Jai Alai IPA - White Oak - Cigar City Brewing

Knapp85

Pennsylvania

4.38/5  rDev +4.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.25

Poured out as a murky orange color with a nice white foam on top. The retention is pretty solid here along with some sticky lacing on the glass. The smell of the beer is sweet with malt and fresh oak, the hops have mellowed out a lot, there is some faint citrus notes in there along with the malts. The oak comes through pretty strong in the flavor, the malts and oak balance out the hops quite a bit making this IPA much less pungent on the taste buds. There is still a good amount of bitterness to it still which is nice. The mouthfeel is medium bodied and nicely carbonated. Overall it's a very nice beer, I think the addition of oak to this beer makes this more like an English IPA but still very much America with the citrus it has still in there. Overall it's a very good beer and worth getting.

Serving type: bottle

03-23-2013 17:24:11 | More by Knapp85

emerge077

Illinois

4.43/5  rDev +5.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Drank quite a bit of this at FoBAB '12, several pours served in the festival taster glass, at least 12 oz. total. Quick review from notes.

Pours a nice deep orange color, saturated hue with a glowing haze that's visible when backlit. Sudsy foam on the surface with an initial cluster of larger bubbles resting atop a fingers width of head. Aroma is full of oak character, dry woody traces with some sweet vanilla and coconut elements that blend harmoniously with a resinous citrus oil hop character. Dry and bitter feel, with a little bit of sweetness in the middle from the pale malt and possibly the oak too. Smooth and medium bodied, hops lend a good deal of citrus peel and herbaceous bitterness in the aftertaste, though it's smoothed out a bit overall from the oak aging. Pretty drinkable considering the abv, but probably a 1-2 in a sitting type of beer. Very well done.

Serving type: bottle

11-19-2012 16:38:39 | More by emerge077

Wasatch

Utah

4.35/5  rDev +3.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Thanks goes out to cyrusthepup for this brew.

Pours a nice cloudy dark amber color, nice carbonation, HUGE thick foamy/creamy off-white head, with tons of very nice thick sticky lacing left behind. The nose is hoppy with some nice malt notes, citrus, oaky. The taste is sweet, hoppy, malty, with some nice oak notes, and citrus. Medium Body. This is one very tasty brew.

Serving type: bottle

04-08-2011 23:20:52 | More by Wasatch

jlindros

Massachusetts

4.1/5  rDev -2.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Thanks to AndrewNations and kkipple for this one.

A pasty white fluffy head of 1 finger, fades slowly iwith a bit of lacing, over orangeish golden color with a bit of haze.

Nose has lots of oak, a fresh white oak like aroma, the oak brings some vanilla as well, some earthy hops, light pine and citrus, has a bit of a gumball aroma, tangerine and peach as well.

Taste brings citrus hops, light pine and grapefruit, plenty of oak again with the white fresh oak and light vanilla, some bitterness, spicy earthy hops start to dominate as it goes, light fruits again with tangerine and peach, long bitter citrus hop finish, light spice and oak, also a very light buttery oak, and light astringency.

Mouth is medium bodied with lots of carbonation.

Drink is good, the oak smooths out the astringency and heavy bitterness, but it still gets fairly bitter, nice balance.

Serving type: bottle

02-15-2011 04:25:28 | More by jlindros

Kegatron

Pennsylvania

3.7/5  rDev -11.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Liter flip-top growler into a tulip glass. Thanks go to Jw347 for this in a recent trade.

Pours a great looking clear copper here, with maybe just the slightest haze to it, topped with about a finger of bright-white foamy head. This retains with a tight ½ finger that throws a heavy cascade of rich and spotty foam all over the sides of the glass. Really nice rich look here. The Jai Alai jumps out immediately, being floral, spicy, and lush with tropical fruit character that it then undercut some more herbal and danker character as well. Stiff smelling grains and warmth sit underneath the hop flavors but it's the wood and vanilla notes that are most prominent here. Maybe a bit too much actually, but it doesn't seem to interfere with the other flavors in the nose much.

