Saturday, February 12, 2011
Beer Review: Abita Black IPA
So last night at Avenue Pub I had an opportunity to try Abita's newest Select offering, the Black IPA. As I am with all their Select offerings I must say I was impressed. I'm also impressed with the fact that they quickly put out this style of beer as it is the hip style of beer to the beer scene right now. I say impressed because it took Abita nearly 20 years to bottle an IPA. They aren't known for being proactive. Things are clearly changing on the North Shore.
Now if you're reading this Abita people I'm going to give you some advice(whether you ask for it or not)before I get to my review. In my opinion your Select beers are the best beers you put out. Why aren't you bottling them? Seriously, we love Turbodog, Restoration and the others but you could be bottling the Select in 22oz bottles and making them limited to Louisiana. Or not limit them at all. Whatever. It creates more of a demand for your product. Look at the success of your SOS. Come on guys do us a favor and bottle these beers!!!
Alright I'm done dishing out advice. Abita probably has valid reasons for not bottling their Select beers but I'm sure the beer drinking community would love it if they did! Anyways, on to my review:
Brewery: Abita Brewing Company
Beer: Black IPA
Style: American Black Ale(as per BA)
ABV: 7%
Louisiana Availability: Yes, limited. Draft only.
Price Range: $4-$6.
Appearance: Beer poured a nice rich, black with a large, frothy tan head. Lacing present throughout.
Smell: Nice moderate roasty aroma with hints of toffee and molasses accompanied by a nice piney hop presense.
Taste: Wonderful roasted malt flavors with nice hop bitterness. This one is hoppy for Abita but could have been hoppier. Still a good beer though. Perhaps one of Abita's better brews.
Mouthfeel: Medium body with medium carbonation.
Overall: A great brew from Abita. Good job guys!
Score: 4 out of 5 Buddhas
Labels:
Abita,
Beer Review,
Black IPA
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4 comments:
always liked beer than wine or whisky
I am surprised to read that this one is 7%. Did not seem like it and I liked it for that. It almost seemed sessionable.
This is the best Select that Abita has put out. I hate to say it but I am always surprised when Abita brews a good beer. They take so many short cuts with their year round beers. We have a love-hate relationship because they could be so much better - this Select proves it.
I think our love/hate relationship from Abita stems from the fact that we expect them to do better. They are the 15th largest craft beer company in the nation so we know they have the ability. Based on information I was given it seems as if they have a lot in store in terms of experimenting with new beers, oak aged beers, new bottling line, new fermenters, etc. I would expect big changes from Abita to come soon.
Cheers!
BB
I'm from Baton Rouge and drove to check out Abita this past weekend (2/26/11). The first part of the hour long "tour" begins with a free-for-all in a nice air-conditioned tap room. The Black IPA was right in the middle of the 15 or so beers on tap and, since I'm a hop-head, this one caught my eye.
Delicious! I don't actually care for Abita too much so I was quite surprised with this one. Loved the maltiness and the hops, though much stronger than any other Abita brews, were at a pretty good level so that you could still pick up on the complex dark flavors of the beer.
My wife ended up getting me a half-gallon growler that you can fill up at the brew pub whenever you want for $11. Filled it with the Black IPA and it was $14 I think. I wished they bottled this stuff but I'll definitely be making a few more trips down there to fill up the growler some more before it's gone.
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