Brew With a Bolt
Just in time for the Bolts’ playoff push, we’re beyond excited to announce the release of Five Hole Goal, a collaborative beer brewed with Tampa Bay Lightning legend Dave Andreychuk and Danielle Schmitz, the lucky winner of our Brew With A Bolt sweepstakes. This tart Gose-style ale is brewed with passionfruit and mango, crafting an incredibly easy drinking and refreshing beer that pairs perfectly with playoff wins. Come skate along with us as we explain how the shared love of beer, hockey, and Tampa Bay is captured in this beer.
Held in partnership with our friends at the Tampa Bay Lightning this Spring, our “Brew With A Bolt” sweepstakes saw more than 2,000 Bolts fans enter to win the opportunity to design their own CCB beer and then brew the beer alongside a Lightning alumni player to be named later. Danielle Schmitz, our lucky winner, worked with our Production folks to develop a fruit forward German-style sour ale brewed with passionfruit and mango, and was delighted to find out that her Lightning co-brewer would be Hall of Famer Dave Andreychuk. In April, we hosted Schmitz and Andreychuk at the brewery and had them try their hands at brewing in Brewhouse 1. They also worked with our Marketing folks to decide on a name for the beer and a direction for the design of the beer cans.
Having Schmitz and Andreychuk serve as “honorary brewers” for the day allowed them both to celebrate their love of beer and hockey. “I’ve been a fan of both Cigar City Brewing and the Lightning for years,” said Schmitz. “This sweepstakes brings together Tampa’s team and Tampa’s brewery, and I love that.”
“I’m originally a Canadian so my roots are in lagers, but now that I’m a full time Floridian I’ve turned to craft beers,” said Andreychuk. “I’ve had Jai Alai IPA many times and I’m a big fan. To be here, to see what the team at Cigar City Brewing does every day and to see the place where Jai Alai started is a really cool experience. You don’t think about the human element of drinking a beer, and watching it being made by hand in this facility is really exciting. Every time that I buy a beer, I’ll now know what work went into making it.”
Amazingly, this brew day was not the first time that Schmitz and Andreychuk had crossed paths. “During the hockey lockout in 2012, my kids wrote a letter to the Lightning and offered to end the lockout with their Tooth Fairy money,” said Schmitz. “After the letter arrived, we got a call from the team and they welcomed us into the arena for an event with Dave Andreychuk. He read their letter to the arena and to all the fans and presented both of my kids with jerseys. The team is so accessible, it’s easy to fall in love with them and root for them. Two Cups doesn’t hurt, either.”
Five Hole Goal, the beer that resulted from this amazing brew day, is a fruit-forward Gose whose fruit additions help accentuate the acidity and salt traditionally found in this style of beer. With Five Hole Goal, the salt presents with very light intensity, allowing the fruit and acidity to shine through. While the beer shares much in common with our Margarita Gose and Paloma Gose, this beer is much more fruit forward and offers some extra sour “punch” compared with the other brands. Five Hole Goal presents vivid tropical aromas that recall kiwi, pineapple, and passionfruit with light floral notes playing on the nose. Mango, guava, and lime zest vie for attention on the palate while an earthy hop flavor, cracker-like malt, and effervescent carbonation provide counterpoint.
Cigar City Brewing’s Five Hole Goal is available in 16 oz. cans and on draft exclusively in the Spruce Street Taproom for a limited time. Swing by and grab some before this beer’s shift is over!