Cigar City Brewing – White Oak Aged Jai Alai *

 Beer Reviews  No Responses »
Mar 252011
 

I was pretty sure that this beer was a B Note previously, but it seems that I was dreaming.  I know that I enjoyed it a few times previously, but I must have decided that I was not in the mood to take notes any of those times.  Not a bad thing.

As I typed up this review I noticed that I very often described this beer by comparing it to Jai Alai, so I provided links to that evaluation throughout this post.  Since I reviewed them at the same time and side by side it was an easy comparison to make.  I do prefer the original by just a bit.  I know that because I choose to save the remainder of the Jai Alai to drink last.

Now the second of two Jai Alai reviews for this week . . .

Brewery: Cigar City Brewing (Tampa, FL)

Name: White Oak Aged Jai Alai

Style: Wood-Aged Beer (based on American IPA)

ABV: 7.50% (on bottle)

Tasting Notes: Stored in the fridge and served in a pint glass.

Aroma: Smooth earthy woodiness floats above a hop aroma of grapefruit and spice.  Really nice wood character.  As full as the Jai Alai aroma, but more subtle overall. – 10/12

Appearance: Coppery orange in color (seems a touch lighter than Jai Alai).  One finger plus, cream color head that is thick and frothy with great retention and leaving a heavy, somewhat sticky trail.  Clear (with maybe a hint of chill haze) with rising bubbles visible. – 3/3

Flavor: Full white oak flavor up front that brings out even more earthy, spicy, and tropical fruit hop character.  Maltiness underneath seems more toasty and/or biscuity than Jai Alai.  Pretty well balanced overall, but wood character is definitely prominent.  Finishes a bit dry with some lingering earthy wood flavor. – 16/20

Mouthfeel: Medium body with a moderate level of carbonation.  Smooth with not quite as much hoppy astringency as Jai Alai.  – 5/5

Overall Impressions: The wood character mellows out some as the beer warms a bit, which is a good thing.  The beer is definitely better not super cold.  The oak nicely brings out and accentuates some of the hop characteristics already in the base beer.  One or two of these is just right – not an all night beer for me. – 8/10

Overall: Excellent – 42/50

5551289704 b2b7a356f6 Cigar City Brewing White Oak Aged Jai Alai *

Cigar City Brewing - White Oak Aged Jai Alai

5550708187 1b5fa21524 Cigar City Brewing White Oak Aged Jai Alai *

The Jai Alai brothers

 

 Posted by Lucas at 8:00 pm  Tagged with: , , ,

Cigar City Brewing – Humidor Series IPA

 Beer Reviews  No Responses »
Jul 312010
 

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.
4846404924 45806bb95b Cigar City Brewing Humidor Series IPA

Cigar City Brewing - Humidor Series IPA

4845786679 fb59aa3b74 Cigar City Brewing Humidor Series IPA

The snifter I wanted all along.

 Posted by Lucas at 7:00 pm  Tagged with: , , , ,
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