#SippyTimeBeer Review – @TheAbitaBeer and @SaintArnold

St Arnold Weedwacker

Naturally when I went to New Orleans for Wrestlemania, I drank beers made in Louisiana or in one case Texas since I don’t live there. I have had Abita before since it’s distributed in 46 states. I haven’t seen much of their beer outside of Purple Haze, which I avoided drinking while down there since it is the only Abita I have drunk before. I’ll cover Abita & Saint Arnold (Texas beer) today with the flights of beer at the New Orleans breweries coming next week. I did miss the NOLA Brewery but we only had so much time. Let’s get to the reviews.

Saint Arnold Brewing Co. –  Weedwacker – My lady and I went to Emeril’s for our first meal after getting into New Orleans. I told the staff I wanted a refreshing beer and asked for a hefeweizen. The beverage ended up being from Houston, Texas. I can’t get my hands on stuff from Texas all the time (I’m looking your way Shahid.) so I was fine with drinking it. Saint Arnold has a similar beer called Lawnmower, which is a kolsch, but because they swapped out kolsch yeast for hefeweizen yeast, this beer is a hefeweizen. It did taste a little more hoppy than a normal hefeweizen. In my opinion, kolschs tend to have just a bit more hops even though both styles are low in it. I liked this beer but it didn’t blow me out of the water because of the odd hops tinge which only gets it to 15 IBUs which usually isn’t noticeable but is because of the lightness of the wheat beer. It has a 4.9% ABV so one can drink it for a while. If you want to try it yourself, they are only available in Texas, Louisiana, Colorado & Florida.

Abita StrawberryAbita Brewing Co.Strawberry – This beverage was my follow up beer. I had to start drinking Louisiana beers and what better than drinking the most popular kind. I went with one I had never heard of because it’s their Seasonal Harvest beer. It was a nice and refreshing beer. It is very thin which isn’t too much of a surprise from a lager. Not surprisingly, it has a prominent strawberry flavor. I think Abita does a fantastic job with fruit beers. This beverage has a 4.2% ABV and an IBU of 13. If you like fruity beers, give this one a try as long as it’s available.

Abita Brewing Co.Amber – As anyone who has read the site, they know I love my ambers. I remember my buddy Geoff Towne, brewmaster at Zauber Brewing, that one beer that I love, Eliot Ness, had more malt than a normal Vienna lager. After drinking this Vienna lager, I understand exactly what he means. Eliot Ness has 27 IBU while the Abita has 17 IBU but I swear that the hops is more prominent in the Amber than in Eliot Ness. It is probably because the malt is so much heavier than what is in the Amber. It is still a good beer but to me it isn’t as good as Eliot Ness. More malt is better in Kevin’s mouth. This beer is a year round offering so pick it up unless you’re one of the 4 states that don’t get Abita.

Abita Jockamo IPAAbita Brewing Co.Jockamo IPA – Jeremy, his lady & myself had a crazy drinking night on Saturday while my woman slept off her sickness. Because of a Hand Grenade, one plus Resurrections and a 190 proof shot from Dave the Fireman, who supposedly was in the front row at Wrestlemania, and several beers prior to that, I had a bit of a hang over on Sunday. My headache was still persisting when we went to grab food before going into the now infamous Silver aka Super Dome. At Daisy Duke’s, Jockamo IPA was my beer of choice. When I initially tasted it, I thought there was too much hops in it. As I drank it though, it settled in and started going down much smoother. I think that my hang over was still causing problems for my palate because the IBU was 52 which is quite low for an IPA. This beer is another year round beer so if you’re an IPA fan, drink one of these bad boys.

Abita Andygator

Abita Brewing Co.Andygator – This beer was the last Abita I had. On their site, it’s listed as a big beer but I got a 12 oz. It’s an interesting beer because it’s a Helles Doppelbock. Helles beers are normally lighter, pilsner like beers. Doppelbocks tend to be darker and thicker beers, similar to porters. So it was surprising to see the two words put together. Abita used pale malt, German lager yeast and German Perle hops to come up with this concoction. It provided for an interesting taste that I enjoyed. I’m quite sure I haven’t tasted a Doppelbock like it before. Because it is that style, it comes in at 8.0% ABV and an IBU of 25. This beer is my favorite non-fruit Abita Beer. I believe it is now available everywhere since a friend in Cleveland said she had it in her refrigerator. I saved the best for last, by chance.

Here’s a cool link from Wired.com about a new glass to enjoy your stouts more properly. If you’re a serious stout drink, I think you owe it to #SippyTimeBeer to spend $9 on this excellent item. I will also be going to North High Brewing this weekend with my lady’s father so there’s another article in store on top of more New Orleans beers. Have a good weekend! – Kevin

 

One Response to “#SippyTimeBeer Review – @TheAbitaBeer and @SaintArnold”

  1. jackkastor 2014-04-12 at 9:34 am #

    I’m so envious that you got to witness the Showcase of The Immortals! I’m sorry if you had your heart broken, like I did watching live on TV right here in Nottingham, England.

Leave a Reply