I was fortunate to have a lunch meeting the other day at Cigar City Brewpub in Tampa. Head brewer Tim Ogden and I chatted a bit when I first arrived, and he offered a few tidbits about upcoming events and beer releases.
First, the brewpub will be closed on Christmas Day, but they plan a special New Year’s Eve three-course dinner, which of course includes a champagne toast at midnight. At the dinner, there will be a special release in cans: Gin and Juice, an ale brewed in collaboration with Gravity Brewlab and aged in Ransom Old Tom Gin barrels, a product of an Oregon craft distillery.
And provided the labels come in on time, Ogden said, the brewpub might also have cans of Leon’s Grandson’s It’s My Birthday Barley Wine.
Coming up at the Fruit in the Room event on January 28, there should be cans of another special release: Cherry Creek, a black cherry Belgian wheat wine, along with a variety of other fruit beers from the brewpub, the main brewery, and other special beers from guest breweries, including 7th Sun, Angry Chair, Funky Buddha, and J Wakefield.
