Jai Alai IPA - White Oak - Cigar City Brewing

SpeedwayJim

New York

4.05/5  rDev -3.3%
look: 3 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Thanks to billyshears (Jon) for this one. Sampled at a tasting 1/5/11. 6oz. pour from a 12oz. bottle into a DFH pint glass. Reviewed from notes.

A: Pours a 1 finger frothy, white head with decent retention. Beer is a deep, clear orange. Lacing is sparse and with little stick.

S: Nose is super aromatic and the regular Jai Alai we had side-by-side was muted by comparison. Sweet vanilla, oak, intense citrus, and cane sugar along with some coconut and other tropical flavors. Almost like a pina colada mixed with IPA.

T: Opens sugar cane, vanilla, and citrus hop bitterness. Sweet alcohol lingers and mellows in the background. Piney hops toward the middle and end with a big, citrus hop finish and aftertaste.

M: Light to medium bodied. Amply carbonated and coarse in the mouth all the way. Lively and bubbly going down. Finish is messy with an aftertaste that lingers.

D: Having the regular Jai Alai next to this beer really opened my eyes to this offering. A very solid IPA, the White Oak barrel-aging seems to complement the citrus and tropical hop bitterness in this offering perfectly. Definitely worth seeking out.

Serving type: bottle

01-06-2011 16:59:20 | More by SpeedwayJim

PorterLambic

Florida

4.15/5  rDev -1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Pours a rich dark yellow, almost amber, color. Small head drops to a very thin film island rather quickly.
Smell is full of oak and malt with a touch of sweet orange or tangerine and some caramel?
Taste is more of an IPA with a definite hop presence, some grapefruit, malt, oak. Good balance here.
Fullish body with a tangy, almost biting, effervescence. Not harsh but sharp. Dry finish with a warming in the back of the throat and down. As a malt lover, IPAs aren't often on my list but this is a good one.

Serving type: growler

07-06-2011 02:26:51 | More by PorterLambic

jsh420

Illinois

4.03/5  rDev -3.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

pours cloudy amber orange with a big chunky 2 finger head that had great retention and left lacing all down the glass

smell - i dont get any oak - citrus orange grapefruit a little pine

taste - again not a lot of oak flavors - the same citrus grapefruit pine and ashy hops - decent caramel malt backbone - solid ipa

mouthfeel is a medium body beer with good carbonation very smooth and creamy

drinkability - very easy drinking and good balanced ipa

Serving type: bottle

02-27-2011 05:11:41 | More by jsh420

beer2day

North Carolina

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

Honey gold pour, a little richer and earthier than the regular Jai Alai. Towering rich 3-finger head. Great lace.

Definite woody nose, lots and lots of oak. Just can't decide if that's a good thing. Getting a little juniper, too. Might be a mix of the hops and the wood. Very different.

Very interesting tastes here. Vanilla strikes me first, but that develops into a pepper-wood flavor. More carbonated than the regular Jai Alai, too. Faint hop bite in the finish.

Slightly malty for the style.

Definitely an acquired taste.

Serving type: bottle

10-26-2010 01:13:19 | More by beer2day

AlCaponeJunior

Texas

3.93/5  rDev -6.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5

Orange/tan and somewhat cloudy appearance. Fine rising bubbles on the sides of the glass. One finger head that dissipates into a nice sheen. Good lacing.

Fruity and sweet smelling, with a woody earthiness.

Oranges, apricots, mangoes all come to mind in the flavors. Definitely sweet, but also quite hoppy, with an interesting blend of spicy, bitter, and sweet. Woody background crosses all areas of flavor.

Pretty rich and thick indeed. Smooth and lingering medium bitter aftertaste. Silky carbonation.

A tasty treat, but wouldn't want to drink it every day. Very good beer tho.

Serving type: bottle

01-15-2011 16:46:06 | More by AlCaponeJunior

jjanega08

Minnesota

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

No freshness date but drank within a day of trade.

A= Pours a nice hazy orange with a finger of head on it. The head looks a little lighter in color than the regular Jai. The head is also a little less dense and maybe falls a bit faster but not by much.

S= The smell on this is very interesting. I can say with confidence that it smells like oak. Straight oak and hops. There is no misunderstanding what kind of wood was used. The hops are a little taken over by the oak but it still is there and maybe a little more fruity with the oak smell. Reminds me of overripe mangos or something.

