Abita – Grapefruit Harvest IPA, Andy Gator, Abbey Ale, SOS, Mardi Gras Bock & Amber – SAMPLING

Any who knows me, KNOWS I really like Grapefruit brews…so you can imagine my surprise when a great care package arrived from Abita that included their Grapefruit Harvest IPA.  As if that wasn’t fun enough, Abita also included Andy Gator, Abbey Ale, SOS, Mardi Grad Bock & Amber.

As you can see below, I immediately took a bottle of the Abita Grapefruit Harvest IPA out into the fresh foot of snow that just fell to chill it down….and I was glad I did.

Of course we sampled the Grapefruit Harvest IPA first and of course it was good.  The combination of Cascade hops and Ruby Red Grapefruit (from Louisiana) really makes for a pleasing combination…in fact you’ll have trouble telling which citrus flavor is coming from hops and which is coming from the fruit.  Mix in the pilsner and pale malts as well as the partial wheat malt and the mouthfeel matches the great flavor and aroma.  At 6% ABV, this is a real IPA in my book, and with some wonderful flavors on board, this beer is a new favorite.

Over the next few days we also sampled the others, and I’m really excited to see what Abita is doing.  Andy Gator is a Helles Dopplebock that uses German lager yeast & Perle hops.  The aroma is sweet, the flavors are deep & complex and the finish is dry.  This beer leaned toward the sweet side, but with the dry finish is is really drinkable…but be careful….the 8% ABV will sneak up on you.

I haven’t had a chance to see SOS (Save Our Shore) yet so it was a lot of fun to sample.  This charitable Pilsner benefits the Gulf Coast recovery and it’s also a really unique brew.  SOS is a Weizen Pils that uses Sterling and German Perle hops so the aroma and taste are really pleasing.  SOS also leans toward the sweet side a bit, but the variety of hops chosen for this beer really make it easy to drink and well balanced.  I was surprised that this beer is 7% ABV, because it’s really easy drinking.

Abbey Ale was a great punctuation mark to our first sampling.  Abbey Ale has a caramel & toffee nose with a little raisin and spice to balance it out.  The color is darker than I expected but very pretty.  Abbey Ale has some classic flavors of Belgian yeast and the rich sweetness of a traditional Dubbel.  The finish is spicy and at 8% ABV, this one will also sneak up on you.

We started tonight off with Abita Amber Ale.  This Munich Style lager also uses Perle hops and crystal malts, so the flavors balance out nicely.  It’s no wonder this beer is Abita’s best seller.  The flavors and balance are really easy drinking, and at 4.5% ABV it leaves a lot of room to drink.

We finished up with Abita Mardi Gras Bock.  This seasonal bock also uses German Perle hops (a common theme with several Abita brews) as well as pale, caramel & pilsner malt.  This beer has the aroma and mouthfeel of a traditional Maibock, and the flavors really back that up.  For fun, we paired it up with some really great Swiss cheese, and the pairing was wonderful.  Mardi Gras Bock is 6.5% ABV and 25 IBU so it is really drinkable and a beer you should definitely check out.

A big thank you to Jaime and everyone at Abita for sending up the samples.  Naturally I loved the Grapefruit Harvest IPA the most, but I really enjoyed the others, and you should check them all out for yourself.  Abita has a really great selection of beers, and I personally can’t wait to see what will come next in the Harvest series.
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