Layovers aren’t all bad.
I recently flew from Texas to Ohio with a layover in Tampa (Dear Southwest: get a map). As is my custom with a rather lengthy layover, I scouted around for the nearest pubbery. I was delighted to find Cigar City Brewing right in front of my departure gate, and settled in with a large glass of their flagship, Jai Alai Pale Ale.
I have never really jumped on the IPA bandwagon, but this sounded the best of the four selections being offered at Cigar City – and I do adore trying local microbrews. It was temptingly served frosty cold with a perfect pour, A whiff smelled like fruit punch.
A Big O of frosty goodness in a glass, Cigar City Jai Alai Pale Ale.
So I took a sip.
BANG! Up front, big citrus. I mean BIG citrus. Slap-your-mama big citrus. Biting-into-a-fresh-grapefruit big citrus.
Growing up, my mom used to buy these ginormous Texas pink grapefruit (foreshadowing?). The were huge, juicy and SWEET, even before sprinkling sugar on them (because everything is better with sugar.) This is the taste of Jai Alai – big sweet pink grapefruit flavor, with a note of malt calming things down from tasting like a full-on shandy.
The ale flavor stays up front in the mouth, with a pleasant, lightly fizzy mouth feel, followed by a pleasant aftertaste with no bitterness or sourness detected. The palate doesn’t seem to numb to the grapefruit as I enjoyed the flavor through the entire glassful.
Refreshing, summery and light, this would be an outstanding frosty beverage poolside on a hot day, (something that Cigar City also must have recognized as it’s producing the brew in cans.) While I know purists poo-poo fruit-flavored beers, I think there’s room for them all, and this one is a winner.
