Jai Alai IPA - Cedar Aged (Humidor Series) - Cigar City Brewing

pmccallum86

Minnesota

3.55/5  rDev -12.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Thanks to kbutler1 for bringing this treat back from CC.

Pours a golden color with a hazy cloudy body. The the head is thin and bubbly, looks inviting.

Lot's of cedar going on here, it's a very original smelling IPA. Tangerine, citrus and other hoppy notes.

Bitter with some woody notes, must be the cedar. Tons of cedar, not much malt present. Lots of cirtrusy hops, maybe some grapefruit as well. This is a very original IPA, that's for sure.

Medium carbonation, bitterness lingers in the tongue.

This beer was great to try, but I found it to be lacking in the drinkability department.

Serving type: bottle

03-24-2010 22:12:55 | More by pmccallum86

photomike

California

3.53/5  rDev -13.3%
look: 5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Very nice extra from HeyOhhh...thanks!

Pours the color of blood orange juice with slight haze and a really gorgeous orangey-white head of about one inch. Very soft with amazing retention and abundant lacing. If clarity bothered me, I'd give this a 4.5, but I really can't understand scoring it less than that. Exceptional is right!

Smell is...well....it is what it is. Ever jammed your face into an empty cigar box? Yep, that's exactly what it smells like. Pure, unadulterated cedar. Very light biscuity malt sweetness and a little bit of sweet citrus. The non-cedar elements are definitely overpowered by the wood. I happen to love the smell of cedar; in fact, it's one of my favorite smells. This is a bit too much, but I rather like it.

Thankfully, the flavor is not quite as out of balance as the aroma, but it's pretty close. Cedar is certainly the most prominent flavor here, but there is also a nice underlying grapefruit-peel bitterness. Not as sweet as the regular Jai Alai. In fact, nowhere on the bottle is Jai Alai mentioned. Biscuity malts. Dry finish. Not entirely complex, thanks to the prominence of the cedar.

Lots of really active carbonation on the tongue, though not uncomfortably so. Medium bodied, and lightly astringent. Very oily, the flavor sticks around in your mouth for ages.

This is a pretty tasty beer, especially for big fans of cedar such as myself. That said, the 750 was a bit of a chore after a while. So much cedar. I feel as though cedar could certainly contribute in a very positive way to a beer, but this is too much.
Sorry Cigar City.

Serving type: bottle

05-12-2010 03:48:17 | More by photomike

stang02

Georgia

3.53/5  rDev -13.3%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4

Served in a pint glass from a 750ml bottle. Pours an opaque orange that has absolutely no clarity to it. Has a one finger head that is slowly diminishing with great lacing. Smells is overwhelmingly strong from the citrus, namely grapefruit and some orange. There is no cedar in the nose which is disappointing. There is no cedar anywhere which is even more disappointing. If it weren't cedar aged then it would be a pretty good IPA but since it is supposed to be cedar aged it is a little bit underwhelming. That being said, it is still a very good, very drinkable IPA that should be experienced by anyone who likes the hops. The finish is slightly acidic because of the grapefruit taste that dominates the entire body of the beer. It is not balanced with the hops commanding most of the taste, with little regard to malts anywhere in the body of this beer. It has a good mouthfeel but feels oily on the palate afterwards.

I was originally excited to try this beer but it was underwhelming. It is still good to drink but the cedar is not prevalent whatsoever. Good IPA but I wouldn't go too far out of my way to get it.

Serving type: bottle

05-26-2010 21:53:51 | More by stang02

mwilbur

Minnesota

3.53/5  rDev -13.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

Poured from 750 mL bottle into shaker pint glass.
A: Pours a clear golden color with 1 inch bubbly white head. Decent retention. Faint lace.
S: Nice cedar and hops. Pine and pineapple notes. Hint of guava and black pepper. Fresh and pleasant.
T: Holy hops! Cedar is still present, but not as nicely balanced as in the aroma. I'm sure there's more there, but the hop bomb obliterates everything else.
M: Very bitter from the overpowering hops. Light body. Slightly oily feel.
D: I'm a little over half-way through a pint of this one and having difficulty continuing. This started out promising, but took a nose-dive. Although I'd still say this is above average overall, I wouldn't recommend it. Don't go out of your way for this one.

