Abita Andygator

Brewed by Abita Brewing Company
Style: Heller Bock
Covington, Louisiana USA

Comes out of the tap a nice clear amber with a decent white head. Aroma is mainly malty with a strong hoppy undertone and a sharp hint of apple, like hard cider. Flavor is malty and ciderish with a strong but not overwhelming alcohol nip and just a touch of honey sweetness. Mouthfeel is smooth, and it fairly dances on the way down.

22oz bottle. Gold pour with a white head. Yeasty, spicey aroma. Interesting flavor, can’t really place it off hand, not horrible, but not something I would drink again really.

Pours golden with a mostly maintained foamy white head. Tastes of sweet malt, cookie, bread dough, metallic lager yeast, and bitter herbal hops. Mouthfeel is full bodied with lively carbonation.

Pours hazy golden brown with a fairly big white head. Aroma is malty and sweet, and slightly fruity. Taste is malty with a slight bitter finish at the end. Not too bad.

GOT IT IN A GROWLER. POURS A NICE GOLDEN COLOR WITH PLENTY OF HEAD. VERY SWEET TASTE HONEY,CITRUS AND HOPS. THE HIGH ALCOHOL CONTENT IS WELL HIDDEN. VERY GOOD BEER.

Is this the same beer that others have rated so low? 22 oz bottle pours a golden yellow color with a white head. Aroma is honey, sweet, malt, hop, and grass. Flavor is malts, bitter hop flavor. The alcohol is masked quite well.

Pours a light yellow with a frothy white head. The nose has some sweetness, mildly beady, spicy herbal noble hops, light alcohol, grassy. The flavor is malty, bready, light grassy feel, spicy hop bitterness, light alcohol. Palate is dry and spicy hops. Not too bad for Abita.

This poured out to be quite a good looking beer, with pale golden body, three finger thick head, and excellent clarity. That being said, it looked nothing like a typical Dopplebock, but since it’s a Helles version of it, I’d let that slide. The smell was sweet honey, banana, bubblegum. and aged Cheddar like hops, in other words, far more typical of a Belgian Pale Ale than a bock. The taste was delicate, sweet, and well balanced. I could detect fruits in the form of banana, pear, and pineapple, but they were mostly fleeting in nature. I was most surprised by the spicy and relatively aggressive hop character. This is something that one would not expect in a Dopplebock, much less in one from Abita. This was certainly not liquid bread for lent, but it was deliciously made, so I overlooked all the non traditional aspects of the taste. Light and runny on the palette, and not much heft to indicate the potency of this beer. If you can cope with something unexpected, and take it how effective it is versus what you expected it to be, this beer might do it for you.