Abita Peach Lager

Abita Peach Lager. Harvest Series. 4.5 % ABV. 15 IBU. Brewed and packaged by Abita Brewing, Abita Springs, Louisiana.

Hazy/cloudy, with bright yellow, nearly peachy coloring, and a slim white head.

Peach aroma roars out of the glass. Sweet and lovely.

Now, to drink. Sweet and juicy from the start. The flavor is right there, and there's little else beyond the peach. Easily down able. Does it's duty. It's a lager, it's peach. Good beer, you can drink it. Tastes great, actually.
Nothing else to tell you.

wait, here's more: gobbledygook from the website: Fresh Louisiana peaches are handpicked for this smooth lager. Pale malt gives the beer a sweet, crisp taste, with abundant amounts of ripe, juicy peaches added in the brewhouse to capture the flavors and aromas of real, fresh fruit. All our Harvest Series brews are made with the finest Louisiana-grown ingredients.

Abita Big Easy IPA

Abita Big Easy IPA. "Big flavor, easy drinking". All brewed with lemon peels, 4.5% ABV.

Clear, lightly cloudy, golden-hued, ivory head.

Aromatics: lemony, you bet! Big citrus, lightly bitter. Citrus is tops.

In the mouth: mild bitterness, big citrus, easy drinking. yeah..."big flavor"? Not so much. It ain't bad, not at all, but I can't see reaching for it. Is it for this over any, and I mean any, other IPA. Certainly not meant for me. Go for it, people, go right ahead and drink it, but don't say that I told you to.

Abita Wrought Iron India Pale Ale

Abita Wrought Iron IPA, alc. 6.9% by vol. India Pale Ale, brewed and bottled by Abita Brewing Company, Abita Springs, Louisiana.

Appearance: slightly hazed, golden/amber coloring, large and lovely, white as the driven snow head. Beautiful.

Aroma: Mango. Passion fruit. Guava. Pineapple. It's a tropical fruit salad in the nose.

Taste: a bitter hop assault from the start, a barrage on the palate. Hop bitterness pounds, mellows, and moves on. Lean bodied, medium fruity finish. With each fresh sip, another bitter blast, cool refreshment…ah, that's the stuff.

Simply put, that's where it's at. Go drink one, I say.

What's the label tell us? "Abita Wrought Iron IPA embodies the resilient, indestructible nature of New Orleans. This India Pale Ale is forged with the intensity of Apollo, Equinox and Mosaic hops. Brewed with pale ale malt for a golden color as light as iron from a fiery forge."

Abita Spring IPA

Abita Spring IPA Seasonal, India Pale Ale, brewed and bottled by Abita Brewing Company, LLC., Abita Springs, Louisiana.

Spring. Man, don't talk to me about spring. It's been a damned tease this year. I thought we were in it for good, and dressed appropriately, and then came an avalanche of god-forsaken winter wonderland. Snow, snow, everywhere. Goddamn it all to hell. (Okay, that's enough taking the Lord's name in vain. From here on out, I'm taking it to the cleaners…)

Let's drink a Spring IPA by Abita, already. 6.2% Alc. by vol.

Clear, bright golden coloring. Slim white head.

Aroma: tropical and citric fruit notes, mild bitterness. Pleasingly hoppy.

Taste: Smooth and approachable. Easy-going entrance on the palate, very mild hop presence. This feels like a pale ale that they want to call an IPA because that's the way the wind blows in the craft beer world these days. It's a pleasant pale ale that lacks any aggressive hop attack that you'd expect from an IPA. But, as you know, if it's called an IPA people will buy it.

this is a tasty enough beer, but it shouldn't be called an IPA if it isn't one.

Hey, let's read some back label gobbledygook: "Spring India Pale Ale is a West Coast-style IPA with an up-front intense hop flavor and aroma. Amarillo and Centennial hops give the brew a rich and resinous flavor of citrus and spice. This bright pale ale has a malt sweetness that will give way to a pleasant bitter." (Pleasant bitter what?)

Abita Jockomo IPA

For this one, I again look at older notes, drinking now-ish, but not so old as to question what I was thinking lo, those years ago. March 2008 was when I wrote this about this, Jockomo IPA from Abita:


Gorgeous hazed crimson coloring, big, creamy off-white head.

