Widmer Brothers & Cigar City Release Gentlemen’s Club 6/13

We brought you news of these beers back in March, and now we get the official word from Widmer Brothers & Cigar City on the release of the Gentlemen’s Club beers:

This week, we’ll be introducing Gentlemen’s Club, a special collaboration beer that we brewed with Tampa, Florida’s Cigar City Brewing. Drawing inspiration from an Old Fashioned cocktail recipe and the Gentlemen’s Clubs where the cocktail was first served over 100 years ago, this collaboration beer brings together two breweries from opposite ends of the country and ingredients from the home states of both breweries. Using an Old Ale recipe as the base beer, Gentlemen’s Club “Old Fashioned Style Ale” was brewed with cherries and oranges, Alchemy, Sorachi Ace and Pacifica hops, and hand-selected specialty malts to mirror the qualities typically found in an Old Fashioned cocktail. The beer was aged on three different woods: bourbon barrels, rye whiskey barrels and new oak spirals, resulting in three unique versions of the beer, each offering a slightly different take on the same age-old recipe.

Portland Release Event:

We will be releasing Gentlemen’s Club in Portland on Thursday, June 13 at 5pm at the Widmer Brothers Brewery and Pub. Join Rob Widmer and Ben Dobler of Widmer Brothers Brewing and Wayne Wambles, brewmaster at Cigar City Brewery for the release.

Three versions of this limited release beer, each aged on different wood (bourbon barrels, rye whiskey barrels, and new oak), will be released for the first time at this event during this Portland Beer Week Event. A handful of special releases from both breweries will also be available on draught, including several favorites and special releases from Cigar City (while supplies last). Bottles of Gentlemen’s Club will be available in the Widmer Brothers retail store beginning at 5pm.

The Widmer Brothers Pub will be closed at 2:30pm after lunch on Thursday (6/13) to prepare for the event. We will reopen at 5pm for the evening with a limited, gentlemanly menu. The event is 21+.

Gentlemen’s Club Collaboration Beers

– Rye Whiskey Barrel Aged Gentlemen’s Club
– Bourbon Barrel Aged Gentlemen’s Club
– Gentlemen’s Club Aged on New Oak Spirals

Beers from Widmer Brothers

Beers from Cigar City

(six Cigar City Beers will be poured at a time)- Jai Alai IPA
– Hotter Than Helles Lager
– Maduro Brown Ale
– Tocobaga Red Ale
– Cucumber Lager
– Italian Plum Single
– Tangerine Orange White Ale
– Stiftung Berlierweiss
– Invasion Pale Ale
– Geiger’s Hoppy Amber Ale
– Maibock
– Florida Cracker White Ale
– Matt Tucker’s Vienna Lager
– Patio Tools Dry Irish Stout

Gentlemen’s Club Outside of Portland:If you can’t make it to Portland to try Gentlemen’s Club, the beer will be available later this month in New York City (stay tuned for release event details). In mid-July, Gentlemen’s Club will be released in Cigar City’s home state of Florida. Throughout the summer, Seattle, San Francisco, and San Diego can expect to see Gentlemen’s Club at select beer bars, restaurants and bottle shops as well.

About Cigar City Brewing:
Cigar City Brewing opened its 15 barrel brewery in Tampa, FL in 2009 as the city’s only small-scale production brewery. From the beginning, the brewery’s marketing focus was a celebration of Tampa history and culture as reflected by brand names that reflect local cultural touchstones such as Jai Alai IPA, Maduro Brown Ale and Tony Jannus Pale Ale. From the days of the Tocobaga, the pre-Columbia native inhabitants of Tampa Bay, through its years as the world’s largest producer of hand-rolled cigars, Tampa has witnessed many monumental changes and Cigar City Brewing’s mission is to brew beers that reflect the complex and diverse elements that make Tampa the dynamic city it is today.

Gentlemen’s Club Old Fashioned Style Ale:
• Rye Whiskey Barrel Aged Gentlemen’s Club, 10.5% ABV
• Bourbon Barrel Aged Gentlemen’s Club, 10.5% ABV
• New Oak Aged Gentlemen’s Club, 9.5% ABV

This additional update from Broward Palm Beach:

Using an Old Ale recipe as the base beer, Gentlemen’s Club "Old Fashioned Style Ale" was brewed with cherries and oranges, Alchemy, Sorachi Ace and Pacifica hops, and hand-selected specialty malts to mirror the qualities typically found in an Old Fashioned cocktail. The beer was aged on three different woods: bourbon barrels, rye whiskey barrels and new oak spirals, resulting in three unique versions of the beer, each offering a slightly different take on the same age-old recipe.

So what can we gather from this description? First off, an old ale is a style that generally refers to a dark, malty beer originating in England, something akin to what might be called a strong ale, or even a winter warmer. Some notable examples of the style include Founders Curmudgeon, Hibernation Ale from Great Divide, or Adam from Hair of the Dog Brewing Company. It will be rich, malty, and have some dark fruit character. Older and stronger versions might reach into port-like territory.

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