snowstorms that set a record for most snow in shortest time, so this review was written without being biased by the results of the competition.
Aroma: Pretty decent hop aroma. Classic aroma of Cascade and Centennial combination, similar to beers I've made before with those two hops. Fruity, peachy, mango-y. Not much dankness or piney quality in the aroma. I don't detect a malt backbone since it's overshadowed by the hops.
Taste: Follows the hop smell but adds a moderate bitterness at the finish, with some dankness in the flavor. Malty sweetness is there too but moderate. Good hop flavor.
Mouthfeel: Full mouthfeel but with moderate-low carbonation. Aftertaste is bitter but not overpoweringly so. Nice malty sweetness balances the bitterness pretty well.
Overall: I'm happy with both the hop aroma and flavor. This is a very pleasant IPA that has great Cascade / Centennial hoppiness. Bitterness is appropriate for the style but on the low to moderate range. It's not a bone-dry West-coast IPA but veers towards and East-Coast IPA, as was intended. Usually the hop aroma and flavor of my beers deteriorates pretty quickly, but for this one I may put them all in my beer / lager fridge, which currently I'm not using for any fermenting or lagering beers.
Compare and Contrast: As I recall the Celebration, my homebrew is more aromatic, more bitter, and less sweet. The color is nearly correct though mine is cloudy, while the Celebration is clear. Unfortunately I could not find any Celebration Ale at the local beer stores, since it's a seasonal brew that presumably won't be available until the end of 2015.
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