Generous hop aromatics, with a candy-ish sweetness to match the citric bitter smack. Grapefruit meets candy apple and Jolly Rancher.

Drinkin'...juicy. fruity. You could name a gum after it, I guess. Hops hang high, then drop off. Not too bitter, but fairly ordinary for an IPA. A trifle watery and light. I keep looking for a bigger hop smack, but it's not happening here.

Hop bitterness stay on the palate through a long finish, lay long in the mouth, but it ultimately fails to thrill. I could make my way through a 6-pack, but it just doesn't do it for me.

Takin bout ... hey now, hey now

Iko! Iko! an de'

Jackomo fe no an e' , Jackomo fe nan e'

actually, further into the glass, I'm liking it more...points go up.

Abita Select Barley-wine-style Ale

Abita Select Barleywine. 

Beautiful looking beer. Bright crimson, shining beautifully. Gorgeous, lush head of foam, a large mound of creamy foam, leaving lace. Angelic. Lovely. Exemplary. 

Aroma: caramel, fruit, and rather quiet. Nice, but unimpressive.

Taste: Now, here we go. Bright, fresh fruit. mixed with deep, delicious malt. This is a grate cross between the malty English style barleywine and the hoppy American style. Plenty of hops here, much bitterness bracing against the palate, matched with oh, so tasty rich and delicious malty flavor. But, you know what? Really balanced, despite the huge alcohol. 

I'd call this one a heavy medium. It's not huge, not obtrusive, not overwhelming, but it is forthright and not shy or withering in any way. This is not timid, and does not characterize a brewery not going all the way with a big, fat, full style like a barley-wine. Putz out on a barley-wine, and we know who you are, dude. This is good one. Plenty of huge, full fruit flavor, incredible multitude, ginormigantic alcoholic stature. Damnittiy, damn, damn. Loads of luscious caramel malt, tons of delectable bitter hops, a perfect match for the high alcohol, and utterly lovely. 

I think I like this.

Abita Purple Haze

Notes from eight years ago, June, 2003. I probably went the whole of that time span without having another of these. Notes follow:

Quite a fun name, nice little gimmick, but, hey, how's the beer?

Appearance: a hazy pale orange color, with an initially fluffy white head, that's quick to crumble away.

Aroma: sweet and fruity, definitely berryish, the pure stamp of raspberries, comingled with the wheaty, yeast, citric nature of a hefe weizen. But, as a hefe weizen, it falls severely short. As an American HW, flavored with fruit, not terrible.

Decent texture, light body, extraordinarily drinkable, tasty, smooth, but all in all uneventful.
That does the trick sometimes though, and I'm sure this would be quite a hit with the ladies at the beach.
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I gave this a C/3.2 back then, and I'm still 1% above the mean. Beer geeks are tough cookies.

Abita Abbey Ale (Dubbel)

Another sample from a sales rep, when he came visiting with an Abita associate. This is one I bought up when I first saw it, and looking back on the opinions of others, it appears I was blessed with a better bottle than most, or perhaps I am more forgiving. I gave it an A-/4.2, about 14% above the mean. Had this bottle last night, and damned if I didn't enjoy the heck out of it. And dubbels are my favorite style (if you don't count double IPA, imperial stout, quadrupel, baltic porter, etc. etc...).
Here are those notes from June, 2010:



Abita Abbey Ale , 22 oz. bomber

Clear, dusky auburn appearance, solid, 1/2 " cocoa & cream head.

Aroma: sweet and spicy, brown sugar & molasses, caramel malt, a little nutty.

Taste: sweetness and richness aplenty. dark fruit, spicy malt. I keep looking for serious flaws, but I honestly can't find any. Smooth, alcohol stays cloistered, figs and cloves, delicious and a delight to drink.

Medium bodied, long finish, wonderful dubbel from Louisiana, who would have thunk it.

Abita Turbodog Brown Ale

Thoroughly brown body, with crimson side, slim tannish head.

Sweet, caramel malty nose, nuts aplenty.

Toasty malt, dry, muted sweetness in the taste, very clean, supple, easy to drink. More nutty and mineral-y than caramel sweet. Light cocoa traces.

Remarkably simple. Nothing wrong with that.

Medium body, highly carbonated, very even-handed, just a straight-forward session-er. I like a richer taste and mouthfeel in a brown ale, personally, but I can see how this would please less demanding palates.