457. Cigar City Brewing – Minaret ESB
About three weeks ago, I returned from my family vacation to Florida. While there, I visited Cigar City Brewing in Tampa, and brought back several of their beers. I had their Maduro Brown Ale and the Jai Alai IPA while I was there, and brought this growler back from the brewery (along with a few others I haven’t reviewed yet). Of the beers I sampled in their tasting room, I knew I wanted to bring this one back. Of course there were a few others I wanted, but they didn’t sell growlers of those.
Location: Poured into a Stella Artois glass from the growler at my home in Bloomington, IL.
Numbers: 5% ABV, ~ 170 Calories
Appearance & Aroma: It’s rusty-reddish brown in color and pretty clear. It looks to have a fair amount of carbonation in it, although there’s no head, just a ring the bubbles around the edge of the glass. It’s got a light malt aroma with hints of tea, caramel, and tobacco.
Taste & Feel: The body is medium and the mouth feel is crisp. Up front it was crisp with some earthy maltiness. In the middle, the malt flavors come though…
