Cigar City Brewing – Humidor Series IPA

It does me no good at all to create a new page if no one knows it is there, so today I will pass along my intentions for the “B Notes” page.  The description reads . . .

Starting a second year of this site certainly deserves an extra page or two and this is the first of the new ones.  The thought for it just popped into my head a few moments ago, but I am not sure why it took me so long to get this type of page started.

Of course there are the beer evaluations that I do in the comfort of my own home.  That is where I have my own glassware to choose from, where I can control the temperature of the beers I drink, and where I can take my time in evaluating each of them.  This page will be for the countless other beers that I do not officially review.

Very often when I try new beers while out at a bar or at a festival I will take a few notes on a napkin or a scrap of paper.  Sometimes I will even remember to take a picture or two.  From now on I will do my best to actually put those notes (however long or short they may be) into writing and share them here.  The original intent of this site was as my beer journal after all.

The plan is for the beer thoughts passed along here to be much more informal and as close to how I actually wrote it down originally as possible.  I will do my best to  make sentences out of my scribbling, but there are no guarantees.

You will now find this new page as a dropdown under the “Tasting Notes” page above.

So for the first beer on this new page . . .

Brewery: Cigar City Brewing (Tampa, FL)

Name: Humidor Series IPA (Cedar Aged Jai Alai)

Style: American IPA / Wood-Aged Beer

ABV: 7.50%

Location: Mellow Mushroom (Winter Park) – George at the bar

Tasting Notes:

• Much more intense grapefruit in aroma and in flavor than regular Jai Alai (as I recall).  Maybe a bit more resiny as well.
• More haze in appearance also.
• The lingering finish is fantastic with a slight puckering on the palate.
• Cedar character seems to come out more as it warms a bit, though maybe my mind is just wanting to find it.  I am so used to oak-aged beers that determining what the cedar lends to the character is a challenge to me.
• The flavors all mellow together nicely as it warms some.  Hops are much sharper when very cold.
• Drinking from a snifter would have been great . . . instead of the pint glass.
• Really a very tasty beer . . . as expected considering how much I enjoy Jai Alai.

Cigar City Brewing - Humidor Series IPA

The snifter I wanted all along.