Serving type: bottle

05-30-2010 04:40:02 | More by mwilbur

morimech

Minnesota

3.53/5  rDev -13.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3

Pours a murky, dark amber with two inches of white head that had decent retention before settling to a thick cap. Moderate amount of sticky lacing is left on the glass. First impressions of the aroma, where is the cedar. I had to really search deep for any hint, but there is some cedar and herbal aroma. Citrus hops and sweet malt makes up the remainder of the aroma. The flavor as well, did not seem that special. A lot of sweet malt upfront before citrus hops and bitterness takes control. The cedar lends slight hints of, well, cedar and something along the lines of memthol. Bitterness is high but it has to be to balance the sweetness of the malt. Alcohol is detectable and feels warm in the body. The mouthfeel is the best part of the beer. Nice soft carbonation gives an excellant texture. Medium/full body that seems to becoming the norm for American IPAs. Just do not sense what is so special about this beer at what I am sure is a premium price.

Serving type: bottle

06-20-2010 22:26:23 | More by morimech

dborginis

Pennsylvania

3.53/5  rDev -13.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

Jai alai cedar.  Turbid, hazy copper color.  Sweet fruity smell, with a bit of booze as well.  Metallic hop flavor, mild on the metal.  If I really try to, I can taste the cedar. Heavy on the hop bitterness, heavy on the malts, but the malt clearly takes a backseat. Not sure what hops were used but they are very bitter. Wish there was a stronger aroma hop presence. For the amount of flavor here, not as drinkable as it should be...too high abv.

Addendum: I just sipped the dregs, not sure why, but it was painfully hoppy. Was this dry hopped?

Serving type: bottle

09-07-2010 02:07:27 | More by dborginis

glazeman

Illinois

3.53/5  rDev -13.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Huge thanks to moose3285 for this beer in a recent trade.

A: Orange in color with a 3 finger white head. The head has excellent retention and lacing, but was too large on initial poor.

S: I smell more of the barrel here than the base IPA, lots of woodiness

T: I feel like the main thing the cedar aging does to this beer, as compared to the regular jai-lai is that it adds a little bit of woodiness to the finish and tames the bitterness somewhat. There's some pine up front, but I don't get much citrus.

M: Over carbonated in my opinion. Otherwise this beer has a good mouthfeel and a pleasant aftertaste.

D: This beer goes down easy and is quite enjoyable. Besides the high level of carbonation that may give me an upset stomach, I feel it is pretty drinkable.

Serving type: bottle

01-20-2011 00:35:23 | More by glazeman

Kkottonmouthkngz

Massachusetts

3.53/5  rDev -13.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

A: cloudy as hell, amber orange with an enormous pillowy head, rocky peaks all over the place. it literally doesnt move if its left untouched. theres legs and patches of fluff all over the sides of the glass.
S: kind of smells like pineapple and possibly raw fruit. theres also some spice aspect, seems like cloves that youd stick in an orange for an air freshener. im not sure i really enjoy the way it smells altogether, but its different for sure.
T: again almosy a mildewy pineapple. its got a weird prominent flavor that i cant really pinpoint, but im leaning towards charbroiled pineapple. these flavors are kind of a headscratcher.
M: this thing has huge amounts of carbonation, and it really pricks the tongue and palate rather viciously. something about this just rubs me the wrong way.
D: im ok with this on my first glass, but interested to see how i feel in a little while. overall im not really sold on this one.

Serving type: bottle

02-08-2011 01:17:25 | More by Kkottonmouthkngz

thagr81us

South Carolina

3.53/5  rDev -13.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Served from bottle into a Stone nonic. Poured a hazy yellow-orange with a half finger off-white head that subsided to a minimal amount slowly. Maintained decent lacing throughout the glass. The aroma was comprised of sweet malt, citrus, wood, and tobacco. The flavor was of sweet malt, citrus, citrus hop, wood, and tobacco. It had a light feel on the palate with medium carbonation. Overall this was a decent brew. The tobacco aspect in this one really killed it for me unfortunately. I went into this one really wanting to like it, but couldn't bring myself to do so as much as I thought I would. However, the flavors from the Humidor was definitely transferred to the brew. Hope to get a chance to try more Humidor offerings that might fit in better based on style than the IPA.

Serving type: bottle

08-10-2011 19:13:27 | More by thagr81us

billab914

Virginia

3.5/5  rDev -14%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a 750ml bottle into my Russian River tulip glass. Poured a murky copper orange color with a big frothy three finger off-white head. The head had some very good retention and left a lot of lacing on the glass as I drank it.

The aroma starts off with some hoppy citrus flavors but then the big cedar, dry, woody flavor hits you. It really smells like you walked into a humidor. It's kind of hard to pick up any of the beer flavors through the strong cedar.

