This second edition of our Beer and BBQ series provides a great breakdown of Cigar City Brewing’s Bolita Brown Double Nut Brown Ale.  Johhny Brooke, from the Beer Review Dude blog shares his thoughts about how this double brown ale might pair well with the smoky goodness of barbecue.  Note what he says about malt vs. hops when it comes to matching beer with BBQ.

Photo Credit: Bernt Rostad

Some Facts About Cigar City Brewing

The goals of Tampa, Florida’s Cigar City Brewing are twofold:  the make the world’s best beer and to share with people near and far the fascinating culture and heritage of Tampa as a city rich with Cigar manufacturing history. Calling upon Tampa’s historic position as the world’s largest cigar manufacturer as well as the city’s Latin roots and the many other diverse cultures that call it home, the good folks at Cigar City Brewing imbue their craft beer with historic central Florida flavor.

Cigar City Brewing founder Joey Redner brought his retail and commercial beer and bar ownership background and his love of beer to the forefront when establishing the brewery.   These beers are excellent, as is evidenced by a Great American Beer Festival Gold Medal award in 2009 for their Humidor Series.   Working together with heralded brewmaster Wayne Wambles, Joey has created a line of Cigar City beers that are sure to fit and delight any taste.

Check Out Johnny’s Review of Cigar City Brewing’s Bolita Brown Double Nut Brown Ale

Here’s a great video posted by Cigar City Brewing showing the bottling of Bolita Brown Double Nut Brown Ale

I hope you’re enjoying these beer reviews.  I know Johnny puts a lot of effort into selecting the ones he shows us.  Stay tuned for the next in our Beers and BBQ series, and please visit Johnny’s Beer Review Dude blog.  If you haven’t visited our BBQ Smoker Site Facebook Page, please check it out as well.

As promised, here is the first of the beers reviewed by our friend Johnny Brooke, the Beer Review Dude.  In this post, Johnny presents Schneider Aventinus Weizenbock.  I’ve not had the pleasure of tasting this particular beer, but like most of the ones Johnny will be reviewing for us here, it features more malt than hop with a slight smoky flavor.

I did some general research on the Weizenbock beer style and wanted to provide a few facts for the rest of my fellow beer nerds.  I found the following blurb on the Beer Advocate site that defines Weizenbock beer as a more powerful or stronger version of the German wheat beers (of “bock strength”), with a pronounced estery alcohol character, perhaps some spiciness from this, and bolder and more complex malt characters of dark fruits.

Another review of this beer by Danner Kline over at E Weekly references the Weizenbock made by Schneider & Sohn as he gives an account of its creation.

Mathilde Schneider had an epiphany: use the same malts and brewing techniques used for doppelbocks, but ferment the beer with hefeweizen yeast. Instead of a smooth, subtle beer focused exclusively on the flavors of the malts, a feast for the senses was born, featuring flavors of chocolate, raisins, dates, bananas, cloves, caramel, black pepper, and more.

England has its imperial stouts; Belgium has its Belgian strong darks; Germany has its weizenbocks. All represent the ultimate expressions of complexity for their respective brewing traditions, and all are among the most sought-after styles for beer enthusiasts. The palate-pleasing result of carefully selected dark malts and estery, phenolic yeasts.

I think Johnny’s review speaks to some of these points, but I urge you to watch it through as he breaks this beer down in play by play fashion from pour to mid finish.  This guy knows beer, and I think you’ll all be on the lookout for Schneider Aventinus Weizenbock after watching this video.

Again, please visit Johnny’s Beer Review Dude blog.  If you haven’t visited our BBQ Smoker Site Facebook Page, please check it out as well.