The taste is initially pretty sweet with lightly toasted grains and juicy citrus character but is well balanced by a hoppy bite of bitter grapefruit and lingering notes of rind and spice which give this a deep and assertive finish. The vanilla and tannins from the oak add a LOT of extra woody and earthy tanginess to the profile that then lends this some considerable dryness as well. The mouthfeel has a heavier medium bodied feel to it, with a fuller creaminess that fills up the mouth in the front but then gives way to a much slicker feel from all of those hop oils more towards the swallow. There is some warmth here in the body and it about falls into what you would expect for a 7-8% beer.

I haven't had a whole lot of wood-aged IPAs to compare this to but this one seemed a little too heavy on the oak flavors at times. I would have liked to have seen all of that vanilla and wood be a bit more integrated in with the other flavors and that combined with the alcohol heft that is present in the body are what held the drinkibility of this back some for me. I'm definitely glad that I got to try it but this liter growler was more than enough for me.

Serving type: growler

10-07-2010 17:08:21 | More by Kegatron

corby112

Pennsylvania

3.35/5  rDev -20%
look: 4.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

12oz bottle courtesy of PALMEJ1. Thanks again Jacob!

Pours a hazy dark golden orange/copper color with burnt orange hues when held to a light source and a frothy two finger yellowish beige head. Good retention, slowly fading into a lasting cap that coats the glass with chunks of soapy lacing.

The aroma of this beer is kind of odd with a blend of toasted oak, earthy hops and a buttery malt backbone. I'm not picking up much of the citrus and pine hop presence f the base beer. Those notes are only faint under the barrel character and the nose s dominated by oak and malt. Hints of caramel, wood, toffee, biscuit and butter.

Medium bodied with more of a hop forward presence than the aroma suggests. Dry and bitter with lots of resinous, earthy pine flavor. The white oak presence is very prominent adding more dryness and a toasted wood flavor that takes away from the sweeter tropical/citrus notes of the base beer. As a result, the malt backbone is stronger with hints of toffee, caramel and biscuit. The ABV is well masked making this beer pretty quaffable but t could use some more balance.

Overall, this was an interesting beer and the white oak barrel really changes the base beer, but it could use a bit of sweetness to balance things out.

Serving type: bottle

04-05-2011 06:31:01 | More by corby112

Rifugium

Pennsylvania

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

First had: on tap at Cigar City, Tampa, FL

Hazy copper pour, with a small but solid cap of frothy white head that retained well and left soapy lacing on the glass. Fresh hops in the aroma, juicy citrus, woody, notes of sweet biscuity malts just barely coming through. Citrusy malts were the dominant factor in the taste, a big hit of grapefruit greeted me, lesser notes of biscuity malts, cane sugar, crisp oak and just a hint of vegetal vanilla bean. Medium body, effervescent carbonation, quite good overall.

Serving type: on-tap

12-29-2012 02:09:29 | More by Rifugium

glid02

Georgia

4.25/5  rDev +1.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Growler shared by Lee - much obliged!

Pours a slightly hazy copper color with a one-finger off-white head. The head recedes into a patchy layer on top leaving solid lacing.

Smells of smooth pale malts with good amounts of pine and citrus hops. Also present are mild amounts of vanilla aromas.

Tastes very similar to how it smells. Pale malts with hints of darker caramel malt flavors kick things off and are joined quickly by bright citrus hop flavors. Midway through the sip the hop flavors fill out a bit with the addition of pine flavors and shortly thereafter vanilla flavors make an appearance. The vanilla flavors carry through to a solidly bitter ending.

Mouthfeel is very good. It's got a smooth thickness with grainy carbonation.

Drinkability is also very good. I finished my glass quickly and could easily have a few more.

