Chicago’s beer shelves have become overrun in recent years, but one new addition may turn heads amid the glut: Cigar City Brewing, of Tampa, Fla., arrives during the week of Feb. 19.

Founded in 2007 as craft brewing was beginning to become ascendant, Cigar City quickly forged a reputation as one of the nation’s iconic small brewers, led by its flagship Jai Alai IPA and Hunahpu's Imperial Stout.

Cigar City currently boasts six beers in Beer Advocate’s Top 250 beers in the world and has been among RateBeer’s top 100 breweries in the world every year since 2010.

Jai Alai IPA will be the lead brand in the Chicago market, supported by Invasion Pale Ale, Guayabera Citra Pale Ale, Maduro Oatmeal Brown Ale and Florida Cracker, a witbier named for that state’s 18th-century settlers.

Despite the abundance of craft beer in the Chicago market, Cigar City executives expressed confidence their brand will thrive. That’s due partly to the brewery’s sterling reputation, but also because Chicagoans have typically had strong representation at Cigar City’s annual release in Tampa of Hunahpu's Imperial Stout, a 10.2 percent alcohol stout with cacao nibs, ancho and pasilla chiles, cinnamon and vanilla beans.

In 2017, Chicago was the second-biggest source of attendees for the festival (always held on the second Saturday in March), just behind the local Tampa crowd.

“We’re not smart enough to figure out exactly why, but we’re a tourism destination, we have good weather when it’s freezing in Chicago, and we do it when people are already coming down and enjoying Florida,” said Cigar City Chief Operating Officer Justin Clark.

Cigar City co-founder Joey Redner called Chicago beer drinkers “more educated consumers” and acknowledged that the brewery’s reputation will likely give it an initial boost in the market.

“We have more awareness than a new brand typically would, but it’s still intimidating” to enter the Chicago market, Redner said. “That’s the new nature of craft beer. There’s a lot of competition.”

The move into Chicago comes nearly two years after Cigar City was sold to a collective fronted by Colorado’s Oskar Blues Brewing and financed by private equity firm Fireman Capital Partners. The group, which also includes Michigan’s Perrin Brewing and Utah’s Wasatch and Squatters breweries, changed its name in November from Oskar Blues Holding Co. to CANarchy (because the breweries can their beers).

Growth has been steady for Cigar City since its sale. At the time of the sale, its beer was available in six states; Illinois will become its 14th state for distribution. By the end of 2018, Clark said, the brand will be in nearly 20 states.

Such partnerships also mean that the beer is made in ever-more locations.

Clark said most of the Jai Alai in Chicago would be made at an Oskar Blues brewery in Brevard, N.C., where the companies spent six months adjusting the recipe to the larger brewing system. Other Cigar City brands will also likely come to Chicago from the Brevard brewery once the beers are indistinguishable from Cigar City’s beer made in Tampa. Cigar City brands are also made at a CANarchy brewery in Austin, Texas.

“The strategy at CANarchy is to be able to make the beer at any of our facilities,” Clark said. “We want to send the freshest beer possible, and it will get there fastest from Brevard.”

In addition to the five core beers, Chicago will occasionally see rarer beers from Cigar City made in Tampa, Clark said.

“There’s definitely a good chance for getting the smaller-format beers,” Clark said. “Lots of of stouts, Scotch ales and barleywines. We’ve never shied away from trying a style, experimenting or reinventing a style.”

Windy City Distributing will be the wholesaler selling Cigar City in the Chicago area. Cigar City eventually plans to sell beer across Illinois, Clark said.

jbnoel@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @hopnotes

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