Beer + Mac & Cheese: All-American Dinner.

Beer# 24 Jai Alai IPA/ Cigar City Brewery, Tampa FL
While all of you are complaining about being back to work after the holidays, I was working almost all weekend, so I'm still in the groove!  I'm itching to do some cooking this week, which totally explains why I'm making Kraft mac & cheese for dinner.  Sometimes, after a long day you just need comfort food.

On with the show. Today's beer is from a brewery I had no idea existed - but that's the point of the blog, after all.  Florida probably isn't one of the places front of mind when you think of notable breweries, but good craft beers truly are coming from everywhere lately.  My first foray into Florida brewing was Cigar City's Jai Alai IPA, checking in at a solid 7.5% ABV and 70 IBUs.   At first glance, the beer is copper colored, with a nice hop taste and some citrus balance.  Doesn't taste as hoppy as the IBU score suggests, and I could see myself putting a few of these down in a session.  For the uninitiated, a "session" beer is one that you can drink 12 of in a sitting.  No one wants to advertise that they intend to get drunk out of their gourd, so instead they drop the session label to make it seem more cultured.  Now you know!

Cigar City also makes a version of this IPA aged in white oak barrels, and their blog hints of a scotch ale aged in rum barrels.  Would definitely like to try both in the future.  Their website shares some interesting history on brewing in the Tampa area back to the late 1800's, but oddly not much about how Cigar City came into existence.  I always like reading about how breweries came to be...

Things to Think About Today:
If we're talking about Tampa, might as well highlight the best dining option in town, Columbia Restaurant.  They have outposts throughout Florida - we first had their dynamic cuisine in St. Augustine - but the Ybor City location is the original location, dating back to 1905.  With a huge menu of Cuban and Spanish choices, you can order just about anything and get an amazing meal, but do yourself a favor and start off your meal with a pitcher of Sangria de Cava and a 1905 Salad.  Definitely a must-visit when in the area, and far better than the mac & cheese I'm eating tonight.