Overall this was a very nice example of an oak-aged beer - the influences were subtle but undoubtedly there. Well worth a shot.

Serving type: growler

07-30-2010 00:45:04 | More by glid02

woodychandler

Pennsylvania

4.15/5  rDev -1%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

My thanks to DmanGTR for sending this to me in return for some various CANS. I do not have a problem with receiving bottles, but do not look for me to ship them.

From the bottle: India Pale Ale aged on American White Oak."

I am back on a slippery slope with all of these recent AIPAs, but it's all right ma, I'm only bleeding. I got two fingers of dense French Vanilla-colored head with excellent retention. Color was a hazy orangish-amber. Nose smelled of coconut, caramel, pine hops and a mild oakiness. Man, I may need a lay-down after this one is over. Mouthfeel was medium and the oakiness was prevalent on the tongue. You had best like the taste of oak-aged beers going into this one. It was much different from regular Jai Alai, not better or worse, just different. I found it very drinkable and the dry finish only helped to speed its drinkability. A very tasty beer!

Serving type: bottle

08-23-2011 20:25:33 | More by woodychandler

mothman

Saskatchewan (Canada)

2.45/5  rDev -41.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

Poured into bruery snifter.

Pours a finger of white head that thins out. Leaves a bit of lace. Color is a hazed golden orange.

Aroma: Butter, oak, and cedar flavors. It has some sharp fruits and and some floral hops.

Taste: Again, this beer is very buttery which distracts from anything that may be good here. It has a floral hop profile with a tropical fruit citrus blend and it is all topped off with oak and cedar. Reminds me of their humidor series beers.

Mouthfeel: Bitter, but really creamy. Medium bodied with a medium amount of carbonation. Ends a bit sticky.

Overall, this beer could have been good if it wasn't so buttery. I did like the flavors, but I couldn't get passed the butter. Not really for me.

Serving type: bottle

01-08-2011 01:08:02 | More by mothman

JohnGalt1

Idaho

3.48/5  rDev -16.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

Received this "new to me" bottle from a fantastic trade with ohsaycanyoubeer. Big props Matthew!!

Poured into my HotD goblet.. hazed orange with a nice white head that leaves plenty of lacing.

Nose is oak, light toasty malt and lighter caramel, and a big sorta tangerine hoppiness.

Big and oaky.. pithy citrus zest.. a bit of vanilla for sure.. malts come out swinging but get carried away by the other flavors.. finishes with a fermented out toasty maltiness and a dry oak quality.

Body is big for a standard IPA.. but I generally get that from CC IPA's.

Nicely done... I would buy this pretty regularly if I had it available.

3.5/3.5/3.5/3.25/3.5

Thanks again Matthew!!

Serving type: bottle

02-22-2013 05:58:56 | More by JohnGalt1

thagr81us

South Carolina

4.35/5  rDev +3.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Served from bottle into a Stone nonic. Poured yellow-orange with a four finger bone white fluffy head that subsided to two fingers very slowly. Maintained decent lacing throughout the glass. The aroma was comprised of sweet malt and massive citrus hop. The flavor was of slightly sweet malt and citrus hop. It had a medium feel on the palate with medium carbonation. Overall a nice IPA. To be honest there really isn't a whole lot missing in this one as far as flavor and aroma. I definitely enjoyed this one more than the regular version I had a few weeks ago. This one is a definite must try for any IPA fan.

Serving type: bottle

10-25-2010 11:38:30 | More by thagr81us

Huhzubendah

District of Columbia

3.65/5  rDev -12.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Bottle gifted by Chaney. Thanks Brandon! I split this with Paul earlier this summer. Review from notes.

The beer is a copper orange hue with a thick, white head that displays lasting retention and leaves ample lacing cascading down the pint glass.

The aroma is a huge blast of oak and vanilla, followed by hops and some caramel malt. I can smell the beer from a few feet away. Alrighty then.

