Cigar City to NC

Given I've only had their core beers but I agree. Could very well just be me but the most recent batch of Jai Alai I had wasn't very good, very disappointing.

 

When I see CCB in SC, I'll believe it.

 

You own stock in CCB? You're awfully salty that someone has a bad, nay, average, opinion of them.

 

El Coco was great last time I had it

 

Will be on TN shelves by the end of the month. State wide distro.

 

The core beers are a malty citrusy IPA, Invasion, which is a great pale ale, Florida Crackers, the lager and Maduro, which I don't really care about. If that's the extent of your CCB experience then I could see why you think they are average.

CCB is anything but average. They make a whole lot of great to incredible beers. You just aren't going to try them out of state without trading.

I will add that WOJA is not nearly as good as it was a couple of years ago.

 

I think it should also be said that in 2016/2017, "average" beer is very good, high quality stuff. Its not necessarily a knock on Cigar City to say that they will be just another average brand on the shelf, its more saying that markets are saturated with good beers to choose from, and adding another brand to the mix isn't all that exciting any more.

 

The best part about the calendar is the replacement of Winter Warmer with Café con Leche. I'm on the fence about Penultimate replacing Café Americano. Penultimate is very good and it's a good change up, but I hope they don't cancel Café Americano forever.

 

As a long time Tampa Bay resident I'll concur that CCB is pretty average. There's tremendous hype around the brewery that doesn't really live up to reality. One need look no further than their annual Jai Alai-ween event where people rave (no, really, rave) about Jolly Rancher treated Jai Alai. Seriously?

All of their core beers have changed with growth and due to growth. When I first started visiting the tasting room about the only busy time was Saturdays. The hype and trendiness has outpaced the product. Part of that, for sure, is the high level of craft beer available to Tampa Bay residents, but part of it is on CCB and their changes.

 

I believe Winter Warmer is just one for a year because they want to age it. Wouldn't be sad if it was gone permanently. It sits on the shelf for months.

 

What does Jal-Alai ween have to do with average beer? It's a fun Halloween event with wacky beer selections. What are you expecting?

You cannot look around the country at all the breweries and tell me that Cigar City is average. Terrapin is a brewery that is average. The problem is people don't like how big they are. It was a small little place that only a few knew about making great beers. You could trade those beers for a ransom on this board. Now it's much bigger, with a larger distribution and people travel from across the country to come see it. That's the problem. It's not Tampa's little secret any longer. Cigar City still puts out a number of absolutely incredible beers and the run of the mill beer on tap is still very good.

....and I don't even go there very often. I go to Cycle and Angry Chair 10 times as often as Cigar City because I'm burnt out on them but it doesn't mean they're average.

 

As one who started going to CCB when they shared a building with a Dance Studio/Exercise Facility this is accurate...the beers that got them famous are a shell of what they once were..Jai Alai..White Oak Jai Alai..Hunahpu are all much worse these days be it from over production..contract brewing..less quality ingredients..etc...it's The Disney World of Beer in Tampa for unsuspecting Beer Tourists is how I describe it these days

 

Um, CCB is average. Again? CCB is average.

I'll try to be more clear on my post. The brewery is way over-hyped. When Jai Alai aged on grape Jolly Rangers gets rave reviews to the effect of: "Awesome." "Best beer ever.". Well, it's a sure sign the hype machine is strong. That same hype translates to their core beers. While good, they're certainly not the life changing product the fanboys make them out to be.

 

Where were people saying jolly rancher Jai Alai is the best beer ever? Untappd? How is a few people saying that Cigar City's problem? There are fan boys for every brewery. Who says Jai Alai, Maduro, lager and Invasion are life changing? They are perfectly fine core beers just like every other brewery. Cigar City's reputation is built on one offs and it's seasonal beers.

 

I think Jal Alai tastes largely the same. White Oak Jai Alai is noticeably worse. Huna is definitely worse. The beers they make in large batches aren't as good but I don't know if that's because my tastes have changed, I've drank it so many times that "this is great" factor wore off or if it is objectively worse. I've discussed this with other Tampa people who think WOJA tastes nearly the same. Their seasonal and BA stuff is just as good as always.

 

I dunno. That Hazelnut Vanilla MZ is pretty terrible. Everyone agrees that Huna has gone down hill. Most WnB stuff is pretty tasty.

 

The Hazelnut was good it just wasn't as good as everyone expected. It wasn't like anyone drank some and threw it down the drain because it was shit. Huna is worse. I agree but that's too come with larger barrels made.

Every brewery has these issues with certain beers as they grow. I'm not suggesting CCB is the best brewery of all time and only produces 5 star whales but the disdain CCB gets now reeks of of my favorite band got a record contract mentality.

CCB still makes incredible BA stouts and porters just like they did a few years ago. They make tons of unique one off beers that you'll never see elsewhere. They aren't all good but I appreciate a brewery not pumping out the same shit over and over and over and letting some random employee come up with a recipe and they put it on to see how it does.

 

Which is all and good, but its not BA stouts going to distro, its just the same expensive line-up that they have been pushing for years, with a couple new offerings that will get little real distro.

I think the general frustration is that breweries keep growing up, pushing for more shelf space in more states, and its killing the ability for little breweries to come can get notoriety and shelf space as the 'big boys' are taking up what little space there is for craft beers to begin with.

I would be much happier in NC to see Heist get some of their fantastic IPA's to our shelves that's fresh and local rather than Jai Alai that ends up being 3 months old by the time it finally makes it to the shelf.

 

It's already here.

 

That's a legit point.