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Cigar City expanding distribution to North Carolina

jaialai1 Tampa’s Cigar City Brewing Company is a true Florida success story. Coming from humble beginnings and crafty outstanding brews, they have grown to become one of the best-known breweries in Florida. Their annual Hunahpu’s Day Craft Beer Festival and bottle release attracts beer-lovers and brewers from around the country and even the world.

Now, the company is expanding its domestic distribution to North Carolina to grow its U.S. footprint and bring Florida-style brews like flagship Jai Alai IPA to the beer fanatics of the Blue Ridge Mountains and beyond.

Get all the distribution and launch event details in the official press release below:

TAMPA, FL & ASHEVILLE, NC – Cigar City Brewing Company Announces North Carolina
Distribution

Tampa, Florida’s Cigar City Brewing is proud to announce the addition of North Carolina to
the brewery’s distribution network. This is the second new state to receive deliveries of
Cigar City Brewing’s award-winning beer in over four years. CCB will be partnering with
numerous distribution partners to cover the state including Skyland Distributing Co.,
United Beverages of North Carolina, R.H. Barringer Distributing Company, Long Beverage
Inc., Carolina Distributing LLC, Healy Wholesale Co Inc., Atlantic Shores Distributors,
Coastal Beverage Co. and City Beverage Co Inc. Twelve ounce cans of Jai Alai IPA, Maduro
Brown Ale, Florida Cracker Belgian-style White Ale, Invasion Pale Ale and Tampa-style
Lager can currently be found in this new market with draft beer to follow shortly behind.

Market launch events will be taking place across North Carolina from March 21st thru
March 29th with numerous Cigar City Brewing representatives present, including Cigar
City Brewing’s El Lector Neil Callaghan and Brand Manager Lucas Widrick. These events
will be incredible opportunities for North Carolina’s craft beer fans to enjoy some of the
first CCB beer to be shipped to the state and to learn about Cigar City Brewing’s brand and
it’s award winning beer from the people who know it best.

Cigar City Brewing’s official North Carolina Launch Party will be taking place at Oskar
Blues’ Tasty Weasel Taproom in Brevard on Saturday, March 25th beginning at noon. This
event will feature specialty Cigar City Brewing taps, a Jai Alai-infused food special from the Oskar Blues CHUBwagon food truck and live music from South Carolina rockers The
Excons from 6-8pm.

Cigar City Brewing’s beer, including award-winning Jai Alai IPA, is now available in eight
states encompassing Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York,
Tennessee and North Carolina. Cigar City Brewing’s ales and lagers are also exported to
the country of Denmark.

Cigar City Brewing’s North Carolina Launch Events

Week of 3/20 – Raleigh
● 3/21: Tyler’s Durham
● 3/22: Raleigh Times
● 3/23: Raleigh Beer Garden

Week of 3/20 – Brevard
● 3/25: Launch party at Oskar Blues Brewery’s Tasty Weasel Taproom in Brevard

Week of 3/27 – Asheville
● 3/27: Barley’s (Asheville)
● 3/28: Creekside Tavern
● 3/29: Black Rose (Hendersonville)

Week of 3/27 – Charlotte
● 3/28: Brawley’s Beverage
● 3/29: Duckworth’s (Huntersville)
● 3/30: Pub Crawl — Harris Teeter #11, Growler USA, Kit’s Trackside Craft, The

Fillmore Charlotte (for The Flaming Lips show)

Visit Cigar City Brewing’s website [ www.cigarcitybrewing.com ] to find the CCB beer closest to
you.

Count down to GABF; Darwin’s on 4th to represent Florida

31 Aug

As the Great American Beer Festival approaches (seven weeks and counting), there are literally hundreds of breweries shipping brews for judging and pouring for the ravenous fans in attendance. Of those nearly 600 breweries, only seven represent the state of Florida. As promised, over the next few weeks a different Florida brewery that is attending GABF will be highlighted. This week, Darwin’s on 4th in Sarasota is in the spotlight.

Darwin’s on 4th is the brainchild of Peruvian chef, Darwin Santa Maria. His Selva Grill in Sarasota and The Cottage on Siesta Key have established him as a culinary force and garnered him a great following. They also provided the stage for him to be named one of Food & Wine magazine’s top 10 chefs in the nation in 2001.

With a pedigree like that, there was little doubt that the chef’s newest venture, Darwin’s on 4th, would be success. All he had to do was continue with his winning ways and he would surely see triumph again. And, by all accounts, Darwin’s is exactly the smash it was expected to be. The twist, though, is that the space Santa Maria took over for the new restaurant was the site of a defunct restaurant/brewery known as the Rustic Grill and Mad Crow Brewery. With all the brewing equipment still in the building, the chef decided to bring on brewmaster Jared Barnes, formerly of Southern Tier Brewing Co. in New York, on to start a beer program.

Barnes was tasked with creating a signature beer for the restaurant named Darwin’s Evolution and several rotating brews. The size of their brew house – seven barrels – necessitated brewing in smaller batches, but did not slow the ambitious brewer and equally ambitious restaurateur in the least. Soon Barnes had produced Evolution – an American Wheat with a spicy hop profile and light body that weighs in at 6% ABV. Other brews in the brewery’s portfolio include a rarity among American breweries – a Berlinerweiss, Parle Dry English Stout, Summerdayze IPA, and another rarity, a Peruvian Chicha made with Peruvian purple corn, cassia buds, coriander, and cloves.

2 Comments

Posted by mwisdom562 on August 31, 2012 in Beer, Beer Festival, Craft Beer Brewery

Tags: Barnes, Beer, Brewing, craft beer, Darwin's, Darwin's on 4th, Florida beer, GABF, GABF 2012, Great American Beer Festival, Sarasota beer