The flavor is decent. The beer is done well, but a little bit goes a long way here. Sweet and oaky, this is best enjoyed in small doses. I don't see this brew as an IPA, per se, but more of a wood aged strong ale. Again, lots of oak and vanilla dominate the flavor profile to a large degree. The heavy malt bill works with the beer, but not if you were expecting or hoping for a hop forward IPA. This drinks more along the lines of an American strong ale or barleywine, as the hop profile is being overrun with oak, vanilla, and sweet malt.

An interesting brew. I have yet to truly relish any sort of barrel aged IPA. I am all for exploration and creativity, but it seems, to me at least, that IPAs are better left alone. I am grateful for the opportunity to try this. Not my favorite type of beer, but I would certainly try it again.

Serving type: bottle

09-03-2011 02:19:23 | More by Huhzubendah

OWSLEY069

Pennsylvania

4.33/5  rDev +3.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Pours a hazy orange-ish color with a big, rocky off white head. In the aroma, oaky and orange citrus hops. In the taste, quite oaky, big orange citrus hops, remarkably fresh tasting and almost a hint of fresh bourbon. A hop bite and medium bodied mouthfeel, with a dry oak and orange citrus in the aftertaste. Big fresh flavors, tastes bigger than it is, but really nice.

Serving type: bottle

01-14-2011 13:35:34 | More by OWSLEY069

jrallen34

Illinois

2.6/5  rDev -37.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 2

12oz bottle drank from my Darkness glass, given to me by Mike...Pours a medium copper with an orange tint. An off white head rises about a finger, settles quickly to a decent soapy head with good retention...The aroma is sweet caramel on the front with tons of fresh oak that is also pretty sweet, its lots of wood but I'm liking it, shockingly...The taste sadly doesn't translate as well. Its all wood and in a bad way, might as well be licking a fresh piece of wood, way to similar to cigar series ipa which was all cedar closet...The feel is good, sticky pine and tannic, a very interesting sensation.

Another failed Cigar City wood beer. Skip this.

Serving type: bottle

11-01-2010 23:11:55 | More by jrallen34

Slatetank

Pennsylvania

4.15/5  rDev -1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

thanks to Maltzilla for the chance to taste this beer -poured chilled into a willybecker.

A deep apricot shade w/ towering rocky ecru cap w/ whipped topography, mildly hazy -yet visibly carbonated with spacious bubbles and spotty lace pattern. The smell is very fruity with a lot of oaky resin odor and the nose has a bit more pine cone hop scent than floral but a slight citrus accent is there. The feel is good, w/ very oaky and astringent accents lives up to the name w/ moderate bitterness and light sweetness w/ a bit of creamy and oaky texture almost. The finish is drying and oily with hop resin and the body is medium with a moderately low amount of carbonation.

The taste is very good with a balance of bitter and spicy hops with the sweetness of the gentle oak taste and malt. The yeast is there w/ no doubt as it blends in well w/ the astringency of the hops. the hops have a nice citrus quality which also seems to add some piney. The oak comes off as an ingredient that is well integrated here - you aren't sure if you are tasting hops or the oak at times. A nice caramel maltiness adds to the mystery -am I getting vanilla from the oak or is the malt what I am tasting? It cushions the acidity of the hops but lends astringency where it is needed with a mild toasted taste from the malt. there is a subtle wood and herbal blend of slightly lemony flavors that linger after the taste. Overall I enjoyed this IPA a lot It is treated very well w/ the oak not dominating like the cedar version I tasted. It adds a layer of complexity and I would certainly not mind having this again.

Serving type: bottle

04-19-2011 13:38:44 | More by Slatetank

beertunes

Washington

3.24/5  rDev -22.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25

Thanks to BA Dopplebockukus for this one. Poured into 9oz pilsener glass. Poured a clean, clear golden amber color with under a half-inch of just off-white head that had low retention and moderate lacing.