The taste shows a little more of the hoppy, citrus & pine IPA flavor then the nose did, but it also has a pretty strong woody cedar taste to it. The finish leaves a nice long lasting bitterness on the palate. The ceder might just be overpowering the taste too much in my opinion though.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Drinkability is decent, you really have to enjoy the wood flavor for it to be drinkable though.

Overall this was a very interesting beer, it was a cool idea and I'm glad I got to try it. The cedar is just too overpowering in it though in my opinion and the wood flavor is hard to get past. This is probably the most extreme "wood" flavored beer I've ever had and I'm not sure how I feel about cedar as a beer flavor. It didn't seem to lend itself to beer as well as say Oak does in my opinion.

Serving type: bottle

03-21-2010 19:23:09 | More by billab914

krisandajt

Pennsylvania

3.5/5  rDev -14%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

My 200th review, figure I better make it something good. Got this one from a trade with awalk1227. Cheers!

Appearance: Poured from the bottle into my Shorts pint glass, the beer is a nice, barely cloudy, vibrant copper color with a huge amount of not-quite-white head. The retention is impressive, so much so that I have to wait for it to fade away before I can really dig into this beer. As the head slowly dissipates, it leaves behind thick sheets of schtick along the sides of the glass.

Smell: I'm getting more of the cedar aging than I am hops. The smell is muted, most likely a result of the aging. I'm getting the feeling that this brew is suffering from a bit of hop fade. I'm hoping that the aging on the cedar will make up for the lack of bitterness.

Taste: Thankfully, I'm getting me some hops now. The hops bring a bit of pine to the brew, but it's mostly overshadowed by a malty backbone and a subtle hint of wood aging. All the flavors combine to form a pretty balanced brew, but I was hoping for a bit more of an in-your-face hoppy blast.

Mouthfeel: A nice medium body, and ample carbonation.

Drinkability: Not exactly what I expected. Though I guess that an IPA that has been aged is going to be a little muted. Overall, it does have some good flavor. I think the cedar aging does add a nice quality to the beer, but it would be much better if they amped up the hops.

Serving type: bottle

08-06-2010 23:41:47 | More by krisandajt

argock

Virginia

3.5/5  rDev -14%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Poured from 750mL brown bottle into a clear stemmed glass wine goblet. No freshness date. Purchased at Knightly Spirits (Orlando, FL) for $8.99.

A: Burnished amber with dense 1-finger off -white head which leaves a sheet of lace all around the glass.

S: After sampling this immediately following a Jai-Alai unleaded, this brew has no bright aroma signature at all comparatively. There is a dull woody chest of drawers type of aroma but no bright citrus and resin hoppiness like the progenitor ale.

T: The flavor is a little better than the aroma, but overall it is still muted and masked byt he cedar heavy sprucey, woody flavors. Hoppiness is very bitter but not much else.

M: Still very smooth and creamy but the aftertaste is bluntly woody.

D: Cedar aging did no favors for this wonderful brew. THe aroma and flavors are muted and darkened. Not at all a good version compared to the original.

Serving type: bottle

02-04-2011 06:22:01 | More by argock

TheGordianKnot

Tennessee

3.5/5  rDev -14%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Another awesome beer from ShadesOfGray, thanks Ryan! Poured into tulip glass...

A- Not quite opaque, but not clear. Blood orange in color with large two finger yellowish head. Beautiful lacing!

S- Aroma is subdued. Still spicy and earthy. Also get a hefty helping of wood, cedar I assume.

T/M- Hmmm. Spicy and earthy. Supported heavily by malts. Hops have faded for sure. Cedar is there, but smooth and balances the spicey hops. Strong bready character, maybe its more like toast actually, from the malt. Not sweet, but malty for sure. Carbonation is prominent but bubbles are tiny and not prickly.

O- Need. This. Fresh. Period. Great as is, but was sent to me cellared for an unknown period of time, 8 months I think. Everything had faded, but reminiscent of what it could be, and I want to explore.

Serving type: bottle

08-19-2011 18:47:42 | More by TheGordianKnot

TotallyHosed

Illinois

3.48/5  rDev -14.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Thanks goes to Heatwave33.

The appearance has all the markings of a good brew: thick off-white head, translucent dark amber color, lacing from top to bottom and bubbly.

The smell of this brew is lacking. I certainly smell the cedar wood, but at no time could I smell anything else.

The taste is a little better than the smell. When the brew was cold, I was only able to taste cedar and a little bit of sweetness. As it warmed up I did pick up some hoppy bitterness.