T= The taste is much more oaky than I would have expected. Still very very tasty though. It has a lot of coconut flavor I think. Pineapple as well. Tastes almost like a pina colada! Really interesting and unique. This maybe the only IPA that I've had that I thought made a totally new and tasty beer when it had wood added.

M= The carbonation is a bit lower than the regular version which is nice.

O= Wow I thought I would have hated this beer but it's actually really really nice. Unique and delicious. Worth trying and drinking regularly if it's avalible to you. I would gladly drink a lot of this.

Serving type: bottle

10-30-2011 00:48:41 | More by jjanega08

Alieniloquium

Florida

4.03/5  rDev -3.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12 oz. bottle poured into a pint glass.

Appearance - Giant white head that has finally tapered off as I write this. The top of the beer still has a coat of foam on it. The beer itself is a light amber.

Smell - Not what I expected. With most oaked IPAs, I smell sweetness enhanced by wood. This one has a sharp, fresh oak aroma. A citrusy hop aroma is there, as well.

Taste - Nowhere near as sweet as I expected. It is a very fresh IPA. The oak actually adds to the bitterness instead of softening any flavors. This is far more appealing than other oaked IPAs I've had. The hop flavor takes a backseat to the oak, at least to me. Obviously, there's still a hop flavor, but I'm more interested in the oak.

Mouthfeel - Pretty high in carbonation. Makes the beer feel lighter and fresher. It's not syrupy. Just the right consistency for a standard IPA. I detect no alcohol whatsoever. There is a bite at the end from the woodiness.

Overall - A very interesting oaked IPA. Nothing like any other I've had. Has none of the cloying sweetness of other oaked IPAs, which I really appreciate.

Serving type: bottle

04-15-2011 01:43:01 | More by Alieniloquium

AdamBear

Pennsylvania

4.2/5  rDev +0.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

A-dark amber, almost with a reddish tint to it, good amount of cream colored head, fairly bubbly, some lacing

S-smells like bitter spicy hops. there's a strong stale grassy scent to it as well. its also a bit malty. there's a good strength to it, but this doesn't smell particularly tasty.

T-comes in with a really stale grass taste slightly (very slightly) outlined in hops. this taste lasts and then becomes the after-taste. There's only a slight bitterness toward the ends and there is no large hops presence which i find to be fairly disappointing. however there's a great sweetness here that i'm loving. its almost a taste of vanilla. its flows very nicely in this IPA.

M-good creamy carbonation with a good creamy finish

D-the tastes stay nice and pronounced. its actually a really good beer. Its definitely a different IPA, possibly not for all hop heads. however for me it hits the spot just right, i could have a whole case of these and it would disappear pretty quickly. i'd like to try this with some age on it.

Serving type: bottle

01-19-2011 01:40:44 | More by AdamBear

bonkers

New Jersey

4.3/5  rDev +2.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I got this in SS '10 courtesy of steve8robin. The pour is hazy orange, the head overflows the glass. The smell has lots oak that mixes nicely with the citrus and pineapple. It taste like it smells, oak with pineapple and citrus backdrop. The finish is sweeter than I remember the other jai alai's. The body is medium, very well carbonated. A great beer, I really need to do a horizontal tasting with the different varities of jai alai.

Serving type: bottle

12-09-2010 23:57:58 | More by bonkers

peabody

Kentucky

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

Pours out slightly cloudy with two fingers of white foamy suds.
Smell is very citrusy with mango and grapefruit at the front. Sugar and malt/yeast are in the back.
Taste is a watery mix of bitterness and barely sweet caramel. The grapefruit rind is here then you get a slight fruityness. The white oak must be the bitterness at the end because it makes the mouth really dry.
Mouthfeel is clean for the most part. Somewhat sticky at first but the bitterness takes all that away.
I could see sessioning this beer if I live in TAMPA.
Thanks Haver, you are a gem!

Serving type: bottle

02-14-2011 00:05:52 | More by peabody

Urbancaver

Ohio

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

Pours a nice crisp amber orange with a bit of nice white head. Smells very hoppy and oaky. A hint of vanilla on the nose as well. Tastes fairly sweet and hoppy. Lots of piney flavours on the tongue and a solid malt backbone. Thick and syrupy with a solid mouthfeel. Overall, just a touch nicer than regular jai alai as the oak adds some interesting complexity.

