The Spring Beer Tourey: # 1 Anchor Bock vs # 10 Abita Bock

      This is another # 1 vs # 10 seed battle.  Abita Mardi Gras bock has been a surprise for me, it's pretty good. Anchor Bock was last years runner up.  Anchor is a brown color with honey, caramel, mocha and prune on the nose.  Abita has really nice flavors of honey, caramel and citrus.  It also has a nice bit of body to it.  Anchor also is awash with good  flavors as well.  Mocha, prune, dried fruit, citrus and smoke.  This is a very strong dark bock, nice.  These are both quite good,but this Abita Bock is a real revelation.  I could drink a hundred of each of these, but I'll have a hundred and one Abita Bocks.  Boy not a good year for the one seeds.  Abita moves on to the Elite Eight.

The Spring Beer Tourney: # 7 Glissade vs # 10 Abita Bock

      This is NOT a play in game, it's a first round game.  In ours Bocks Plus bracket we have a first round match between #7 Sierra Nevada Glissade and #10 Abita Mardi Gras Bock.  Glissade was ok last year they were in the elite 8, but their X-mas beer sucked so they get a 7 seed.  Abita gets a 10 seed based on their stunning inconsistency.  Glissade is a pale straw with caramel, citrus herb nose. Abita is dark gold with a strong honey nose.  Glissade is nice, with caramels, herb a touch of honey.  But the aftertaste is a bit off.  Mardi Gras has honey, caramel, citrus and a hint of mocha.  This is really good,it's woefully under seeded.  Let's see if the Glissade can compete.  Sierra Nevada is a pretty good bock, the flavors are really good, but I still have an aftertaste issue.  Mardi Gras Bock has no real flaws, great flavor, a big winner.  This is a very dangerous beer in this tourney.

Abita Abbey Ale

      Abita has been a disappointing brand for me,  but this Abbey Ale looked good.  They also caught my eye with 8% ABV.  Abbey pours out a nice dark amber with a strong caramel, spice and yeast nose.  The flavor is bursting with caramel, coriander, and sort of raisin berry.  The caramels are what shine, even mitigating that coriander flavor I'm not to fond of.  This is a winner, good big flavors, body and booze, what's not to like.  Abita could win me back with nice beers like this.  I say go drink Abbey Ale and be merry.  

Abita Christmas Ale

      Abita of course is out of New Orleans which is a lovely town that smells like pee.  I question their ability to make a Christmas beer, but we shall see.  Light brown with herbal hop, caramel, spice and yeast.  Holy Christ, here is our first massively over hopped mess.  There are some malts and hints of spice, but they are tragically overwhelmed.  Abita you have proved me tragically right.  This beer sucks, I don't like it, don't buy it.  Boo.  Oh, the bottle sucks.

Summer Beers: Satsuma vs Red Sky at Night

Satsuma is a wheat beer from Abita, brewed with fruit and spices. There are oranges on the bottle so I'm assuming that's the fruit, but it doesn't say. Red Sky at Night is a Belgian farmhouse style wheat beer from the people at Heavy Seas . I admire Heavy Seas because they like to put more alcohol in their beer, 7.5% here. They are my friend. The Satsuma pours out a pale orange juice. Seriously. It has a citrus, tropical fruit,and mild hop nose. Red Sky is clear straw with a strong bitter, apple and yeast nose. The Satsuma tastes like a classic white ale, which is a shame as I dislike this style in general. There is citrus a bit of hop and that strong off yeast flavor I hate. It's O.k. I guess if you like this stuff. No wait, the more I drink the less I like it. Every bottle of this garbage should be poured in a ditch. Did I mention how much I like summer beers. Any way. The Red Sky is very fruity with mild hop throughout,and some caramels. The flavors are strong, but it has a bit much farm in it for me. It's a drinkable beer although I can't conceive of why they put this out as a summer beer. This is clearly a spring style for me. Neither of these beers is worth much. The Red Sky is at least decent, though. Oh well, the only summer beers that have stood out so far are the Wacko and the Summer Solstice. I'm gonna take one more look at those, then I am done with these awful summer beers.

Abita Andygator Helles Doppelbock

Abita is a brewery just outside of New Orleans and any business down there could use our patronage. I generally like things that say doppel or trippel, because those are happy words that mean more alcohol. This is of course the case with Andygator, 8% ABV. Andygator pours out a light to medium gold and has a mild honey and floral nose. It also tastes a lot like it smells, strong honey with floral notes and caramels. The hops keep a low profile at first but build very late on the finish. I actually kind of like the way they creep up on you it's different. This is a nice beer with something interesting to it and well worth giving a look. I don't think this earns a spot in the rotation but I might revisit it again sometime. As I get down to the bottom, I have to say smooth and likable, just like me.