Breakfast Beer Tasting: Jai Alai IPA

The arrival of that rarest of English commodities; the sunshine, ties in nicely with this morning’s morsel as it’s from the sunshine state. Yes, Cigar City Brewing are from Florida, home of Jim Morrison, Debbie Harry and Disneyland.

Its 12fl oz and is 7.5%. It poured light copper with a thick creamy head. The aroma was more delicate than I was expecting: a nice blend of citrus including grapefruit and tangerine. There is some pine, but also a little sweet malt.

The taste was similarly unexpected and followed the pattern of the aroma. There was no sudden hop explosion as is often the case with a lot in this genre. Instead there was a multi-layered feel to it. Citrus and tropical fruit up front with a carefully proportioned malt backbone balancing it out. The dry finish builds leaving a pleasing floral/pine aftertaste.

This is a solidly good performer. From the aroma, through the mouthfeel and onto the finish all demonstrates an accomplished level of brewing. It never tastes like 7.5% and its balance of flavours makes for a very enjoyable drink.