Yes That’s Right I Went to Cigar City

I found out a few weeks ago that I have a reputation locally as the girl who writes the beer blog and hates Cigar City. I thought it was interesting that I was known as hating the Tampa area brewery that gets such rave reviews from everyone else. Many of my friends also don’t like Cigar City– is that because we don’t like good beer or we don’t play into the hype? I believe it is the latter.

I don’t really hate Cigar City, except for a few of their off-the-wall brews that seem to have been brewed merely for the shock value. I just don’t find that Cigar City is all that exceptional. Most of the beers I have had there I consider average to a little above average–nothing to write home about but nothing to meet with all of the hype. Since I was going to a Tampa Bay Buccaneers game and the stadium is right down the road, I decided to be open minded and give Cigar City a chance.

I did the early tour at the brewery which I considered less than stellar– of course, I have been on so many tours that I rarely hear anything new. We did get to taste a seasonal brew called Lab Rat, which they admit is a knock off of the seasonal white IPA from New Belgium, Accumulation. In fact, the beers taste exactly the same. Apparently, Cigar City has bought New Belgium’s old bottling line. During the tour, I had a pint of Invasion Pale Ale which was a good solid pale ale. I even bought a six-pack of it to bring home. Therefore, I did not hate this brew!

Since we were on short time for a 1:00 kick off, we head to the game and returned back to Cigar City during the fourth quarter. This time, I decided to do some samples of some of the stuff that was harder to find and more seasonal. I was a bit disappointed that about half of the beers listed on the menu board were not available. I personally find it very annoying when something is promised, yet not delivered. Note to management– keep the board updated so this doesn’t happen. The Tocobaga Red had hints of a pale ale hoppiness and was OK (not something I would go out of my way to get). My husband thought it was pretty good but he often enjoys red ales. The Sean’s Dunkel was a bit nondescript to me, but again my husband enjoyed it. Torcedores Kentucky Common was average with a slightly sour taste. The Guava sour was not very sour but I am not a fan of sour beers (I am not sure why anyone does this to beer). I was impressed that this sour was definitely not on the sweet side and had a good yeasty undertone. Hornswaggle was quite good as it was done in cedar which gave it a nice taste reminiscent of a bourbon barreled ale. The Humidor Stout was a good solid stout but a bit smoky for my tastes. Jose Marti is a much more solid stout, in my opinion, and another beer that I would actually drink regularly from Cigar City. The My Boy Blue was described by my husband as tasting like armpit (not sure what exactly he meant)– I didn’t think it was that bad but just average. I have a bottle of Black Ash, a black lager brewed with black ash, sitting in my refrigerator– hoping to try it this weekend.

So how do I sum all this up– I don’t hate Cigar City; I hate the hype; I think the beer is average. However, should you find yourself in the neighborhood I do suggest you go and check it out! Next stop– our newest local brewery Point Ybel

The First Distillery– Wicked Dolphin

Wicked Dolphin

Last July, the State of Florida finally passed a law allowing local distilleries to be able to give tours. I was very excited to learn this because a few months prior a rum distillery had opened in Cape Coral. Cape Coral seems an unlikely location for a rum distillery but I would definitely recommend a trip to visit to Wicked Dolphin for anyone in the area. The staff was very friendly and knowledgeable, and we were given a sample of rum punch while we learned about how rum is made. We were allowed to see the different products during the different stages of rum-making and even got to taste the “beer” stage. At the end of the tour, we sampled the Silver and the Spiced Rums. The Silver was very smooth and would be great in almost any cocktail or with a rum and coke. At the time we visited, the Spiced was only available only at the distillery, although the Silver is sold at several local establishments including local Walgreens and Publix. The Spiced Rum is absolutely delicious. This rum is brewed with orange and local honey so it has a very unique taste. The taste reminded me of rum seeped with orange pekoe tea. All I could think about when tasting this rum is how great it would be in a citrus punch or even in tea during a bout with a cold.

