Charlottesville Area Masters of Real Ale

I saw this one at the Wine Warehouse and it sounded interesting.  Abita is a good brewery and the concept of using of pecans in the brew was really interesting.

Cut to the chase, this is a nice, clear coppered colored ale.  It had a thin, white head on it which I wasn’t really expecting since I figured all of the oils from the pecans would kill any head this one could have.  Not much aroma at all, maybe a little bit of malt. 

The taste?  I was overwhelmed by the harsh nuttiness of it.  It was a liquid version of the dry, bitter, papery membrane that is inside a nutshell.  In a word: undrinkable.  There was a hint of caramel and malt under all that, but you would need a shovel to find them.  I could not drink even half of the bottle. 

An “A” for the concept, but a “D” for execution.

Sounds very appealing.  I will probably pass on picking sum up.

Is Abita the brewing company in New Orleans?  I think it might be.  If so, I tried their Turbo Dog on the last trip that I was down there and it really sucked.  Not a fan at all.  On the previous trip to New Orleans, I tried their pale ale and was also not impressed.  So, I guess my review of the brewery would be not to buy anything from them.

You know, I like Abita, which is why I gave this a chance.  Not good at all.

Their Turbo Dog used to be a solid brown ale, but I haven't had it for many years.  I will need to revisit.

The Purple Haze is a fruit beer, so I'm not a fan of that. (Well, I like MY fruit beers, but that's not very objective...)

Road trip?

Lets do it.  If the beer stinks, there is always Bourbon street cheap nasty liquour.

I was listening to Big Foamy Head podcast recently and they were talking about Abita ale.  It was either Show 93 or Show 94.  But, Abita makes some really big barleywine that the hosts just loved.  You can only get it on tap in Louisiana, as their laws prevent anything that big from being bottled.  But, they talked about two bars on Bourbon street that have 50 taps or so, and they had this Abita beer.  It is worth a listen too, as they always crack me up and the music is good.

woah woah woah

abitas beer lineup is awesome
their amber ale is extremely balanced and refreshing
the turbodog is probably one of the best beers ever
and purple haze is a great one for the girls.


and yes a roadtrip is a great idea because on the weekends abita will let you help yourself to all their beers on tap in the tasting room as in binge drink all afternoon. at least thats how it was a couple years ago

abita is located in abita springs LA    just across the lake from neworleans