The feel is nice. There's adequate carbonation and light body. The bottle says the brew is unfiltered, but the appearance nor the feel reflected this. I would expect to see some cloudiness and a light-to-medium body. In my opinion, this is simply an observation, not a negative critique.

I do enjoy IPA's that are aged with wood. That extra layer, or layers, of complexity is a welcome change from the usual profile. My only disappointment is that I expected more hops in the nose. Maybe a bottle that is more fresh would deliver this. This is an interesting beer that I recommend you try once. I don't smoke cigars, but I imagine this brew would make a good pair.

Serving type: bottle

01-12-2012 00:43:29 | More by TotallyHosed

Reaper16

Alabama

3.43/5  rDev -15.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

750mL bottle served into a tulip glass

Pours a darkish, burnt orange color. Plenty of murkiness to the body, though you can see some carbonation when you hold the beer to direct light. The carbonation gushes out, forming a two-finger-plus sized head, but it reduces down to a very tight one finger. Plenty of thick-ringed lace is left in its wake.

The dominant aroma I'm getting is caramel malt. Which isn't what I personally want to get as the dominant aroma in an IPA, but I can roll with it. There's green hop notes here, a splash of fruit juice too. There's a different sort of astringency here too which I am attributing to the cedar chips. Slight vanilla comes along with the wood. I've had cedar in beer before (namely Boulevard's discontinued Seeyoulator Dopplebock), and this doesn't at all smell like what I thought it would. The unique character of cedar is diminished on the nose of this bottle. Is it old? I have no reason to think so, but it could be the case.

Tasting the beer leads me to believe that it isn't blindingly fresh but isn't over the hill either. There's a fair amount of peach and orange hop flavor to this bottle. The caramel malt IS stronger than I'd prefer, but it maybe needs to be. The cedar flavor isn't dominant or even particularly strong, and I think the malt is helping a lot to keep the wood in balance. That wood is green and yes, tastes like cedar. Very trace vanilla; mostly green wood.

This beer is on the thicker side of medium-bodied. I typically don't like that attribute, but it works for this beer. There's something pleasing about the textural heft in relation to wood flavor. Usually, wood-aged beers are so thinned-out, so the contrast is unexpected and enjoyable.

Overall, this is an above-average IPA. It is unique and enjoyable, though nothing that I would turn to regularly (or ever again, even). It isn't what I'm looking for in an IPA, but it does succeed in what it wants to do.

Serving type: bottle

12-07-2011 03:57:18 | More by Reaper16

johnnnniee

New Hampshire

3.43/5  rDev -15.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a clear golden color with a decent sized white head that slowly fades to a ring around the top of my glass. Smells like that old chest at the end of your grandmothers bed. Earthy and woody with a hint of patchouli. There's some citrus in there as well, and maybe some malt, but the cedar is such a powerful aroma its hard to find anything else. It tastes just like it smells. Cedar and citrus with a hint of pepper and malt splashed in for good measure. I'm not sure if I'm imagining this, but after each sip my pallet seems awash with the flavor of cannabis. Medium body with a moderate level of carbonation and a sweet bubbly mouthfeel. The cedar flavor and aroma is quite strong here and the first few sips were rough until my taste buds finally cried uncle. This is not something I would drink often, but I applaud the result.

Serving type: bottle

05-06-2012 01:52:51 | More by johnnnniee

bigfnjoe

Pennsylvania

3.43/5  rDev -15.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a bottle into a Victory tulip

A- pours a cloudy shade of orange with a one finger slightly offwhite head. A decent bit of sediment in this one. Huh.

S- the cedar is the primary aroma, with some sweet fruit creeping through as well

T- slight bitterness, decent smoky wood flavor, mild sweetness. It's ok

M- body is actually relatively thick

O- not a huge fan. I know this is one of CCB's staples, but I'm not in love with it

Serving type: bottle

06-16-2012 15:19:54 | More by bigfnjoe

jf60657

Florida

3.4/5  rDev -16.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2

Drank @ work off a cask.

Poured a cloudy yellow with a nice thick head into a standard 4oz tasting glass. Pretty murky for an IPA but thats not a problem. Head was about finger thick and receded quickly.

Nose was of fresh grapefruit and just a tiny bit of wood. I also got some sugary tones like melted watermelon jolly ranchers. If you take the wood out it smelled like every other big, citrusy IPA I've had as of late. There was a slight peaty smell as well.

