Cigar City Humidor Series Guava Jai Alai IPA

Brewed by Cigar City Brewing
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Tampa, Florida USA

Handbottled, courtesy of MadsBerg. Pours clear and golden orange with a small off-white head. Aroma is dry and citrusy to pinewood hoppy, light spiced touch. Sweet malty, caramelish and light spiced dryness. Lingering sweet and hoppy into the far finish.

Pint on tap in Tampa. Pours a semi-clear amber color, moderate head. Aroma very fresh and hoppy, maybe a little citrus noted. Taste is bitter as typical of an IPA. Palate is rough but body is full. Decent beer- would like to drink another one to get a better feel for it.

Bottle. Pours a copper body with a white head. Hoppy body with citrus, and grapefruit notes. A hint of wood some earth y vine hop tones, and a spicy cinnamon fruit note. Different but nice.

In short: An astringent cedary IPA with a little wild yeast character
How: Bottle 750ml. Consumed very fresh about 2 months after the beer release. Big thanks to Alan (Solan) for sending it my way.
The look: Cloudy orange-copper body topped by a large beige head with good retention
In long: Nose is pleasantly hoppy and the cedar barrel maturation can really be felt in the aroma. Taste is either very complex or the cedar barrel was confusing my taste buds. Every sip I was coming out with a new flavour element. But I’ll make a long story short. One thing for sure is the malts play second violin here. There is some toasted bread crust and some dry caramel but mainly this beer is all about the hops and those crazy cedar barrels. The two flavour elements I thought were coming through the strongest are pine-tree and grapefruits. That obviously makes for a very astringent IPA. I thought the beer had a strong spicy character (cinnamon among others), floral notes and a pleasant wild yeast character. And of course a lot of cedar. I sometimes describe IPA hopping as cedary but obviously here this is cedary to the Nth degree. The beer did loose a few points from start to finish. I found that the natural cedar scented character was a little too much with a full 750ml and it was turning into a perfume sensation. Still, this was a very interesting beer. This is a very creative use of cedar. Much more creative than using it to make a wall mounted key holder. Among other things.

A citrus hop IPA with truly balanced bitterness. Really nice medium dense feel. A little woody spice and peppery.

This is one GABF Gold Medal Winner that deserves the recognition. Smooth without excessive hop bite, fragrant with notes of tobacco and cedar, this is a wonderful session beer that would go fabulously with all kinds of foods. Lace follows your swig all the way down.My suggestion: A Humidor IPA and an Ashton Churchill, EMS, 54 ring gauge,

A nice fruity IPA. Full and well balaned with a good amount of floral hops in the aroma.. I love the simcoe coming out in the flavor. Good full palate. Delicious beer. I’m loving Cigar City.

Shared by StFun. Thanks! Pours yellow or gold with a nice white head. Aroma is tart fruit, earth and wood. Flavor is tart fruit with a touch of sweetness as the hops are in the back. Has a somewhat spicy finish. Not a huge fan of this.