Cigar City Papaya India Pale Ale

Brewed by Cigar City Brewing
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Tampa, Florida USA

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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750ml bottle benefiting the Florida Brewer’s Guild.....super fresh. The pour yields a clear, dark golden to burnt orange amber colored liquid with a thick, ultra-frothy head of whipped, bubbly, cream tinted foam. Settling slowly to a lasting blanket of tall bubbles, the head leaves sprawling arches and trailing spots of hard lacing all over the glass. The nose is a bit of a shock...in a good way...as it comes across as drier and more attenuated than any previous IPA variant that I’ve had from CCB. Based in clean, moderately caramelized cereal and toasted bread, the malts lay an enticing yet sufficiently neutral backdrop that serves as a perfect partner for the vibrant hop profile. Notes of heady grass, softly astringent pine, oily citrus skin, and dry pith all come across screaming, battering the nose with sharp, intense hop resins. Papaya lends a very subtle infusion of tropical fruitiness, though it doesn’t veer far off the path of a standard dry, hoppy, Cali-style IPA nose. Flavors show a little more sweetness, but stay well shy of any annoying sugar overload. Biscuit and toast melt into drier cereal malts, balancing out the potent barrage of grapefruit rind, orange pith, sticky pine, and drying grasses. Again, papaya seems more of an afterthought, but the little hints of tropical goodness that emerge give the beer a dash of "different" that I truly appreciate. The palate is substantive, yet very well attenuated, further dried by fine, lively carbonation that dances on the tongue well after the swallow. Damn fine beer. The Peach Jai Alai was my favorite CCB IPA to date, but this puppy is giving it a strong run for its money. Easily the driest, most west-coast-like IPA that they have done. Get you some!

Pours a clear golden copper color with burnt orange hues when held to a light source and a frothy, pillowy two finger white foam head. Very good retention, only slowly fading into a lasting cap that coats the glass with large chunks and rings of soapy lacing. Sweet citrus hop aroma with hints of pine needle, tropical fruit and faint malt. Slghtly earthy and resinous but the prominent charaterstic in the nose is tropical fruit. I was expecting more of an earthy citrus presence but it’s domnated by the papaya along with hints of mango and pineapple. Faint malt presence with a bit a graham cracker and biscuit in the nose. Medium bodied with a blast of dry, resinous oily hops and a bitter pine needle presence that lingers over the sweet citrus/tropical fruit flavor and pale malt backbone into a slight dry finish. The bitterness is countered mid-palate by a nice tropical fruit presence with hints of papaya, mango and pineapple as well as some citrus rind/orange peel. Underneath, there is a pale malt backbone with hints of biscuit and graham cracker, adding complexity while balancing out the sweet and bitter notes. Toward the end of the swallow I’m picking up some slight heat but overall the ABV is very well masked and this beer is extremely quaffable. I had to slow myself down before pounding down the whole 750ml too quickly. Overall, this beer is a nice variation on the base beer and I’m glad that they bottled it. Not as good as some of the others that I tried at the Hunahpu’s release(especially the Peach) but the papaya adds a nice tropical element that I really liked. Hopefully they decide to bottle more of these in the future.

Sample at CCB. Orange pour with small white head. Citrus bitter nose with light papaya. Full body with big citrus bitterness. Fruit filled bitter finish with a general sweetness and caramel malt back.

I had to re-rate this after it warmed up. A totally different beast. Nose is pungent pine, and sticky citrus hops, sweet sugary tropical fruits and syrupy caramel. Flavor is smooth sweet malt, ripe tropical fruits, sticky resiny pine and bitter sweet citrus. Finishes dry with some lingering bitter orange rind. Very nice.

Cask at RnH. Pours hazy orange with an off white head. Sweet fruity hops in the aroma, with citrus and tropical fruits. The flavor has an amazing tropical fruity sweetness with some citrusy hop notes and just a hint of pine. Really good.

The beer pours amber with an orange hue and nice off white head tan head. The aroma is fresh hops with light citrus sweetness. The flavor is fresh citrus hops, lighter sweet notes and stronger bitter smooth notes that end the palate well, grapefruit lingering for sure on the tongue.

3/18/11. 750mL courtesy SHIG. Fruity tropical aroma that reminds very much of regular Jai Alai. Even fruitier flavor that hints more at red fruits or something. Yum.

25th April 2011
Clear amber beer, little white head. Soft and semi dry palate. Mild hops start, just a light bitterness. Morphs in to sweet juicy papaya and then back to hops which become more robust in their bitterness. Finishes soft with mild minerals. Mildly bitter aftertaste. Every mouthful a delight!

Bottle shared at Haggerty’s Fantasy Tasting. Pours hazy dark orange. Light papaya, prickly spice, pine, caramel, and pepper aromas. Medium sweet flavor, mild bitter. Medium+ body, creamy texture, cereal malt mid-palate, and a dry, bitter finish.

Bottle courtesy of daknole. Pour is deep orange with an off-white head. Aroma shows notes of papaya, pine, mango, light florals, and pineapple. Flavor shows the same with additional notes of caramel and graham cracker. Overall body is moderate, sticky, somewhat sweet, and finishes with a nicely balanced bitterness.