Bluejacket Brewery–“This Beer Tastes Like Disappointment”

Bluejacket is the newest addition to the rapidly gentrifying Naval Yard area of Washington DC. I was hearing the hype about this new brewery even down here in Florida. I was really expecting this to be a great experience but it didn’t deliver. In the words of a friend, “this beer tastes like disappointment” and the overall experience was a disappointment. First of all, the decor was a bit pretentious with lots of metal and wood. I didn’t feel like I was in a brewery but an upscale, yuppy bar. For those of you who know me, I like good beer and a friendly, down-to-earth atmosphere. I definitely didn’t get this here. The place was packed and with people who apparently didn’t drink much real craft beer. I was told by other patrons that this beer or that was the best — and believe me none of the beers were the best of anything. Even the bartender admitted that the beers weren’t very mature and none of them were that great. I also was very confused by the layout of the place– the brewery was a converted warehouse still complete with roll up doors. Warehouses are notoriously under-insulated and often hot in the summer and cold in the winter. The fermenters were located near the ceiling and heat rises, won’t this make it hard to brew in the summer? I mean DC is known for hot, humid summers. Of course, I am not a brewer, so I asked the bartender and he said he didn’t know if anyone had ever thought of that.

Now to the beers. The brewery had only been open about 2 weeks when I visited, yet there were 20 beers available on draft. I have never heard of a brewery opening with 20 beers. Don’t you usually want to perfect your signature brews and then move on from there? The whole thing seemed, not to overuse the word, pretentious.

Now on to the beers….. I visited with a friend who is also a regular beer drinker who pointed out after the third or fourth sample that it seemed like there was some sort of underlying beer recipe to which other things were just added. The beers seemed to have a formula taste and all of them were basically the same. I have to agree that this seemed to be the case, as might have to be with trying to open a brewery with 20 brews from the start. I am not going to go into every one of the beers since there were so many but will hit some highlights. Overall, I noted that most of the beers had very strong noses, which made me expect big taste; however, the taste generally did not deliver. Strompy was one of the better beers with a good dry and bitter taste. The Imposter IPA was also good with a strong piney taste. The Tooth and Nail had a feet like smell and left behind a very strong aftertaste. The Duel IPA was brewed with Belgian yeast so I expected something a bit different; it like many of the beers disappointed. The New Zealot was very yeasty and didn’t taste like a mature beer. The Figure 8 had a great nutmeg nose but the taste did not hold up. The Bitterschon had too much hops than you would expect in a bitter and you could both taste and smell the hops. The Suede smelled very chocolately and I expected a great porter but the taste was more sour so I suspect it was immature. Trouble had a horrible nose like bad apple cider and tasted like skittles had been put in the beer. Panther was the best of the darker beers with a good nose and taste. James and the Giant Peach seemed to be many of the patrons favorite but I found it a bit too sweet. Ingenue was brewed with lactose and had a blue cheese nose– this absolutely had to be one of the worst beers I have ever tasted as it made me almost gag and tasted like very old, moldy cheese that had been left in the sun. Seersucker was supposed to be a Weiss but tasted way too sour. Stowaway also tasted too sour. Butcher was supposed to be a dobblebock but it didn’t seem like one to me.

My advice here– avoid the hype and avoid this place for a few months. Wait until baseball season starts again, then head down before a Nationals game. Hopefully in six months or so, the beers will have matured and the brewmaster will have settled on a few signature beers that are well-developed and true to the name.

I have to also mention the food. We only had appetizers because the place was way too packed to try to get a seat and actually eat a meal. We had some chickpeas that were quite good. My friend got the pickle pot, which we expected to be pickles. However, there were lots of different pickled things in the little dish including pears and grapes. I am not a fan of pickles so I might not be the best judge of things but why would anyone pickle a grape? This might have been one of the oddest and most foul appetizers I have ever tried. Really? Stick to things people like– you’re a bar for goodness sake.