*Style: Belgian-Style White Ale

*Pairs well with a fun and reliable open world game; a game from your favorite developer.

Welcome to another craft beer review for Games And A Glass! This week I am reviewing a beer from Cigar City Brewing, located in Tampa Florida. The beer for this week will be their Florida Cracker, a Belgian-style white ale. But of course before going into the review, let’s talk about Cigar City Brewing.

The history of Cigar City can be found on their site and it tells the story of a fifth generation Floridian wanting to bring the culture of Tampa to a wider audience.

“Founded by Tampa native and fifth-generation Floridian Joey Redner in 2007, Cigar City Brewing was born out of Redner’s desire to bring the unique culture, history and cuisine of Tampa to an international audience. After selecting a location for his brewery on Spruce Street, Redner began development of the space in early 2008 while searching for a brewmaster to bring his vision to life. He found that person in Brewmaster Wayne Wambles, an Alabama native with brewing experience around the Southeast US going back to the 1990’s. On January 30th, 2009, the very first commercial batch of Cigar City Brewing’s beer was produced: a 465 gallon batch of Maduro Brown Ale.

Always looking to expand the palate of flavors at their disposal, Redner and Wambles quickly began introducing beers with unique tropical-inspired inspiration and culinary lineage, including Jai Alai IPA, Cubano Espresso Brown Ale, and the mole inspired Hunahpu’s Imperial Stout, a massive beer brewed with cinnamon, vanilla, cacao nibs and ancho, pasilla and guajillo chile peppers. Not only did these ambitious and innovative brews gain traction in Tampa, they garnered attention from the national and international craft beer communities and helped shine a light on the efforts of the other ambitious brewers in the Tampa Bay craft beer community.

Awards and accolades have followed, including gold, silver and bronze medals at the great American beer Festival, numerous awards at the Best Florida Beer Competition and the US Beer Tasting Championships. Joey and Wayne’s ambitious vision for Florida-inspired ales and lagers has found resonance with beer judges and beer lovers alike.

From a small two-man operation in and un-airconditioned warehouse on Spruce Street, Cigar City Brewing has grown to include over 60 full-time employees in its Tampa family and is now distributed in over 30 states in the US and nearly a dozen international markets. A partnership with Colorado-based CANarchy in 2016 has welcomed other like-minded, independent breweries into the CCB family and has allowed Cigar City Brewing’s beer to be enjoyed from coast to coast and beyond.”

Some of Cigar City’s mainstays for beer includes their Jai Alai IPA, Maduro brown ale and this week’s Florida Cracker Belgian white. Their seasonal and more limited releases includes the Golden Ale, Caffe Americano double stout and Margarita Gose.

Their description for Florida Cracker reads, “We brew Florida Cracker White Ale with unmalted wheat, orange peel and coriander and then ferment it with a Belgianyeast strain to give it a spicy and dry finish. Perfect for a warm day on the Palmetto Prairie.”

And now onto my thoughts!

Nose: The orange is quite strong on the nose, which is what you would expect from this style of beer. As it sits in the glass longer, I’m starting to pick up a hint of the Belgian-style spice hidden underneath the orange. It’s a good combination and it has me excited for the taste. Overall though it’s lighter on the nose and I’m expecting it to be lighter-bodied and tasty.

Palate: The orange is refreshing and is just the right amount. It’s fruity and the Belgian spice comes in to balance it out to add some variance. I’m always a fan of this style of beer because it’s easy to drink while packing in the flavor. I really appreciate the rhythm of orange, then spice, and then more orange to finish it off. It’s very accessible while being tasty.

Overall: This beer is rock solid. The orange and spice come together for a refreshing and easy-to-drink Belgian White. Cigar City have nailed this beer and I would definitely recommend this if you’re looking for something new, but similar, to Blue Moon and other beers of that style. It’s an excellent summer time beer, and at 5.5 percent ABV it’s very friendly.

I’d like to thank you for reading my craft beer review. If there’s ever a craft beer you’d recommend I try and/or review, please let me know and I will try, to the best of my ability, to acquire it! And remember, like a fine alcoholic beverage or a memorable video game, please enjoy in moderation.

While you’re here, feel free to check out The Spirit Shop NJ on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram! Located in Cherry Hill, New Jersey and where I currently work, we have dozens of craft beers with new ones coming in weekly! Check us out!