Jai Alai IPA - Cedar Aged (Humidor Series)
Poured from a bomber into a nonic pint. Appearance: Pours a hazy amber-red color with about three fingers of pillowy head that retains for ages and leaves beautiful lacing down the glass. A perfect looking beer, if I do say so myself. Smell: Excellent. Bright citrus and hops juxtaposed by sweet cedar and a fairly strong pepper. Smells much better than other barrel-aged IPAs I've had. Taste: Very good. The base IPA here, Jai Alai, is awesome as usual. The cedar aging adds a different dimension to this brew. The resiny flavor the cedar aging imparts on the beer intertwines with the pine flavor the base Jai Alai has until they're indistinguishable for each other. The extra resins and the cedar aging makes this a very balanced IPA, this is not a hop bomb. It's really not bitter at all, any bitter aftertaste is tinged by the floral aspects of the beer. Mouthfeel: Medium bodied and fairly highly carbonated. Drinkability: The cedar can get to be just a little bit wearing here, making this less drinkable than the base Jai Alai. An excellent local beer from here in Tampa, and one of the better barrel-aged IPAs I've had. Give it a shot.