Cigar City Cucumber Saison

For my July shipment from the Michael Jackson Rare Beer of the Month Club, I received a bottle of Cigar City Cucumber Saison. The beer pours a golden color with a very lofty and bubbly white colored head and leaves some specks of lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of fresh cucumber, lemon, pepper, wheat, and barnyard funk. The taste is dry and has a very strong and fresh cucumber flavor. There is a bite that comes along with it and a strong pepper spice. The finish has some lemon, coriander, and peppercorn. The alcohol content is 5.0% ABV. While this beer was very different, I absolutely loved it. It was fresh tasting and was like being in a springtime garden.

Cigar City Big Sound Scotch Ale

My buddy Adam brought over a bottle Cigar City Big Sound Scotch Ale to share. The beer pours a dark brown color with an extremely lofty and frothy beige head that leaves some lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of caramel, toasted malts, toffee, and leather. The taste is sweet and lightly toasted with plenty of caramel and toffee. The finish has a certain dryness to it, akin to how leather smells, and hints of some chocolate in the background. The alcohol content is 8.5% ABV. This was a very likable beer with a good sweetness to it, but not overly sweet at all.

Cigar City Warmer Winter Winter Warmer

My buddy Matt brought over a bottle of Cigar City Warmer Winter Winter Warmer to share. The beer pours a brown color with a frothy beige colored head. The aroma consists of caramel, sugar, citrus hints, and raisin. The taste is smooth and malty with plenty of caramel and raisin flavors on the front end. There is a bit of a boozy and warming finish with some pepper and a bit of plum flavors. The alcohol content 10.0% ABV. As far as winter warmers, Cigar City’s was a solid offering. It was boozy and sweet, but had enough balance in citrus and pepper to keep it from being overly sweet.

Cigar City Tocobaga Red Ale

My buddy Adam brought over a bottle of Cigar City Tocobaga Red Ale over to share. The beer pours a a reddish amber color with a frothy off-white colored head. The aroma consists of caramel, pepper, pine, and oak. The taste is biting and bitter with pine and lemon hops biting on the front end. A solid caramel base sweetens out the beer before a bitter pepper finish. The alcohol content is 7.2% ABV. This was a decent red ale with some good bitterness, but I feel that it may have been lacking something. I can’t place my finger on what it needed, and I would need to drink this beer again to determine what it is.

The Bruery-Cigar City Marron Acidifie

My buddy Matt brought over a bottle of The Bruery-Cigar City collaboration Marron Acidifie to share with me. The beer pours a dark brown color with a thin filmy beige head that surprisingly leaves some lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of vinegar, sour cherries, and oak. The taste is nicely sour but not too puckering with plenty of vinegar and tart cherry flavors. There is a nice yeasty finish and the beer leaves a very dry and oaky after taste in the mouth. The alcohol content is 8.5% ABV. This is a wonderful sour beer and actually isn’t overly sour, but it is dry and very oaky. After the sour flavor fades, all that is left is the oakiness.

Cigar City Marshal Zhukov’s Imperial Stout

I picked up a bottle of Cigar City Marshal Zhukov’s Imperial Stout from Al’s of Hampden after seeing Al post on Twitter that he received some bottles. The beers pours a black color with a viscous consistency similar to motor oil and a frothy brown head. The aroma consists of dark chocolate, light toasted malts, oak, vanilla, and milk chocolate. The taste is big on chocolate with a creamy and rounded mouth feel. There is plenty of toasted malts in this beer and a bit of a coffee flavor, as well as some vanilla and oak flavors. The finish dries out the mouth with a bit of an alcohol warmth. The alcohol content is 11.0% ABV. Simply put, this beer was amazing. The mouth feel was creamy and made it easy to drink, yet it was very thick and rich with chocolate flavors.

Cigar City Jose Marti

My buddy Adam brought a bottle of Cigar City Jose Marti over to my house to share amongst friends. The beer pours a dark brown color with a bubbly tan head. The aroma consists of oak, red wine, toasted malts, earth/dirt, and smoke. The taste brings out some tobacco flavors right up front with some licorice accents. It is a dry beer with plenty of oak flavors. Toasted malts take a back seat, but make their presence known. The alcohol content 8.0% ABV. I would liken drinking this beer to what chewing a cigar must taste like. The malts provide sweetness, but the tobacco and smoky flavors really take over the beer. I didn't hate the Jose Marti like some of my friends did, but I did find it to be dry and very interesting.

Cigar City Cubano Espresso

I ordered a glass of Cigar City Cubano Espresso from Al’s of Hampden, having enjoyed every other beer I’ve had from Cigar City. The beer pours an orange-tinted brown color with a thin bubbly head. The aroma consists of toasted malts, coffee beans, vanilla, and caramel. The taste is bold with lots of coffee up front built on top of a toasted malt base. The mouth feel is light and bubbly and there are hints of chocolate, oak, and vanilla on the tongue. There is a bubbly and dry finish. The alcohol content is 5.5% ABV. This was a most excellent beer that was smooth and flavorful. The coffee flavors were not too intense, and were mixed very well with the malts, vanilla, and caramel.

