Day 101 Drink: Cigar City Humidor Series Gedanken Gruit

I was in Tampa for the last few days and had the chance yesterday to spend the afternoon at Mr. Dunderbak's Biergarten, Marketplatz & Restaurant, which hosted a fundraiser for the Pints for Prostates campaign. Owner J.B. Ellis and his staff were great and, with the help of J.J. Taylor Distributing, beers from Cigar City Brewing and Bell's Brewing were donated to the cause.

Cigar City Brewing was founded by Joey Redner in Tampa, Fla., is 2009. The company has a 15 barrel brewhouse located in the Carver City-Lincoln Gardens neighborhood.

Head brewer Wayne Wambles makes a number of year-round brews, including the tasty Maduro Oatmeal Brown Ale. Cigar City's Humidor Series is a salute to the city's heritage as a U.S. cigar-making center. Ybor City was a center for cigar making starting in the late 1800s where Cuban, Italian and Spanish immigrants clustered.

The Humidor Series ages beer using Spanish cedar to create uniquely flavored beer. Cigar City Gedanken Gruit is the brewery's effort at making a Medieval ale. The beer pours a murky orange color with a thin head. The cedar is clear in the aroma. The flavor has more than a hint of the wood, with an earthiness and some passing spice and citrus notes. Since this beer is not made with hops, there is not a ton of bitterness, but the wood and the spices mellow out the malt.