The aroma was solidly oak. Dominatingly so. Some mild citrus hops showed through, but no malt. On the tongue, the beer was even more woody. This must be what Labrador Retrievers taste on their tongues during a vigorous session of fetch. There was just a bit of malt in the flavors, some citrus hops at the back of the tongue, but a whole lumber yard of Oak all across the tastebuds.

The body was fairly typical for the style, but did have a nicely dry finish. Drinkability suffered from the overt timber flavor, I had a hard time finishing one 12oz bottle (my tongue got bored), and I couldn't see having multiples at a time. Overall, an interesting beer, one that's probably worth a shot if you're interested, but I'd like to see the wood dialed back a bit.

Serving type: bottle

01-27-2013 23:12:00 | More by beertunes

kylehay2004

Florida

3.58/5  rDev -14.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

A: Crimson and copper. half finger head. Hazy.

S: Oak, vanilla and some hops in the aroma

T: lot of oak and wood flavor. More vanilla. The jai alai hops are kind of overwhelmed however

M: Moderate carbonation and medium body.

Overall: I like the beer but the oak was a little stronger than I like and I am not sure if the flavors off-set each other or cover up the hops. A little off for me.

Serving type: on-tap

08-28-2011 22:52:35 | More by kylehay2004

nickfl

Florida

4.6/5  rDev +9.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

A - Pours with one finger of white foam on top of a hazy, copper colored body. The head settles quickly and leaves moderate lace.

S - An incredible, complex aroma of coconut, vanilla, dill, and cardamom. The hops only come out in the background with notes of pineapple and resinous pine along with a subtle note of bready malt.

T - Bready malt up front with a little bit of toffee. Savory spice notes of dill and basil come out in the middle along with moderate pine hop flavors. Finishes with a hint of coconut and lots of herbal wood flavor as well as moderate pine hops and fairly strong, somewhat pithy bitterness. Lingering herbal flavors blend with the bitterness and leave a grapefruit note on the palate.

M - Medium body, moderately low carbonation, and a balanced finish.

D - This is a great IPA that really benefits from the white oak in unique and wonderful ways. The aroma is absolutely spectacular and I find myself sticking my nose back in the glass time and again just to enjoy it. The character of the white oak is like nothing I have ever experienced in a beer before and it works with the base beer perfectly. The notes of coconut and dill mesh exquisitely with the hops and bring out a resinous pine note that is much stronger than I remember it being in straight up Jai Alai. A beer aged on an alternative wood like this had the potential to simply be a gimmicky one off, but in this case it ended up being something really different that showed me some character that I had never seen in a beer before, which is something that happens only very occasionally at this point in my beer tasting career. This has to be my favorite version of Jai Alai so far and perhaps the best Cigar City beer that I have tried.

Serving type: growler

09-17-2010 05:22:36 | More by nickfl

tpd975

Florida

4.13/5  rDev -1.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

On Tap at Brass Tap.

A: Pours a nice copper orange with a tall off white head. Nice retention and lace.

S: Nice sweet malt aroma with loads of citrus and pine. The oak is there for sure, smells fresh cut.

T: Oak, oak, and more oak. Damn this beer is woody. That being said it is not the spent oak that you usually see in beer. This is fresh and sappy oak. The base Jai Alai stands strong in the background, but the oak rules this one.

M: Medium in body, smooth, sweet, and woody.

D: Not the most drinkable to be honest, but it is one of the better pints I have had in awhile.

Serving type: on-tap

06-13-2010 19:23:32 | More by tpd975

smakawhat

Maryland

3.78/5  rDev -9.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Poured from the bottle into a nonic pint glass. Date on bottle is May 4th 2011, I think.

A very nice tight retention off white head of a good solid 3 fingers. Foamy, clumpy and tightness sits on a suspended glowing orange body with some hazyness. Too bad for the cloudyness unfortunately still looks good.