Note: let this beer warm up! S much more complex!

Serving type: bottle

03-25-2011 22:40:14 | More by Urbancaver

shand

Florida

3.85/5  rDev -8.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 12oz bottle into a Sierra Nevada imperial pint.

This brew pours with a puny one-finger of head (especially compared to the head explosion of the base Jai Alai), and it's more hazy and slightly lighter in color than the base Jai Alai. Lacing is still exceptional. The smell is very nice, sharp oakiness and a touch of vanilla is over the great tropical fruit and hop base of Jai Alai. The oakiness is much stronger on the taste, which is both a good thing and a bad thing. It's good because the oak tastes great. But it's bad because it mutes some of the better parts of the base Jai Alai - the citrus and hops in particular. I wouldn't mind the oak to be a bit more subtle. Otherwise, it's pretty good, just unbalanced.

The mouthfeel is good, it's slightly more substantial and less carbonated than the normal Jai Alai. Drinkability suffers just a bit with the oak treatment. Overall, it's a solid spin on the original, but it's not quite an improvement. Worth trying, but not a necessity.

Serving type: bottle

03-23-2011 04:27:08 | More by shand

Duff27

Illinois

3.91/5  rDev -6.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Half inch off white head on a small sediment filled light ruby red body. Great lacing and head retention.

Earthy hops, wood.

Well balanced hops and malt profile. Does have a oaky essence to it. Wouldn't peg this at 7.5%abv as it drinks smaller than that.

Medium mouthfeel, lower end of carbonation for an ipa.

A good not great ipa. Unique with drinkability. Oak adds another layer onto an already above average ipa. Thanks egrace84.

Serving type: bottle

01-11-2013 02:39:10 | More by Duff27

jmarsh123

Indiana

3.28/5  rDev -21.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

I think this is another from the BIF package from djmichaelk. The gift that keeps on giving.

Fairly gentle pour ends up with half of glass of foam. Nice cloudy gold/orange color with mentioned massive head.

Slight citrus smell, but really the oak dominates the nose.

Starts off with a slightly pleasant citrus. Again almost immediately the oak overpowers everything else. Finishes with a huge woody flavor. A little more complexity came out as it warmed a bit. The oak was still heavily presence, but allowed more other flavors to come through as well.

Good mouthfeel and carb.

I'm beginning to think IPA's don't lend themselves very well to oak. The oak overpowers most of the good IPA flavors in this one although as noted it became a much better beer as it warmed.

Serving type: bottle

11-16-2011 00:17:02 | More by jmarsh123

pwoods

Ohio

4.2/5  rDev +0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Big thanks to Blazer06 for this awesome extra.

12oz. Brown bottle poured into an imperial pint.

A: Pours a copper tinted firy orange. Decent sized head on the pour and it still holds for a bit even with the oak aging. Good lacing.

S: lots of tropical fruits with pineapple and papaya in the front with mango and some other citrus backing it up. Plenty of spicy oak... Almost cedar like spiciness. Herbal and maybe even a touch of pepper.

T/M: Not a lot of bitterness left but understandable and not extremely off putting. More of the tropical fruits and citrus with more of the pineapple/papaya/mango tastiness. Very balanced oaking, very tasty with the herbal and spiciness notes. Body is medium to medium light with smooth carbonation.

D: Very tasty and drinkable beer and interesting at the same time.

Serving type: bottle

10-12-2010 04:25:32 | More by pwoods

PDXHops

South Carolina

3.1/5  rDev -26%
look: 5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

12 ounce bottle poured into a Duvel tulip. Borrowing notes from my review of regular Jai Alai for reference.

Jai Alai: No date info on the bottle. Hazy dark copper body capped with a creamy finger's worth of foam. Retention's pretty good. Patchy lacing.
White Oak: Much improved. Massive frothy head that reduces at a slow rate, leaving a mountain of foam in the middle with a huge bumpy skip all around. Impressive sticky clumps of lacing are scattered all over the place. Gorgeous. Bump 3.0 to 5.0.

Jai Alai: Very east coastish nose, with a hefty dose of caramel and light citrus zest notes underneath.
White Oak: Add a bunch of oak, which is pleasant in and of itself, but further blunts the hops. No change from 3.0.

