Cigar City Brewing – which has been in negotiations to begin distribution in South Carolina soon – is looking to build a separate brewery in addition to its Tampa base, and South Carolina is on the shortlist to host it, according to a new report.
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Cigar City SC expansion definite; Southeast rollout could happen by year’s end
Back in January, I reported that Cigar City was in negotiations with South Carolina distributors to begin shipping its product to the Palmetto State as part of a regional expansion throughout the Southeast. Well, it’s the middle of the year, and there’s no Jai Alai or Maduro Brown on South Carolina shelves yet, but the Tampa brewery is definitely on the verge of regional expansion, which is expected to begin by the end of the year.
Cigar City negotiating SC distribution
Tampa, Florida’s Cigar City Brewing is in talks to begin distribution in South Carolina by the middle of the year, multiple sources have confirmed.
While in the early stages of negotiations, the Florida brewery – best known for its creativity and constant flow of new and inventive beers – has been in talks with distributors throughout SC as well as retailers to begin hashing out a plan for expansion into the Palmetto State. Multiple distributors are reportedly heavily courting the brewery in the state’s major markets.
The brewery hopes to be available in South Carolina by this summer, although no official launch date has been set. Whenever they do arrive, expect supplies to be limited at first as they are in Georgia and Alabama, other states in the Southeast CCB distributes to.
CCB has been eyeing distribution in the Southeast and up the East Coast, but they’ve been hesitant to expand far outside of the Sunshine State. This is partially due to ensuring a quality product and partially due to keeping up with demand in the Florida market. The brewery’s output grew about 75% in 2013 to 30,000 barrels produced. That number is expected to increase to 50,000 barrels this year, buoyed by an army of 120 BBL fermenters the brewery purchased last year.
Cigar City Jai Alai
Cigar City Brewing
Tampa, FL
Jai Alai IPA
7.5% ABV
In addition to picking up packs of the I-10 and People’s Pale Ale during my recent trip down to the Sunshine State, one of the standbys I sought out – and really couldn’t leave without getting – was Cigar City‘s Jai Alai.
Named after the sport that I vaguely remember playing during gym in elementary school, as well as one that became the focus of an episode of Mad Men, Jai Ali is the oft-applauded year-round IPA the Tampa-based brewery produces. In addition to the standard IPA, a white oak-aged variation is produced, as is a cedar-aged variety.
The first time I tried Jai Alai, I came away a little underwhelmed. I blame it partially on the hype. But it’s hard to pass up the chance to try it again, and on second taste, it turned out to be much better than I remember.
Jai Alai pours a deep hazy orange with a sort of rust brown tint toward the middle. There’s an almost creamy look finger worth of head on top, although it does settle and dissipate pretty quickly. The lacing does fall off pretty quickly and leaves a kind of watery film along the edges of the glass. Good alcohol legs, though.
The nose is much better than I remember. There’s a big, wet juicy hop aroma of orange juice, grapefruit and pineapple. There’s definitely a bit of alcohol on the nose as well. The sweet malt backbone is definitely present as well. Overall, it’s just really rich, juicy and delicious.
The maltiness is the first thing that’s really present on the taste. There’s a very mild bite of hop bitterness on the front of the tongue and across the palate. It’s a sort of wet pine flavor. The hops do bite a little more on the end with a big tartness and a lot of grapefruit flavor. That sweeter malt character is there to temper the hop bite a bit, but it clings to the back of your tongue. The alcohol does have a bit of a punch on the finish as well, but it’s not boozy. Very well-balanced.
Second time was a charm with this one. Then again, it’s hard to pass on anything from Cigar City.
Cigar City White Oak Jai Alai
Cigar City Brewing
Tampa, FL
Jai Alai White Oak Aged IPA
7.5% ABV
A friend of mine brought me a pack of Cigar City‘s Jai Alai IPA last year as a birthday present, and with all the hype surrounding the Tampa-based brewery – it was my first Cigar City beer – I was ready to be impressed. But unfortunately, I was let down with the final product. The beer wasn’t bad, per se, but I guess I had just built it up in my mind so much that my expectations were too high.
Oh, how a little oak aging can change that.
Cigar City recently released a new batch of Jai Alai aged on white oak. By using that type of oak, the beer is dried out a bit, but it adds a bit of sweetness to the hop profile. I love oak-aged beers, but I was iffy on what it would do to an IPA. All those doubts were gone after the first sip.
The pour is a really hazy deep orange color topped with a finger of a bubbly head that gives way to mild lacing and alcohol legs.
The oak is incredibly noticeable as soon as you start pour the beer. It just wafts out of the glass. It gives off a big sweet woody note backed with a good hop bite. I got hints of scuppernongs, pineapple and oranges. The white oak really does do a great job of adding a crisp yet sweeter note.
The taste starts out simple enough on the palate. There’s a very mild hop bite and a medium mouthfeel, but the oak erupts on the back. It’s extremely dry, with an almost white wine character, but also just the right amount of sweet. Amazing flavor. That Jai Alai taste is there, but with the fruit flavor kicked up a bit. Good piney bitterness, a bit of malt and a definite vanilla quality round it out.
Dogfish Head‘s Burton Baton set the bar for oak-aged IPAs for me, but White Oak Jai Alai comes in a close second. For a lighter single IPA, the white oak is a perfect choice, drying the beer out just enough to impart a sweeter note. The wood is unmistakably present and strong, but as with any good oak-aged beers, it adds to the beers instead of distracting drinkers from everything else going on.
Cigar City Cucumber Saison
Cigar City Brewing
Tampa, FL
Cucumber Saison
6% ABV
As the summer begins to wane in South Carolina, so to does my desire to drink as many lighter beers as possible. That includes saisons, one of my favorite styles of beers. So, if saison season is coming to a close, I better let it go out with a bang. That’s just what I did last Friday night.
Cigar City is tantalizingly out of reach for the rest of us in the South. Georgia’s lucky enough to get a shipment here and there, but for the most part, if you don’t live around Florida, you’re SOL.
But beer people are good people, and I was lucky enough to get my hands on a bottle of their Cucumber Saison. (SPOILER ALERT: It’s a saison brewed with cucumbers.) I had heard raves about this one for a long time, but none of that hype did the beer any justice.
This is – hands down – the single best non-traditional saison I have ever had.
The beer pours a hazy translucent sunset orange color that’s a big lighter around the edges. On top is a massive foamy head about three fingers thick that settles slowly. There really wasn’t much lacing and the alcohol legs are nonexistent.
First thing on the nose is the crisp, clean cucumbers. It’s unmistakable, and you know what it smells like. It’s an incredibly refreshing smell. That’s backed with a big saison funk, that classic saison smell. There’s a definite citrus note to it and a slight grassy hop character, but the thing lives up to its name.
On the front of tongue, you get a big bite of tartness. It’s not overly strong but really nice, probably mellowed by the cucumber flavors. There’s huge carbonation follows throughout mouth as well. As it settles, the cucumber is unmistakable. It’s fresh, crisp, clean and works perfectly with the tartness of the saison. It needs little description: Just bite into a cucumber and you’ve got it. The best part is, the flavors linger on the back of the throat. That amazing taste sticks around and begs you to drink more.
This was a truly outstanding beer. I’ll never pass up a good saison, and the classic style is hard to beat for me. But damn, if this thing wasn’t perfect. I recently brewed a jalapeno saison, and the slight heat and flavors of the peppers worked as a perfect balance to the funk and sour saison. Cucumbers seem to do the exact same thing. The clean, mellow tastes keeps the funk from overpowering everything else and makes this a insanely good beer.
