Cigar City’s beers return to New York

You might have noticed that beers from Florida’s Cigar City Brewing have been virtually impossible to find in New York for the past couple years. Bottles and kegs of even their flagship Jai Alai IPA slowly and quietly disappeared last year as they pulled out of New York and Pennsylvania to better serve their home state of Florida, where demand was outpacing supply. But good things come to those who wait, and thanks to nearly doubling their output this year, Cigar City’s beers have returned to New York this month. Here’s what they brought back and a few places to find it.

The brewery rolled out a brand-new beer in their re-introduction to New York, Dry-Hopped on the High Seas. They’re calling it a “Caribbean-Style IPA,” and it’s got a great story behind it: the brewers were invited to brew in a large, recently-closed Puerto Rican brewery, Cervezas del Sur, but wanted to package the beer in Tampa. So the beer was brewed at the much larger brewery, then dry-hopped with Simcoe hops in shipping containers as it was brought back to Florida by boat. So yes, the beer was quite literally dry-hopped on the high seas. And now it’s in cans and on draft for your enjoyment at spots like Carmine Street Beers (52 Carmine St., at Bedford St., West Village), Astoria Bier & Cheese (34-14 Broadway, at 35th St., Astoria), and Bierkraft (191 Fifth Ave., at President St., Park Slope). Obviously, call ahead for availability, as this stuff will probably go fast.

Also spotted in the city since the brewery’s return are the Jai Alai, their flagship American IPA that’s a tribute to a sport once played across Florida, now on tap at The Pony Bar UES (1444 First Ave. at 75th St., Upper East Side). Other beers are likely to pop up in the coming week or two, so keep an eye out for a little taste of Florida in the form of their most raved-about brewery.