Woah what is that on the nose! It's buttery floral and grass. Garden, honeysuckle and bee pollen. Hints of salt and pickle brine. Bizarre but I am going to say I actually enjoy this.

Hit of hop and pickles. No joke, hint of salty brine of cucumber and dill pickle on the finish. DILL DILL DILL holly cow batman! I don't mind this but woah is this ridiculous. A good hop finish and initial bent, some hints of diacetyl like butter comes through also matching the butter sense on the nose.

Fairly simple feel and body, nothing off putting or outlandish.

Overall I am beginning to think aging IPAs with oak either resting, chips, or barrels is a recipe for disaster but we'll see. Right now though I need some sour cream to go with these Dill potato chips I just drank.

Serving type: bottle

07-14-2011 22:27:37 | More by smakawhat

AgentZero

Illinois

2.8/5  rDev -33.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

I'm trying to figure out if these beers are just so progressive I don't understand them, or if they just taste bad. Based on my review, I guess you see where I went with it.

A - Nice Orange colored beer, opaque, with a great two finger foam head that had amazing retention but dissipated unevenly.

S - An herbal/woodey/almost cedar type smell wraps the malts up and kind of mixes with some citrusy hops. It's a bit fruity smelling, almost some pineapple, not bad.

T - Wow, if there's such a thing as an oak bomb, this is it. Seems a lot more like cedar in some respects, but I feel like I'm straining my beer through a stick or chewing on when when drinking this. There is a nice pineapple fruit precense, and some very citrusy hops, not very bitter, but this weird wood is too much for me, don't like it.

M - It's creamy, medium bodied, decent carbonation.

D - Hard for me to drink due to the taste. I don't like this beer.

Serving type: bottle

10-25-2010 17:25:52 | More by AgentZero

woosterbill

Connecticut

4.45/5  rDev +6.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

12oz bottle courtesy of Vonschplieffen into a Weyerbacher tulip.

A: Deep orange-amber body under an inch of fine off-white head. Good retention and lacing. Very nice indeed.

S: Sweet tropical fruit hop notes mix seamlessly with vanilla oakiness and dry bitterness. Excellent.

T: Fruit, vanilla, caramel, pine, oak, and clean, fresh bitterness. Delicious mix of oaky/malty sweetness and oaky/hoppy bitterness. Great.

M: Soft medium body with intense, prickly carbonation.

O: I was entirely ambivalent about regular Jai-Alai, and hugely impressed by the cedar version. Happily, the Quercus Alba iteration of this beer is every bit as amazing as its cedar forbear. The vanilla from the raw oak mixes perfectly with the fruitiness of the hops, creating a beautifully luscious flavor that's reminiscent of nothing so much as NEBCO Gold Stock - and that's about the highest compliment I can give. Don't get me wrong, this beer is no Gold Stock, but it's damn good.

Cheers!

Serving type: bottle

03-29-2011 01:41:02 | More by woosterbill

JoeyBeerBelly

New York

3.24/5  rDev -22.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25

12oz bottle served in a snifter.

L - murky orange/copper color with a thin off-white head that settled to a ring.

S - vanilla, wood and citrus rind.

T - woody taste upfront with vanilla extract and then some citrus rind bitterness with a sawdust dryness on the finish.

F - medium bodied with gentle carbonation.

O - a little too much with the oak for me.

Serving type: bottle

02-17-2013 22:48:03 | More by JoeyBeerBelly

lordofthewiens

Maine

4.45/5  rDev +6.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

In a snifter the beer was a hazy amber color with a small white head. A small amount of lace.
Great aroma. Lots of citrus, some pale malt. Definite vanilla/oak aroma.
Similarly great taste. Grapefruit, tangerine, tropical fruit. Biscuit. Oak lingering in the background the whole time.
The oak really tempered the IPA. Very smooth.
Will have to get more of these while in Florida.

Serving type: bottle

02-07-2011 12:36:15 | More by lordofthewiens