July Beer of the Month – Cigar City Brewing

Located in Tampa, Florida, Cigar City Brewing Company began selling its beers in 2009 under the ownership of Joey Redner and with Wayne Wambles as head brewer. Joey founded the company with intentions of making interesting beers and sharing Tampa and its Cuban-American heritage. 

Cigar City Brewing was able to produce over 1,000 barrels in the company’s first year in operation. Jai Alai, the flagship IPA named after Florida’s favorite gambling sport, was a success and it has remained their best selling beer to date!

Cigar City rocked to popularity because of beers like Jai Alai IPA, Marshall Zhukov Imperial Stout, Florida Cracker and Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout, which is only released on a single day each March. The brewery won a number of awards and quickly developed a cult following among craft beer enthusiasts.

Cigar City Brewing’s lineup also includes a vast array of specialty beers called the Humidor Series — beers aged on Spanish cedar wood, with aromatics and flavors you can’t find in any other wood-aged beer on the market. The Spanish cedar wood used to age some of their greatest beers is the same wood used to pack Tampa’s famous cigars. Many of the beers are namesakes for Cuban and Floridian historical figures, or recall the people of the pre-Spanish era.

Cigar City Brewing was rated the “#3 Best Brewery in the World” by RateBeer.com in 2010’s Ratebeer’s Best Awards and also the #”4 Best Brewery in the World” in 2011’s polling’s of 10,000+ breweries. Their most award-winning beer in the U.S. is their Humidor Series IPA which won back-to-back medals at the Great American Beer Festival: Gold in 2009 and Silver in 2010 for the “Wood Aged” beer category.

Cigar City Brewing also boasts a Brewpub. Opened April 2013, Cigar City Brewpub offers great food to go with their great beer! The menu is a little Cuban, a little Southern, a little Italian and all Tampa. It is a welcome and casual environment for guests to enjoy a good time with friends and family.

The Half Wall proudly serves a variety of Cigar City beers, both on tap and in can or bottle. If you want to taste a little Florida ‘old style’ flavor, July is the month dedicated to Cigary City!

http://goodbeerhunting.com/blog/2013/11/9/cigar-city-brewing-living-the-jai-life-in-tampa-florida