Cigar City Bolita Brown Double Nut Brown Ale

Brewed by Cigar City Brewing
Style: American Strong Ale
Tampa, Florida USA

Thanks turdferguson for sharing. Pours a dark copper brown with a one finger light tan head. The nose has a nice nutty english character, some caramel, nice malt character, some earthy leafy hop character. Flavor is nutty, leafy hops, English feel, some hop grain astringency. Palate has a mild hop bite.

750 mL. Pours a clear, deep ruby with a two-finger creamy tan head that has excellent retention. Great aroma of coconut, caramel, big mocha character. Taste initially is off-putting: something strange like a big smack of fusel alcohol. Then quickly shifts to roasted nuts, black currant, dry cocoa. Nice resiny hops in the background offering good balance. Creamy on the palate. Big warming alcohol in the finish. I guess since this is the base for Coco Loco and other masterpieces, I’m a bit disappointed in the lack of complexity but this is a solid base for CCB to experiment freely. 3.7 Update 9/8/2009: From the Kickback’s CCB Dinner in Jax. Aroma is huge honey, tupelo honey and more scotch ale in the nose than I remember. Taste is also more scotch ale maltiness, toffee, and hints of soy. 3.5

Shared this bottle with Crown (nice to get him rating again!) Deep brown color and pours with a real nice frothy tan head. This is overall rather roasty, with nuts, chocolate, and caramel blending together quite nicely to give this a rich flavor while still being extremely easy drinking. I would have never thought this was 9% without knowing ahead of time. Any sort of note of alcohol shows in the finish with a little kick. A wonderful strong Brown Ale and I look forward to the treatments and blends of this beer Cigar City is distributing.

Bottle from Rattle’n’Hum; this one has been on my radar for a long time, I was quite psyched when I saw it was showing up in the city. Big, bitter, and chocolaty, with unfortunately a bit of fusel alcohol. Nutty, sweetish, and big, though not terribly complex. The flavor is sweetish, with molasses, peanut butter, and a fresh, green, bitter hop. Pumpernickel notes are present too, and the beer has a general mineraliness to it that works. A good effort.

Pours out dark brown with some head. Taste is sweet and roasty with some spice. Flavors of cocoa, sweet toffee, roasted nuts and some hops. Rich and smooth. Great nutty brown ale.

From bottle, RBSG08. Pours brown with a creamy off-white head. Dense malty and slight spiced aroma. Fruity and dense malty yet with a light yeasty touch in the flavour. Smooth yet also quite roasted and slight spiced.

On tap in a pint glass. Deep brown with a small head. Aroma is malt and coffee with a dash of alcohol. The flavor is quite sweet but follows with roasted nuts and coffee and dark chocolate. Hops are sensed but not overpresent. Syrupy and almost creamy but still well carbonated.

There is a new player in town, and his name is Cigar City Brewing out of Tampa, Florida. Finally, artisanal craft beer has landed and it is here to stay. Ever since hearing about Cigar City Brewing months ago, I and hundreds of other Florida craft beer fanatics have been following the progress of this promising brewery from the first brick laid to the first completed batch of beer. A few months ago I was able to sup on their Bolita Brown, a Double Nut Brown Ale of luscious proportions.

He came to me exuding rich dark browns with just enough clarity to let a wee bit of light shine through, highlighting burnt mahogany hues while a decent head fades into a khaki ringlet. Wafting my way are lush notes of chocolate of the finest foreign purveyors; better have a deep wallet. Vanilla bean, coffee, cream, marshmallow, prunes, raisins, and juicy dark pitted fruit. The pits give him an earthy nuttiness which compliments and enhances the rest of the palate. A rich brown ale, as I raise my glass for our first kiss, tobacco leaves tickle my nose before his mouth-coating contents wet my lips. Chocolate and tobacco first, my palate doesn’t dry immediately. Pecans, almonds, fruit pits, and decadently dry foreign chocolates mingle. Furthering notes of tobacco leaf has me wishing for a rich, smoky cigar to puff while I sup. His nuts are a faint whisper in the front of his palate, but linger long into the finish. Do not drink this beer cold or even semi-cold. He performs best at the ideal cellar temperature so that his full bouquet of aromas and flavors can shine through. Rich and chocolaty with smoky tobacco, nuts, meaty dark fruits replete with earthy pits, his palate works together in exquisite harmony. I linger long with my Bolita Brown Ale, not wishing such a beautiful relationship to end.

If you are not already, keep an eye and a finger on the beating pulse of Cigar City Brewing. They are bursting onto the craft beer scene at full speed ahead. No prisoners will be taken, and Floridians can say with their heads held high that they have a brewery which all others drool over with envy and lust.