Cigar City Brewing Humidor Series Cedar Aged IPA

Purchased on the the trip to the Dunedin IPA fest; this was a great find. Cigar City is about 2 years old and really in the game when it comes to good beer and interesting 'new' beers. This beer comes unfiltered and bottle conditioned in a 750 ml bottle. It pours a dark orange color with a fluffy head. Pepper and citrus aromas are big. The pepper was a surprise but really made this beer different. As I drank it I could still smell pepper but it didn't dominate the taste. The citrus dominated followed by the well balanced cedar, hops and malts. The alcohol was not too evident which allowed the citrus (grapefruit) flavor to come out. The cedar aging is there but the citrus jumped out immediately. The cedar aging really worked with this beer. Compared to the base IPA, it became a mellower beer with more complex tastes.This is a great drinkable IPA; not like some of the west coast super hoppy IPAs that hit you over the head with the hops. I enjoyed it and now wish I had brought more home from the trip. Update: Cigar City is now available through out Florida and has many great beers to try.

Bear Republic (CA) Hop Rod Rye IPA

I have had several other brews from Bear but never tried this one. Rye has really come into use in brewing over the last 10 years. I saw this bottle in NC at Asheville's Brusin Ales and got it to try later. It was well worth it and once again I am enjoying a beer not in Florida yet!. The Rye IPA pours a deep copper color with fine bubbles. It continued to bubble, slightly for the first few minutes in the pint glass. The first nose is big on the rye; then hops. Upon tasting I could taste the rye and hops with notes of carmel. A slight sweetness was detected I couldn't say if it was honey or strawberry. It finished with a malty taste along with the alcohol. At 8% this has a good kick but not as much as something over 10% would. The bottle calls is a specialty ale; it could be in a category of it's own. It is medium bodied and very easy to drink. The hops are there but not overwhelming. On a second tasting the rye wasn't as dominant and the hops took over. This could be because the bottle was put away sealed and reopened about an hour after the first opening. This can have an effect but could tell how the entire bottle was not just the first pour. Over all I'm looking forward to my next visit north to get more. Bear Republic Website

Weyerbacher Insanity - Ale Aged in Oak Barrels

That's all it says on the bottle. Upon checking their website I found that Insanity is Weyerbacher's own Blithering Idiot Barleywine, a fine English Style Barleywine itself, aged in oak bourbon casks. The regular stuff can be a bit rough; the oak aging really takes the edge off and the result is a really smooth drinking ale. This bottle was about two years old; I had forgotten it in the back of my refrigerator. So it was aged in cooler surroundings than some would prefer; I think it just slows the process down and didn't hurt this one. It poured complete with "flavor particles" suspended throughout the glass; that didn't detract form the drink at all. The color was dark copper to bronze; on the first pour I thought it was darker. What little head there was dissipated immediately leaving lace on the glass. The "musty" taste of aging was detected and a sweet taste and a whisky taste was there. Other tastes noted were: toffee, carmel and vanilla. I got a cherry nose at times; sometimes the nose was bourbon. Aging did good tings to this; as it warmed is also got better. That's when the whisky tastes really came out. Hops not a big part of this but that's correct for the style. it would be interesting to try an American style of this beer. The alcohol gave a warming feeling but is masked well considering it is 11 ABV. Overall a great beer that I will age and enjoy many more times. Weyerbacher Insanity Website