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

Beer Review: Southern Tier Iniquity

Road trips are the best. I love visiting other cities and towns. Getting to experience their culture, food, drink, etc is an incredible thing. Sometimes we get wrapped up in our own world and never get this experience.

My wife and I have been married for nearly 13 years and we've made it a point since day one to try and take big and small trips throughout the year. Being a beer nerd one of the things that I like to do when planning a trip is to check on the breweries, beer stores and beer bars available in the town/city we are visiting. It's pretty easy to do thanks to the internet. It's real easy if you utilize Beeradvocate.com's Beerfly Directory

Anyways, on a recent trip to Orlando to visit my family and take my kid to Disney we made a stop at The Liquor Loft in Tallahasse, Florida. I wrote about that store here. On that trip I was lucky enough to grab some great beers. One of them is Southern Tier's Iniquity which is a Black IPA or Cascadian Dark Ale. I just got around to writing a review on it so here ya go:

Brewery: Southern Tier Brewing Company. Tells you pretty much everything beer related you can do in a given town.

Beer: Iniquity

Style: Black IPA/Cascadian Dark Ale(per BA)

ABV: 8.9%

Louisiana Availability: NONE

Appearance: This brew pours a nice dark black with ruby highlights. The head is a nice and frothy tan color. Lacing present throughout.

Smell: The aroma has a nice piney hoppiness with hints of citrus and roasted malt, chocolate and caramel.

Taste: GREAT brew! As in the nose it has a nice hoppy bitterness with hints of roasted malt, chocolate, caramel and toffee. The roasted malt in the IPA really creates a well balanced brew.

Mouthfeel: Medium body with medium carbonation.

Overall: Incredible brew!!! The Black IPA is a style we're seeing more of and I love them!

Score: 4.5 out of 5 Buddhas

Cheers!

The Beer Buddha