Cigar City Guava Grove

I picked up a bottle of Cigar City Guava Grove from Al’s of Hampden. The beer pours an orange-gold color with a lofty and frothy white head that leaves a little bit of lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of wheat, lemon, guava, and slightly sour vinegar. The taste is huge is the mouth with lots of sour vinegar, guava, wheat, lemon, and a soft earthy hop bite. The finish has a big alcohol bite on it that helps pucker the tongue. The alcohol content is 8.0% ABV. Wow, this beer was amazing and has a wonderful sour and sweet balance. I enjoy how much it makes my tongue pucker, but not so much that it is not enjoyable to drink. I enjoyed this beer so much, that I went back and bought two more bottles, one to age.

Cigar City Jai Alai India Pale Ale

I apparently took a bottle of Cigar City Jai Alai India Pale Ale from the girlfriend’s mix-six pack, but it was in the fridge and I had lost track if I bought it or not. The beer pours an orange clay color with a think filmy and bubbly white head. The aroma consists of a heaving of caramel with lemon, pine, and burnt toffee accents. The taste is full of caramel and sweetness right up front before some hop bitterness kicks in, releasing lemon, pine tangerine, and grapefruit flavors. The finish continues the bitterness and the after taste makes you reminisce about the citrus flavors in the beer. The alcohol content is 7.5% ABV. I believe my girlfriend has nothing to worry about, as I plan on buying more of this beer, and I will replace the one I took from her. The caramel base is wonderful and sweet before lots of hop bitterness kicks in and puts the tongue to work.

Cigar City Or

I picked up a bottle of Cigar City Or from Brass Rail in Campbelltown. The beer pours a dark black color with a frothy brown head and as with the Either, it fills a tulip glass perfectly. The aroma consists of more fresh pine hops than were noticeable in the Either with an undertone of chocolate and molasses. The taste is smooth and chocolaty with a wonderful hop balance that is much more prevalent than the Either. Molasses, honey, and oak filter their way through to the tongue. The finish brings out the cedar wood that the beer is aged on and livens up the beer. The finish is drying and has a lemon and pine flavor. The alcohol content is 11.2% ABV. Out of the Either and the Or, I would prefer the Or because of it excellent hop presence and good chocolate and molasses balance.

Cigar City Either

I picked up a bottle of Cigar City Either from Brass Rail in Campbelltown. The beer pours an extremely black color with a frothy brown head that fills a tulip glass perfectly. The aroma consists of chocolate, toasted malts, cascadian fresh hops, molasses, and coffee. The taste is bold and has lots of dark chocolate up front but the molasses hits the hardest on the tongue. There are also flavors of coffee, honey, toasted malts, cedar, and a rounding caramel accent. The finish brings in some drying hops that add a spice and some pine flavors. The after taste is dry but brings out a little raspberry accent on the tongue with more dark chocolate. The alcohol content is 11.2% ABV. This beer has such a large presence on the tongue that attack with molasses and dark chocolate. The flavors linger in the mouth, which makes this a beer that keeps giving even after you finish drinking it.

Cigar City Jai Alai Cedar Aged IPA

I picked up a bottle of Cigar City Jai Alai Cedar Aged IPA, as part of the Humidor Series, from Al's of Hampden (hooray for bottles of Cigar City making it to Central Pennsylvania!). The beer pours an opaque golden-orange color with a lofty and frothy white head that really sticks to the glass. As the head settles, it looks a bit like hot tub foam. The aroma consists of caramel, pine hops, orange, lemon, tangerine, and cedar. The taste is smooth and first with a big helping of caramel before triggering a pine hop transition. Then the fruit accents come out to play; lots of lemon, orange and tangerine. The finish dries out a little bit with hints of cedar. The alcohol content is 7.5% ABV. The Jai Alai shot right up near the top of my favorite IPAs, with such a diverse amount of citrus accents, great caramel base, and the wonderful cedar twist thrown in at the end of the experience.

Cigar City Maduro Oatmeal Brown Ale

McGrath's in Harrisburg recently tapped a keg of Cigar City Maduro Oatmeal Brown Ale. The beer has a dark amber with a thin filmy head. The aroma is malty but faint. The taste is big on malts with a hefty dose of oak. The alcohol content is 5.5% ABV. Overall, I thought this beer was very tasty and I really enjoyed the heavy oak accent that came along with the beer, reminiscent of a humidor. I am a huge fan of this beer for my first Cigar City beer, and I look forward to trying many others in the future.