Jai Alai: A touch boozy. A thickish brew, with moderate carbonation doing little to lighten up the sweetness. A decent level of bitterness briefly cuts through midswallow. Juicy citrus turns into a mildy pungent leafy hop flavor toward the finish. Malt dialed up to about 8.5.
White Oak: The plentiful oak seems to amplify the malts at the expense of the hops. No change from 3.0 for taste or feel, although a potential downgrade to 2.5 was considered.

Jai Alai overall impression: Not particularly memorable, although I have no idea how old the bottle is. Given this mystery, I'm inclined to give it another shot (will update my review with any new developments).
White Oak: Again, not really memorable. I remain unconvinced that 'oaking' is a good idea for IPAs. It's a helluva great looking brew, though, which is inflating my rating a notch or 2 above what it probably deserves.

Serving type: bottle

01-30-2011 21:27:31 | More by PDXHops

WanderingFool

Massachusetts

4.48/5  rDev +6.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

(Thanks go to a friend who went home to Tampa for Christmas and brought me back some Cigar City beers). Jai Alai White Oak IPA pours a clear amber with a medium sized creamy white head on top. As the foam fades it leaves behind some spots and lines of lace on the glass.

The aroma is very woody with notes of oak and some vanilla. Reminds me of a wood shop. Some citrus, pine and light fruit (peach)are also present.

Each sip of this medium bodied beer is creamy with mild carbonation. The flavor is sweet with fruity notes of peach and mango. Lots of oak throughout. It finishes with citrus flavor of orange and grapefruit. Once gone the sweet peach flavor and oak lingers on the palate.

This is a very tasty, easy drinking beer with a unique flavor of fruit and oak. Now that I've had some I want more.

Serving type: bottle

01-01-2013 00:22:31 | More by WanderingFool

jrenihan

Ontario (Canada)

4.3/5  rDev +2.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Beer is a slightly-cloudy orange colour. Small white head.

Smell contains oak fairly strongly, as well a lot of floral scents. Hibiscus, perhaps? A lot going on here but I cannot identify all of it. Very nice smell.

Flavour contains oak and an unusual flavour that I guess accounts for the "white" part of it? Floral flavours (whatever that means, it seems right!), herbal. After all of that, the more typical IPA flavours come into the picture. Grapefruit, citrus. Oak is strong but not overwhelming. Very nice and unusual.

Medium bodied, moderately carbonated. A bit oily, but the oak results in a drier feel.

Overall, really good. The oak flavours are unusual and very nice. A great twist on the regular Jai Alai.

Serving type: bottle

01-02-2013 00:02:45 | More by jrenihan

ckeegan04

Texas

3.93/5  rDev -6.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

A - Brownish-orange with a towering stack of meringue like foam on top. Beer is rather hazy with bright golden yellow edges. Foamy is a dirty white color with ridiculous staying power. Leaves big chunks of lace on the glass.

S - Lots of oak comes through initially with hints of pine forest as well. Just a hint of citrus fruits linger underneath. As the beer warms the hops actually come through a bit more and traces of caramel sweetness become noticeable as well.

T - Very oaky up front with hints of wood and even a touch of vanilla bean. Citrusy hops come quickly through and leave an excellent bitterness behind. There are also tastes of pine and tree sap. The beer finishes surprisingly sweet.

M/D - Medium bodied with a very active carbonation. Tastes are a little strong for the beer to be real high in the drinkability scale, but it is still an excellent sipper.

Serving type: bottle

12-22-2010 15:15:08 | More by ckeegan04

russwbeck

Virginia

3.38/5  rDev -19.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Thank you jcartamdg for this, along with the wonderful vessel I'm drinking it out of!

A: Small white head rests on a hazy orange pour, but lacks the retention Jai Alai IPA obtains. A nice ring forms along the rims of my brand new Cigar City snifter.

S: Big vanilla smell on this one, lots of oak mixed in. Missing a bit of the piney hops.

T: As with the smell, missing the hops here. Grapefruit, and some maltiness, mix with an oakiness and some vanilla towards the end. Really way more malt forward than I expected.

MF: Finish is dry, carbonation is low.

D: Not on the level of Jai Alai, good experiment, but I'd take the original any day.

