Following the successful year-round release of Florida Man Double IPA, a beer brewed in honor of Florida’s addlepated superhero, Cigar City Brewing (CCB) has announced the upcoming releases of five limited edition barrel-aged beers to celebrate five unsung heroes of brewing. One extremely limited beer named in honor of a different longtime brewery employee of CCB will be released daily at the CCB Taproom beginning March 9, culminating in the final release that coincides with the brewery’s annual Hunahpu’s Day Festival on March 13. These beers have each seen extensive aging in various wooden barrels, including bourbon, apple brandy and cherry brandy, and will not be available outside of the CCB Taproom.
Five of CCB’s longtime employees served as inspiration for these limited taproom releases. Brewer Brady Eaglin, a nine-year veteran of CCB, lends his name to a Bourbon Barrel-aged Barleywine-style Ale, while Lead Compliance Coordinator Alex Espinosa’s eight years at the brewery are represented with a Bourbon Barrel-aged Imperial Stout with Coffee, Hazelnut, Maple and Vanilla Beans. A Bourbon Barrel-aged Sweet Stout with Vanilla Beans is named for Brewer Ian Schmidt and his eight years with CCB, and a Double Apple Brandy Barrel-aged Barleywine-style Ale with Cinnamon pays homage to longtime bartender Mike LaDuke. Finally, CCB’s welder, fabricator and production visionary Jay “The Welder” Lesher’s Apple Brandy and Cherry Brandy Barrel-aged Imperial Porter with Vanilla and Almonds rounds out this ambitious and reverential lineup of barrel-aged creations.
Neil Callaghan, Brand Manager at CCB says, “While we’ve highlighted ‘the world’s worst superhero’ with our Florida Man Double IPA, our team felt it was important to also acknowledge the Florida residents who are real heroes to the craft beer scene in the Sunshine State. Without the years of effort and expertise of Brady, Jay, Ian, Alex and Mike, our brewery and the Tampa Bay beer community would look much different than it does today. We’re thrilled to use this opportunity to shine a spotlight on a few of the people who have helped build Cigar City Brewing into a dynamic, exciting brand.”
The celebration of CCB’s staff and barrel-aged beers will begin on Monday, March 9, with the release of Brady Eaglin’s Bourbon Barrel-aged Barleywine-style Ale and continue with a new release each day until Friday, March 13. CCB’s newly reopened and redesigned taproom on Tampa’s Spruce Street will host activations throughout the week celebrating unsung heroes inside and outside the brewery. Fewer than 30 cases of each beer will be available beginning at 11 a.m. on each day, and guests will be limited to a fixed number of bottles to purchase.
Visit Cigar City Brewing’s website [www.cigarcitybrewing.com] for more information on these barrel-aged creations and on the rest of its dynamic line-up of craft ales and lagers.
Terry Bunch
Raymond
