Whats the deal with CCB White Oak Jai Alai? Ive been asking a ton of people, and no one can seem to find it. Is it released regularly, or just randomly?
It is a year round release but not carried by many stores from what I can tell. i was in Orlando in January and found it in a few places, but its just not as popular as the regular Jai Alai so you may have to do some hunting. http://www.cigarcitybrewing.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=11&Itemid=33
Whenever I visit my folks in Gainesville, I'm told by beer store guys that it comes and goes. Regular in the sense that it comes out throughout the year, but it's not always in stores like the regular version. I guess that'd make it something in between regular and seasonal...what's that, rotating? Definitely track some down...I love this beer. That white oak does weird and amazing things to the base Jai Alai. I'll be brewing this in a couple of weeks because it is NEVER on shelves when I am in town...figured I'd make my own. Wayne Wambles is good people, he responded to my email about his process for using the oak with a ton of detailed information about the wood, secondary time and temps, etc. Edit: Go Gators.
They are having issues keeping up with demand of the regular Jai Alai. They just cant make enough to split it off and make it Oaked. When they get there expansion done there should be plenty. As they said the new part will (for the most part) brew just Jai Alai. The old section will brew most of the other stuff.
You can find it in stores on occasion. I had it on tap last Friday at CCB. I really wish there was some release schedule. In the mean time you could just smell some dill pickles while drinking Jai Alai.
It's "year round" in the meaning that it can come out at any time during the year, but it's not around often. I wouldn't doubt if it was only brewed when they were meeting demand on Jai Alai/Maduro/Tocabaga.
I think they probably planned to do White Oak Jai Alai much more often when they planned this year's brew schedule, but demand for Jai Alai has absolutely exploded during the past few months. My work has been moving through three or four cases a week, when we probably moved one every two weeks just last year.
This release schedule graphic should help. There has only been some slight variance from it. I know the first release of White Oak Jai Alai(March) was quite limited and didn't make it down to South FL, and if it did was super limited. Keep an eye out in August and post an ISO and you should find it.
I wish I could have transported you some from the brewery the other day. I shared a 4 oz flight, and it was excellent. Much better than Homefront IMO.
