We interrupt my notebook clearing for a live review. The kicker is I bought about 8 bottles of Abita's Jockamo IPA when I came back from offshore, which you'll see in a later post, and yet I kept forgetting to review it in my book. I'm now down to the last bottle, so I figure I'll just slap this one directly on the blog.
If you'll recall from my last New Orleans post, I kinda felt bad I did not get to Abita's IPA before I had to leave the city. Damn shame for a guy who is a hophead. If I recall, I ranked the Restoration Pale Ale as the best beer I had in the NO. Well, too bad, b/c I like the IPA over the Restoration. So here we go...
Bottle pours into dimpled glass. Good burnt orange color with a light tan strong head. Smells of flowery hops, a slight hop bite (maybe from Cascade), and some caramel malt. Front of the tongue is light malt, with stronger bitterness coming in the back of the tongue. It's not wet on the mouthfeel, but kind of gritty. It is of medium-low bitterness based on the IPA's that I've had. It's certainly more than Restoration, but it's very good. The more I drink it, the more I'm getting the citrusyness (is that a word) of the hops, yet it a nice malt balanced. Well done for Abita. I can imagine many hopheads would say this is closer to an English or regular pale ale on the bitterness. The aftertaste is slightly bitter and lingering, but no real harshness to it. It kind of reminds me of the Broken Halo, but a little lighter.
Review of Abita Brewery.
Well, I've pretty much now had all the beers I could find for Abita. They have the regular seasonals (Bock for Spring, a Christmas Ale for Winter, and a Red Ale for late spring), and I've only had the Summer (Wheat). Of course in New Orleans, there is no such thing as Winter, so it's all kind of Spring or Summer. Lake Affect my ass. Abita's beers seem to be on the lighter side for all brands, which probably works well for the hot times in French quarter. I'm not sure how popular they are in Acadiana (Cajun country), but pretty much all their beers work well for walking the city streets while looking for loose women to flash for beads, not that I do that type of thing. I honestly think their beers would work well for nationwide expansion, especially their Purple Haze and Turbodog brands. The names are awesome, and they are subtle yet tasty enough to curve off a little market share from Miller, Bud, Boston, and the Mexicans. Hell, I could see someone naming their Soccer club Purple Haze. I look forward to trying Abita's seasonals. As Louisiana is a second home for me, I hope to see a little more out of New Orleans. I particularly look forward to NOLA opening up.
Be on the lookout for posts on my homebrews, a lager and an IPA. I will also document my adventures in building a big arse kegerator. Lastly, I'm thinking of documenting my next two weeks of no beer. Should be fun.
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