It's #FloridaBeerFriday. Every Friday, we take a look at a beer brewed in the Sunshine State, giving analysis to the burgeoning craft beer movement of Florida.
It was only five short years ago that Joey Redner put together a project on a small road called Spruce Street. Little did anyone know in 2009 that his small brewery, Cigar City Brewing, would grow in such a short time to become one of the most recognized and sought after breweries in the American craft beer scene.
With the five year milestone this year, the brewery decided to have a fun time splitting the staff into five different groups and developing five different beers for each department. In a way, they're making up for the the fact that they never did anniversary ales for the previous years.
See also: Florida Beer: Maple Bacon Coffee Porter From Funky Buddha Brewery
Today, we're looking at the 5 Beers For 5 Years Florida Weisse with Orange and Tangerine. This particular beer's recipe was conceived by the tasting room staff: those brave souls manning the bar at the Cigar City taproom. They are apparently fans of the growing Florida weisse style, a fruity twist on a traditionally sour and tart German beer.
The Berliner weisse, the basis for the new style, is a cloudy and sour wheat beer usually brewed to a low alcohol percentage by volume of around 3%. Noted beer historian Michael Jackson said that "Napoleon's troops dubbed it 'the Champagne of the North.'"
Cigar City's Florida weisse taps in at a modest (for American craft beer standards) 4.7% abv.
The beer pours a muted Mellow Yellow color with a stark white lacing. Aromas of tart lemon and tangerine dominate. Super tart flavors upfront rush across the tongue, sweet lemonade flavors join in, a spritzy body helps the cascading flavors, and lighter juicy citrus emerges as it warms up. It finishes with that perfect drying sensation of fermented wheat.
There are four other beers created in this series: an Imperial Oatmeal Cream Porter, a New Zealand Double India Pale Ale, an American Barleywine, and a Gose Ale. All of which are available in various bottle shops across our area, if they haven't sold out yet. If they have, don't worry, I've heard that there will be a couple of special events in the next month with these beers and tap takeovers. I'll let you know when that happens.
Follow #FloridaBeerFriday for more reviews of Sunshine State brews.
Get out there and #DrinkLocal.
Doug Fairall is a craft beer blogger who focuses on Florida beers, and has been a homebrewer since 2010. For beer things in your Twitter feed, follow him @DougFairall and find the latest beer pics on Clean Plate's Instagram.
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