Florida brews for Florida-based ships— that’s the new agreement between Carnival Cruise Lines and Tampa-based Cigar City Brewing.
The partnership will bring two of Cigar City Brewing’s most popular craft beers, Florida Cracker Belgian-Style White Ale and Invasion Pale Ale, to 13 Carnival ships sailing from five Florida ports beginning this week. The beers will be offered in cans for $4.95 each.
My husband, Rick, and I were invited aboard the beautiful Carnival Legend at the Port of Tampa to get a taste of the new brews being offered on Carnival’s Florida ships. Tough job, right!?
Cigar City’s Florida Cracker Belgian-Style White Ale is named for the colonial-era “Cracker†cowboys of Florida. Florida Cracker Belgian-Style White Ale is brewed with unmalted wheat, orange peel and coriander, which ends with a spicy, dry finish. The beer pours cloudy straw in color and has moderate notes of orange peel, coriander and hints of vanilla.
Gold in color, Invasion Pale Ale is Cigar City’s version of a “session†beer (a beer with a relatively low alcohol content), in a hoppy ale that celebrates Tampa’s alleged history of being a pirate hideout. The tropical aroma offers suggestions of peach, mango, lime and papaya. Invasion has a light caramel malt character laced with a slight “breadiness†and the finish offers a bounty of tropical and citrus hop flavor and bitterness.
My pick was the lighter beer, Florida Cracker Belgian-Style White Ale, which was very easy to drink, especially with sides of Coconut Shrimp and Firecracker Jamaican Wings from the Red Frog Pub’s “Pub Grub” menu! I think my husband preferred the darker Invasion Pale Ale with a more malty flavor. Both beers are excellent additions to the lineup at the Red Frog Pub, including Carnival’s own Thirsty Frog Red.
I love that Carnival has partnered with locally owned businesses to bring a taste of the Sunshine state to 13 of their Florida-based ships sailing three- to eight-day itineraries to the Caribbean, Mexico and The Bahamas.
Ships that feature Cigar City Brewing include Carnival Breeze, Carnival Conquest, Carnival Ecstasy, Carnival Glory, Carnival Victory and Carnival Splendor from Miami; Carnival Sensation, Carnival Sunshine and Carnival Liberty from Port Canaveral; Carnival Freedom from Fort Lauderdale; Carnival Paradise and Carnival Legend from Tampa, and Carnival Fascination from Jacksonville.
