Cigar City are based out of Tampa Bay, Florida. The good ol' U.S. of A! I've had the opportunity to sample their beers over the past few years and I have to say that they are not just hype. If you don't know about this brewery, go hunt them down. I've lucked into having retired snow-bird parents who head down to Florida to miss at least six months of Newfoundland's ten month winter. Sorry, Nfld! Summer didn't come this year. At least I got some beer out of it and a heat wave too boot...Holy smokes, Toronto, she's warm!
People pass me a lot of beer these days. No, I haven't found a "beer fairy" as Jordan St. John seems to have found. I am merely a low-level brewer working in the trenches every day and still far from the rockstar limelight that some writers and brewers seem to get. This is not exactly why I entered this field of work all the same. I'm already a rockstar for doing what I do best and that is playing drums... ha!? Regardless, I've been sipping a lot of great beers these days. I've grown to love every brew that I brew, or at least have a connection with it. If I know the packaging date or brew #- I generally know what the weather was like that day. Maybe I get way to into what I do. Maybe I just have some strange memory that will observe all surroundings and many things that are the least bit important. I digress... I opened a beer passed to me that will be unnamed and sent to the sea of dead fish, poop, and/or Ninja Turtles. Then I instantly needed something to cleanse my palate and serve as a night cap. My little beer fridge has gone through some cleaning and didn't have much but my own brews and some very special ones. After a longer than I expected evening shift at work quality control wasn't on my mind nor was some sort of celebration.
I saw something special, but not too special. Something that needed to be drank fresh. An IPA. oooooh! An American White Oak Aged beer. Ooooh! A 12 oz. serving?! Even better. No need to share or feel guilty. Or should I feel guilty? Cigar City's American White Oak Aged India Pale Ale.
This pours a rich hazy amber with a very vibrant orange glow. The head is egg-shell white, tight bubbles and fairly thick from a vigorous pour. The head is quite impressive for a barrel aged beer. The haze reminds me of St. John's fog rolling over the harbour. Well, it looks like a real IPA.
I had to comment on the appearance first because I've been debating this aroma for quite sometime now. I've had the opportunity to barrel age beers in new oak for a while along with being able to analysis some wines on new American oak. My initial reaction was " could this be too oaky?!" and then by the time I thought about the appearance I realized, this is just right. There is a lovely dominate fresh wood aroma (morning wood anyone?) but buried beneath the splintery wood there is a great variety of hops and sweetness that comes through. Peaches, lemongrass, lime zest, golden raisins, a little caramel sweetness blended with the piney resins of the hops. Don't be confused by the aroma of oak vs. pine. The pine is an obvious trait of hops, the oak really does carry a lot of weight in this beer for aroma. The hops used accent the oak. I can't say they compliment, but simply accent and make you appreciate what this beer is trying to do. I hate to make this comparison as I may ruin lighter oak aged beers and wines for some but, that lightly toasted oak sometimes comes across as sterile popsicle sticks... you know when the doctor puts that over-sized popsicle stick in your mouth and makes you say "ahhhhhhhhhh"...yeah. well. That kind of aroma. You are saying "ahhh" so you have to inhale at some point and that's through your nose. The same way you appreciate tequila and some other spirits. When you taste and smell the original Jai Alai, it makes a lot more sense. I keep putting my nose in this. It's wonderful!
The flavour follows through with lovely biscuit and pale ale malts that give a great sweetness. The crystal/ caramel and/or caramunich malts are very delicate in sweetness. I get a great deal of peaches or nectarines that linger on the center of the tongue while the oak and woody flavours direct themselves to the tip of the tongue, slightly drying it out. This isn't offensive as that sweetness is in the centre and the IPA bitterness is very subdued and not as bitter as I'd expect. The back of my tongue is not craving water or other flavours. Simply satisfied with the resins left from hops. There is a lot of lime zest or pith, rather. This leads me to believe there could be some sorachi ace hops involved. I'm just really digging that peach, apricot, nectarine sweetness that makes you forget about the bitterness and woody notes that dry out the front and back of the tongue. This beer really centres your palate. It's a dry finish, which should be expected.
The carbonation seem a little lower than normal for a bottled beer. It really makes a smooth, crushed velvet (have I heard the Mill St. radio commercial too much today?) mouthfeel. There is nothing all that astringent about it considering it's a oak aged beer. Keep in mind, the purpose of this beer is to sense the woody notes.
If I were to pair this with anything I'd go with an avocado and brie sandwich on a very hearty multi-grain bread with a whole grain mustard. The avocado has a great buttery and earthiness that would greatly compliment the oak and cut the bitterness.
