Cigar City

Jai Alai, a game native to the Basque region of Spain, is played on a court called a fronton. Jai Alai players attempt to catch a ball using a curved mitt whilst the ball travels at speeds up to 188mph! Proving they have a sense of humor the Spanish dubbed this game, with its ball traveling at race car speeds, “the merry game.” Tampa was once home to a bustling Jai Alai fronton but sadly all that remains of Jai Alai in the Tampa Bay area is this India Pale Ale that we brew in tribute to the merry game. The India Pale Ale style of beer has its roots in the ales sent from England to thirsty British troops in India during the 18th century. Pair Jai Alai India Pale Ale with beef empanadas, deviled crabs, and other spicy dishes.

Traditional throughout Latin America, the guayabera shirt combines style, functionality, form and tradition in it’s four-pocketed design. We at Cigar City feel the same reverence and appreciation for the guayabera that we do for the Citra hop varietal, an ingredient that imparts notes of tangerine, lime and berries to this traditional American Pale Ale. The exclusive use of Citra hops in this beer creates a flavor that’s at once unique and recognizable, while it’s dry, crisp character and moderate alcohol make it as refreshing and functional as a crisp linen guayabera.

The world needs heroes, and in our home state of Florida only a very special hero will do. A hero with a shark tooth around his neck, a Grim Reaper tattoo on his arm, and a rap sheet longer than his mama’s mustache. A hero who’s forgotten more about amateur taxidermy and alligator rasslin’ than you’ll ever know. What better way to pay tribute to our beloved Florida Man than with a big ol’ Double India Pale Ale brewed with a nearly-criminal amount of hops and a moderate bitterness that just about matches Florida Man’s general disposition. This hopped-up whopper of a beer is big in character and guaranteed to sear itself into your memory, just like “the world’s worst superhero,” Florida Man. 

Florida Cracker White Ale brewed with unmalted wheat, orange peel and coriander and then fermented with a Belgian yeast strain to give it a spicy and dry finish. Perfect for a warm day on the Palmetto Prairie.

Just as handsome designs printed on fancy papers and applied to cigar boxes are used to entice cigar lovers, we use Strata, Sabro, and Idaho 7 hops to draw in lovers of fruit-forward Hazy IPAs. 

Throw on your Hawaiian shirt and your lederhosen and meet Cigar City Brewing at the intersection of traditional German brewing and tropical relaxation. We’ve taken our German-style Gose, an ancient style of low alcohol beer brewed with salt, and given it the Jimmy Buffett treatment by adding orange peel and lime essence to create the perfect warm weather ale.

Explore the deep complexity of flavor imparted by Motueka, Galaxy, Strata and Mosaic hops double dry hopped in The Benwood, our tribute to tropical aromas, citrus flavors and Florida’s most famous shipwreck. 

Since 2009, Cigar City Brewing’s Wayne Wambles and his team of intrepid brewers have experimented with additions of Spanish Cedar, the same wood used to make the world’s finest cigar humidors, in an innovative collection of beers called The Humidor Series. The most popular of these beers, Humidor Series IPA, is being reintroduced to the world in 2020 through an embrace of the essence of its unmistakable citrus-forward hop profile, the Jai Alai IPA recipe. The same beer you loved as Humidor Series IPA is now ready to expand your notions of wood-rested ales as Spanish Cedar Jai Alai IPA.

So, what you’ve got here is a high gravity porter brewed with lactose. It tastes like “finding a $20 bill in your coat pocket” complemented by notes of “catching a foul ball at a baseball game,” while the finish is pure “that satisfying feeling of popping bubble wrap.” It’s good.