Tasted it and BANG, HOPS! Pretty much a hoppy grapefruit spritzer mixed with a picket fence. I wanted the candy tones I smelled to come in and rescue this beer but it did not happen. Unbalanced and a little confused, this beer was interesting but by no means great. After a few sips it turned into a yawner. Hops, hops, hops. Yeah, I get it.

Mouthfeel was viscous and warm. A little oily and chewy.

I had 8 oz's of this and I was set. Did not want more

Serving type: cask

05-29-2010 19:39:26 | More by jf60657

beagle75

Iowa

3.4/5  rDev -16.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 4

Poured from a 750 ml bottle into a tulip glass.

A: Slightly hazy, medium amber color with one finger of diminishing white foam head. Light lacing remains on the glass.

S: A sharp-edged combination carbon dioxide and fresh-cut wood largely masks the presence of malt. Esters are also present, providing a suggestion of sweetness and becoming more pronounced as the beer warms.

T: Begins nearly dry, with volatile wood and robust toasted malt, with a lively coppery taste just under the surface. Carbonic acid soon surges to an aggressive level and stays there, tapering off well into the finish. Hop aromatics are earthy and spicy early, then developing a faint dark citrus quality as the middle elapses. Grainy toasted malt becomes resurgent in the middle, where estery fruit and black pepper may also play a small role. The finish sees the various flavor threads approaching the end like runners whose endurance is flagging--diminished by their journey, but still in it. The cedar, nuanced even at the beginning when it was at its strongest, is relatively unrepresented here, although it may be responsible for the mellowing effect had over the bitterness, which stays mild but with a medicinal quality.

M: Thin to medium viscosity, acidity builds on the palate to the point of distraction, with brisk carbonation.

D/O: Complexity is a quality that cannot usually be attributed to the function of any single ingredient, and neither is it something that is always desired in a beer. Here complexity reigns, and it is probably this beer's best quality. While it struggles with some acidity issues, it produces some very intense and resonant flavors that are challenging to put into words. It is definitely not a typical IPA-drinking experience, and that is irrespective of coasts. This is eminently sippable, with the ability to hold its own against tripels and strong ales.

Serving type: bottle

05-31-2011 02:16:44 | More by beagle75

BDLbrewster

Minnesota

3.38/5  rDev -17%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

First off thanks a ton for this goodie, my best to all who participated in the Football and Beer BIF.

Pours a very hazy ripe grain hued orange amber with a large frothy, sticky head. Large bubbles and tons of sticky lacing wrap up this category.

I don't get the huge amounts of cedar that a lot of the other reviews highlight in the smell. Mildly powerful pine resin is my first thought, oh wait. The more I sniff the more wood I get. Ha Ha. Sweet almost fruity malts make up a huge proportion of the odor as well along with a faint spice. Other than that not a whole lot going on here.

The cedar is epic in the flavor, it seems to drag down the plethora of other things going on in here. The spicy, piney hops put up one hell of a fight but ultimately fail in breaking through the woody forefront. The malty backbone is sturdy enough here and releases flavors resembling toffee and earthy grains. I would enjoy this a lot more without the heavy wood taste.

The mouthfeel is good, feels naturally carbonated in your mouth. Very large bubbles and not at all syrupy. This is the best part of this brew so far.

Overall, this beer really makes me want to try the non-cedar aged. I bet it is amazing. This brew is a knockout, but I just don't think that cedar aging is necessarily the best compliment to an already amazing IPA.

Serving type: bottle

10-09-2009 01:06:31 | More by BDLbrewster

Dreadnaught33

District of Columbia

3.38/5  rDev -17%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Overall, I'm not sure the Cedar really works with this as it's so much cedar and grapefruit all around, but this grew on me as I drank it. Opened this last night with friends thanks to aepb1 for this as an extra in a recent trade.

A: Dark orange with gold highlights, this beer has a nice bubbly ring of white head with good retention and ok lacing.

S: For me, I think the cedar just makes this smell almost like fresh grapefruit juice and grapefruit rinds, but not in a hop way, in the pure bitter fruit way. Lots of cedar pulp, with some smoked malts in there as well. Kind of a weak aroma in terms of how much springs from the glass to me and friends drinking it, definitely unique.

T: Bigger palate and complexity here, again with an abundance of grapefruit pulp and rinds and sweet savory spicy cedar notes, both of those certainly dominating the flavor. Nice citrus and tropical fruit hops behind the grapefruit though and the woodsy smoked malt notes are pleasant. Seems dry and tobaccoish in ways, I can see how this would be good with a cigar as the label states.

