Cigar City Brewing Florida Man Loses Bet

Cigar City Brewing Florida Man Loses Bet is an American Black Ale/IPA brewed with rye, 8.5% ABV. When the Tampa Bay Lightning and Chicago Blackhawks faced off in the 2015 Stanley Cup a friendly wager between Three Floyds started. Although Cigar City ended up losing the bet we all win with two different collaboration beers brewed at CCB and FFF. This review is for the beer brewed in Tampa and was canned on 11/04/15.

The beer pours with a dark brown color with a good amount of deep red near the edges, and a solid tan head. A good collection of yeast particles have made their way from the can into the bottom of my glass. The huge aroma is exactly what I expect from the style: big, slightly burnt roast that mixes with some slight caramel and tropical fruit sweetness. The taste is impressive and complex with roasted malts, molasses, mild citrus hops, spicy/dry rye, and a little chocolate covered raisin. I’m enjoying a nice lingering coffee after taste that is maybe even a bit smokey.

This is an excellent take on a style I find hard to do really well. I am glad cans of this were available in the taproom when we stopped in, I am going to enjoy the other three for sure.