Serving type: bottle

03-07-2011 04:59:19 | More by russwbeck

THECPJ

Delaware

3.85/5  rDev -8.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Reviewed from notes:

appearance: hazy copper orange with 1 finger off white head

smell: oak, vanilla, citrus, hops, malts

taste: sweet malts, some wood, hops,

mouthfeel: mild carbonation, medium body,

overall: interesting beer. definitely unique and glad I got to try it.

cheers,
the CPJ

Serving type: bottle

09-07-2011 17:39:23 | More by THECPJ

SpdKilz

Illinois

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

Thanks to mrpepino for this extra, cheers! June bottling.

Appearance – Pours a hazy, cloudy orange into a tulip. About a half finger of slight off white head is achieved with a moderate pour.

Smell – Pale malts, slight oak and vanilla, caramel, and just a hint of hops.

Taste – I’m assuming this might be a bit past its prime. The flavors start off with quite a bit of oak and vanilla. A hint of smokiness is present midway through. As the beer warms more bitterness comes through which is a bit odd. The beer finishes with a heavy caramel, toffee backbone.

Mouthfeel – Medium bodied, moderate carbonation.

Overall – A decent IPA. Even though it may be a bit past its prime, it is still quite tasty.

Serving type: bottle

10-17-2011 01:07:20 | More by SpdKilz

Treebs

Illinois

3.25/5  rDev -22.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

12 oz bottle served in a FFF Anniversary party pint glass.

A: Exact same the regular Jai Alai that was sampled before this. Golden straw body with amber hues mixed in, a white head that leaves some nice sticky lace.

S: This white oak did some crazy things to this beer. I'm getting something crazy, almost like banana liqueur with a peppery oak like taste and some subtle hoppiness.

T: Same as the nose. The white oak gave it a peppery zing with a very sweet fruitiness. It's almost spicy in nature. Quite interesting.

M: Medium bodied with a long lingering taste of white oak left on the palate.

O: This was way different from the original Jai Alai that was sampled right before, but it is still about the same type of beer. I'd be interested to try other beers that have been aged with white oak.

Serving type: bottle

01-01-2012 15:58:54 | More by Treebs

KickInTheChalice

Illinois

4.88/5  rDev +16.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

Poured from a 12 oz. bottle into a pint glass.

Appearance: Out of the bottle this pours a cloudy tangerine color with a great off-white head. The head retains nicely and leaves a variable web of lacing down the sides of the glass.

Smell: Perfect. The white oak really comes through nicely. White oak, pineapple, white grapefruit, tangerine, orange blossoms, and some sweet pale and caramel malt in the background.

Taste: Sweet honey and pale malt up front sets the table for the hops. Juicy pineapple, grapefruit, and tangerine flavors burst onto my palate. The white oak really helps to smooth all of the flavors out.

Mouthfeel: White Oak Jai Alai shares the mouthfeel characteristics with its base beer. Smooth and creamy, even buttery, it is very juicy up front and gradually dries out toward the end. A light stickiness is present throughout and lingers after the finish. The hoppy bitterness pulls on the taste buds a little bit.

Drinkability: I absolutely loved the effect the White Oak had on the original beer. It added new depth and a flavor profile I am not really familiar with. Maybe the novelty will wear off after trying it a few more times, but for right now, this is one of my favorite IPA's.

Serving type: bottle

01-31-2011 18:18:11 | More by KickInTheChalice

JohnnyBarman

Ontario (Canada)

4.58/5  rDev +9.3%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

On tap at the Marshal Zhukov RIS barrel-aged release party. I'm really intrigued by CCB's tradition of revisiting of their standard brews-this should be a treat.

Poured into a small sampler glass. Slightly murky golden-copper, with a thin but lingering head.

The nose is brilliant - a superb blend of citrus hops, oak, smokiness and a lovely tropical blend of mango and orange, possibly coconut, vanilla. Anything but your standard IPA bouquet. Love it!

Taste is also superb, probably my favorite IPA of the trip. I could really detect the standard Jai Alai foundation (citrus and earthy hops, malt, caramel), but the addition of the oak wood brought about an excellent woodsy, fruity character that brought out the best in the basic recipe.

Medium bodied for an IPA, easy drinking carbonation.

Were I able to stay longer, I would have had several of these on draft. Just a great blending of flavors. Definitely restores my faith in the evolution of the American IPA! (Shame I can't bring some home with me!)

Serving type: on-tap

08-03-2010 03:47:16 | More by JohnnyBarman