Our Tastes-- Abita Amber

Let's go Abita Amber. Pouring a frothy light brown head with a nice light/medium brown color. It smells of a malty bevvy ripe for the drinking. This was the flagship brew of Abita and continues to be a fav of the N.O. area. Made with crystal malt and Perle hops. The head clears quickly leading me to believe that maybe the artesian water has something to do with it. A nice brew again that Indiana still begs for after a sample herself.

Our Tastes-- Abita 20th Anniversary Pilsner

Going from the light side to the dark, next up is the 20th Anniversary Pilsner (no listing on the site to link to). This one pours a color much like the Golden with a quickly dissipating head. The hop aroma is nice but the taste is truly a break away from the usual Abita beer. Artist James Michalopoulos captures the original brewery on canvas for this six pack and bottle label. Made with America hops this one is a must.

Our Tastes-- Abita Purple Haze

Next up is the Purple Haze. See the IVAN Hurricane Special edition post for this one.

First time I've been able to cite myself!!

Our Tastes-- Abita Golden

I told you another sample pack tasting was coming and this time it is the Abita Party Pack. This past year it came packed with 2 Golden, 2 TurboDogs, 2 Amber, 2 PurpleHaze, 2 Christmas Ale and 2 20th Annivery Pilsners. The Golden is our 1st of the pack. It pours a nice golden straw as the name implies made with only pilsner malt, german lager yeast, Hallertauer hops and of course the artesian waters of Abita Springs. The head dissipates quickly and so does the aftertaste. This is a great summer brew, reminiscent of Sam Adams Summer Ale. It has a clean, crisp taste that even Indiana approves of and sports a great green crown. Something to be said for having an eye-catching crown....

Beer and Ice Cream?

What a strange combination. That is something I would not think of going together.

While down at the beach last month as I lie baking in the sun, I was asked by the brew master if I could make some home made ice cream. So I quickly agreed without knowing what kind he wanted-- because I love Ice Cream!! So here it is Labor Day weekend and I am making Wake N Bake flavored Ice Cream. He found the recipe in the Southern Brew News. If you are not familiar with the Wake n Bake Oatmeal Imperial Stout it is a combination of the two "breweries" Terrapin and Jittery Joes (coffee). This special blend includes premium coffee beans from Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Zimbabwe. It is dark in color having a rich coffee smell with an abv of 8.5%.

This was a very simple recipe. Heavy cream, a 120z bottle of Wake N Bake Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout, Sugar, Cocoa Powder, and Egg Yolks. Heat it up and pour it in the ice cream container. Unfortunately the alcohol is burned out. Then the magic happens.

The ice cream smells just like the beer! It looks like chocolate ice cream but looks can be deceiving-- it does not taste like chocolate! I think that you have to be a fan of the Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout to like this ice cream. So grab a spoon because the ice cream is done!

Our Tastes-- Dominion Ale

This beer is quite a bit more hoppy than it's predecessor a few gulps ago. It pours a light brown (just a shade under Milo's tea) with light foamy head. This brew has a slight malt flavor to it as well and when looking into its profile is actually an EPA not an "American" ale per se. This is Old Dominion's largest volume brew using Perle, Williamette, & Mt. Hood hops from the Pacific Northwest and English Kent Goldings. It's fermented with American ale yeast (probably like Wyeast 1056) in the German Kolsch-style-- warm, fast fermentation with slow maturation (sounds like me at 19;) 4.7% abv and not my favorite but well worth trying.

Our Tastes-- Dominion Lager

This beer pours a nice lager color of light straw and was the perfect start to some Labor Day BBQ and brew enjoyment. Shortly after pouring, the head dissipated leaving simply a light foam on top. The aroma was awesome. Not to delve a blow to Old Dominion but it has the perfect "lager" aroma, like when you pour a Budweiser. We all know the TRUE smell I'm talking about, it makes your mouth water (like cookies when you were 5). Oddly enough it also had some weird sediment to it but it didn't look like yeast, may have been malt since thye use German pilsner, Munich, Carapils, & Caramel. GOld in 97' at GABF and 5.4%abv.