S1P06 - Jai Alai IPA

This is the first review of a beer for this blog. These reviews will usually follow this same format. Some information about the brewery to include all or some of the following: the location, founders and/or key personnel, length of time in business, other beers they brew, etc. I will then give the review of the specific beer including the speeds and feeds. As a reference, ABV is Alcohol by Volume, IBU is International Bitterness Units, and maybe a color rating although it is rarely published and there are a couple of color scales in use. Most beers have an ABV of around 4% to 6% but can go much higher. Some craft beers can go over 10%. The IBU scale is 1-100, the higher the number the more bitter.

There is no scientific method or reason that determines which beer I choose. I may just want a change of pace from my regular beer. It may be the graphics on the can or bottle. It may be a catchy name. It may be a new beer from a brewery I know that makes good stuff. It may be a special occasion or holiday.  

There also will not be any fake beer sommelier talk about hints of lavender or caramel or citrus or old leather. I can tell mild, bitter, sweet, and sour. Oh, and skunked. 

My choice this time is Jai Alai IPA from the Cigar City Brewery in Tampa. 

Cigar City Brewing

• They were founded in 2007 by Joey Redner and sold their first beers 2009. The brewery and tasting room are located at 3924 W. Spruce St, Tampa, FL 33607 - north of 275 west of Dale Mabry. Northwest Tampa not far from the airport
• The Tasting room is open Sunday-Thursday 11:00 to 11:00, Friday & Saturday 11:00 to 1:00 am. They also have a small location in the airport.
• They currently brew about 60,000 barrels a year and have brewed over 6,000 different beers since 2009.
• They list the current distribution as FL, GA, AL, PA & NY but obviously, it is also available in Texas. Florida, Georgia, and Alabama make sense. I would guess NY and Pennsylvania are because of the snowbirds. 
• Since 2010, Cigar City has released Hunahpu's Imperial Stout every March with a large beer festival to celebrate the release. Each year over 5,000 beer fans attend and brewers from all over the world have poured their beer at the festival. Attending the Hunahpu's Day Festival is the only way to acquire bottles of Hunahpu's Imperial Stout. The next festival will be March 9, 2019, at Raymond James Stadium.
• Hunahpu's Imperial Stout, 12% ABV. is named in honor of a hero in Mayan mythology, the stout is brewed with ancho and pasilla chile peppers, vanilla, cacao, and cinnamon.
• Other beers from Cigar City- 
  • Lager - Tampa Style Lager 
  • Florida Cracker - Belgian style white ale with coriander & orange peel
  • Invasion - Tropical pale ale
  • Madura - Brown ale
  • Cucumber Saison - Tropical ale & cucumber
  • Wedge Cut - American Wheat Ale w/lemon peel
  • Guayabera - Citra pale ale
  • Tocobaga - Red India pale ale
• They also have several seasonal or special beers that you can find on their website.

Jai Alai IPA

On to the beer. Why did I pick this particular brew? Actually, there are a few reasons. During the holidays I usually buy a few different beers in case someone stops by and doesn't like my usual PBR. Also as a holiday treat for me. While in Kroger, I was checking out the craft beers they stock. As it turns out, I have tried almost all the beers there that I care to drink. They have a lot of ciders, fruity, light, other beers that I have no interest in. There in the cooler, a bright green sixpack stood out. Turns out it was Jai Alai. That brought even more reasons into play. It's brewed in Tampa. I went to college at USF in Tampa and drank a few beers there. It's named Jai Alai. When in college, we used to go to the Tampa fronton to watch and bet on Jai Alai. It only cost about 50¢ to get in. They had pretty cheap beer and food plus if we got lucky we won a few bucks. We almost always won at least enough to pay for a few beers and a hot dog. Unfortunately, there is no fronton or Jai Alai in Tampa anymore. We had reviewed Cigar City's Lager on our podcast and it got a solid 3 rating. My podcast partner also lived in Tampa for a couple of years. So, you see completely logical reasoning.

Jai Alai is a full India pale ale. It has plenty of hops, six different varieties, which is the signature of this particular style of ale/beer. It is 7.5% ABV which is on the strong side, especially if you are used to Bud or Coors Light. IBU is 75, that is pretty bitter, a normal American lager IBU is in the low 20's. Its SRM is 17. SRM is a color rating, a 17 is a light brown. This ale is also slightly cloudy. It comes in cans which is the normal packaging for most craft beers these days. At Kroger, a six-pack cost $11. That's about a buck or two higher than most craft beers and about twice the cost of the big brewers' economy brands.

This is a bold very hoppy brew. It's a pretty straight IPA, not tricked up with any wild ingredients. The 7.5% alcohol is higher than most beers. If you like IPAs you should like this. If you drink Michelob Ultra, forget it. For me, it's a good IPA choice. I like IPAs on occasion but not as a steady diet. This ale would pair well with bold food like barbeque, Mexican, or since it's from Tampa, Cuban dishes.

I give Jai Alai IPA a solid three bottle caps. The rating scale is 1-5. Enjoy.

Just to nerd it up a little more, here is the SRM color chart:

wjh