If you must pair it with meat...smoked anything. Seriously, a great smoked pulled pork sammy on Wonderbread would still make this beer come out on top.
People pass me a lot of beer these days. No, I haven't found a "beer fairy" as Jordan St. John seems to have found. I am merely a low-level brewer working in the trenches every day and still far from the rockstar limelight that some writers and brewers seem to get. This is not exactly why I entered this field of work all the same. I'm already a rockstar for doing what I do best and that is playing drums... ha!? Regardless, I've been sipping a lot of great beers these days. I've grown to love every brew that I brew, or at least have a connection with it. If I know the packaging date or brew #- I generally know what the weather was like that day. Maybe I get way to into what I do. Maybe I just have some strange memory that will observe all surroundings and many things that are the least bit important. I digress... I opened a beer passed to me that will be unnamed and sent to the sea of dead fish, poop, and/or Ninja Turtles. Then I instantly needed something to cleanse my palate and serve as a night cap. My little beer fridge has gone through some cleaning and didn't have much but my own brews and some very special ones. After a longer than I expected evening shift at work quality control wasn't on my mind nor was some sort of celebration.
I saw something special, but not too special. Something that needed to be drank fresh. An IPA. oooooh! An American White Oak Aged beer. Ooooh! A 12 oz. serving?! Even better. No need to share or feel guilty. Or should I feel guilty? Cigar City's American White Oak Aged India Pale Ale.
This pours a rich hazy amber with a very vibrant orange glow. The head is egg-shell white, tight bubbles and fairly thick from a vigorous pour. The head is quite impressive for a barrel aged beer. The haze reminds me of St. John's fog rolling over the harbour. Well, it looks like a real IPA.
I had to comment on the appearance first because I've been debating this aroma for quite sometime now. I've had the opportunity to barrel age beers in new oak for a while along with being able to analysis some wines on new American oak. My initial reaction was " could this be too oaky?!" and then by the time I thought about the appearance I realized, this is just right. There is a lovely dominate fresh wood aroma (morning wood anyone?) but buried beneath the splintery wood there is a great variety of hops and sweetness that comes through. Peaches, lemongrass, lime zest, golden raisins, a little caramel sweetness blended with the piney resins of the hops. Don't be confused by the aroma of oak vs. pine. The pine is an obvious trait of hops, the oak really does carry a lot of weight in this beer for aroma. The hops used accent the oak. I can't say they compliment, but simply accent and make you appreciate what this beer is trying to do. I hate to make this comparison as I may ruin lighter oak aged beers and wines for some but, that lightly toasted oak sometimes comes across as sterile popsicle sticks... you know when the doctor puts that over-sized popsicle stick in your mouth and makes you say "ahhhhhhhhhh"...yeah. well. That kind of aroma. You are saying "ahhh" so you have to inhale at some point and that's through your nose. The same way you appreciate tequila and some other spirits. When you taste and smell the original Jai Alai, it makes a lot more sense. I keep putting my nose in this. It's wonderful!
The flavour follows through with lovely biscuit and pale ale malts that give a great sweetness. The crystal/ caramel and/or caramunich malts are very delicate in sweetness. I get a great deal of peaches or nectarines that linger on the center of the tongue while the oak and woody flavours direct themselves to the tip of the tongue, slightly drying it out. This isn't offensive as that sweetness is in the centre and the IPA bitterness is very subdued and not as bitter as I'd expect. The back of my tongue is not craving water or other flavours. Simply satisfied with the resins left from hops. There is a lot of lime zest or pith, rather. This leads me to believe there could be some sorachi ace hops involved. I'm just really digging that peach, apricot, nectarine sweetness that makes you forget about the bitterness and woody notes that dry out the front and back of the tongue. This beer really centres your palate. It's a dry finish, which should be expected.
The carbonation seem a little lower than normal for a bottled beer. It really makes a smooth, crushed velvet (have I heard the Mill St. radio commercial too much today?) mouthfeel. There is nothing all that astringent about it considering it's a oak aged beer. Keep in mind, the purpose of this beer is to sense the woody notes.
If I were to pair this with anything I'd go with an avocado and brie sandwich on a very hearty multi-grain bread with a whole grain mustard. The avocado has a great buttery and earthiness that would greatly compliment the oak and cut the bitterness.
If you must pair it with meat...smoked anything. Seriously, a great smoked pulled pork sammy on Wonderbread would still make this beer come out on top.