M: Very biting grapefruit, it's a little astringent. Smoky charred feel somehow without the RIS like malt or porter char. Bitter finish. Ok.

Overall this is an interesting beer but not one I would ever buy myself, as it seems like a beer to only have with a cigar, by itself it is kind of bizarre and a little off-putting.

Serving type: bottle

06-19-2011 13:43:16 | More by Dreadnaught33

khiasmus

South Carolina

3.35/5  rDev -17.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

"I'm kind of a big deal, my library smells of rich mahogany..."
So it is with Cigar City, a big deal, small batches, cedar-aged IPAs(really?), the hype monster. So here's the first try at it, sitting in the library of rich mahogany with a puro and a CS Lewis book for good measure.
"I say, what a bit of alright! What of it, chaps?"
"Blimey! White pepper! Bakery-rolls and all, what with a bit of grapefruit to boot!"
"Lightly cloudy and little head, but what of a chance at rain? Heh heh..."
"Crikey! Here, lads, is a load of hops. A bloody monstrous bitter too, I say..."
"Well, after I dropped a bomb on this, I did expect to be gobsmacked, while this is a bit of a disappointment."
"Well I think it's bleeding ace."
"Write your own bloody review then."
"Stonking hopping, bitterness, and lemon-sour, then just a bit of white bread, cedar..."
"I think they made a blatant dog's dinner. What of all the chemical bits?"
"Well, horses for courses, I suppose."
"Low carbonation, watery, astringent, ill-balanced, bitter and spicy. I find little to enjoy in this."
"Well, there's little sense in waffling on and on... I'm a bit squiffy anyway."
"It was a fine piss up. Ta."
"Cheers mate."

Serving type: bottle

09-14-2009 15:40:08 | More by khiasmus

TheSevenDuffs

Ontario (Canada)

3.28/5  rDev -19.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Bottle purchased from Lueken's Liquors on-line. Date on label was JUN2012. It appears that this is well past its prime which is disappointing.

A -Poured a cloudy medium orange/amber colour with two fingers of bubbly white head with some great lacing.

S - Cigar smoke up front - the Spanish cedar really comes through. Sweet caramel and a light citrus aroma round out the nose. The hops are barely noticeable.

T - Follows the nose. The Spanish cedar really shines, creating a cigar-smoke like palate that is definitely the predominant flavour. The hop presence is barely noticeable, likely the result of this bottle not being very fresh. Sweet caramel malts and some muted pine notes round our the palate. Somewhat one dimensional.

M - Medium body with a good chew. Light carbonation.

O - Past its prime and one dimensional but interesting nonetheless.

Serving type: bottle

11-16-2011 02:26:52 | More by TheSevenDuffs

beertunes

Washington

3.28/5  rDev -19.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Received in a trade with NYBrews a couple moths ago, this one got lost in the back of the fridge until now. Poured into 16oz nonic. Poured over 4 inches of head on the initial pour, less than 1/8 inch of beer at the bottom. This problem would continue throughout the bottle. When there was finally enough beer to look at, the beer was a slightly hazy, very attractive orange-gold color.

The aroma was good, some malts showing through the citrusy hops. The flavors were also good, those same citrus hops on a nice malt base. Maybe I tasted a bit of cedar, or perhaps it was the power of suggestion.

The body was good, full, sharp and dry, but the finish was a bit harshly bitter. Drinkability was good, but is losing a half-point because I ended up drinking as much head as I did beer. Overall a pretty nice brew, almost a must try. You should give it a shot if you see it, and it's probably worth setting up a trade for.

Serving type: bottle

10-07-2012 22:30:46 | More by beertunes

jsanford

Georgia

3.25/5  rDev -20.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

A - Pours a cloudy orange-amber with a fluffy, khaki-colored head. Nice retention, leaves sticky, sudsy lacing.
S - Sweet caramel malt, pineapple, orange and cedar wood. Very cool to smell the cedar, it's obviously not the most common of beer ingredients.
T - Very close to the nose, mostly caramel, pineapple and orange peel with a pleasantly bitter finish. Again, the cedar is there, but it's nicely balanced. I feel like too much wood presence would really detract from this beer.
M - Medium-heavy body with a sticky mouthfeel and crisp, moderate carbonation.
D - It's good, but a bit sweeter then I'd like. May be tough to drink the bottle by myself.

I thin I'm gonna give up on Cigar City IPAs, just not my thing.

Serving type: bottle

01-20-2011 00:18:37 | More by jsanford