Abita Andygator

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

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.

clear gold under a small white head. drab corny aroma. flavor has alcohol, corn. surprisingly bad. burning, sharp, dry, tasteless finish. aweful.

Very pale golden beer. Aroma is loaded with fusels and corn. Higher alcohols, pale malts and other sweet nastiness. This is a malt liquor, not a doppelbock. Really terrible.

Draft at the brew pub. There just isnt much sense in making a high gravity brew if you cant make it taste good. I thought this was awful. Slightly bitter, strong Euro hops. Very strong flavor, but not balanced and just not very good.

Draught at Sunset Grill, early 2008. Wasnt sure what this was at the time of drinking it, but thought it was some Belgian Strong Golden, though I suppose a heller doppel bock is reasonable. It says fermented to a dry finish, and while I wont call it overly dry, by any means, its not obnoxiously sweet and the alcohol isnt overbearing. Warming allowed for some DMS like flavors and the hops never really made an appearance, but for some floral, lightly dusty notes upon opening. Not offensive, though Im rating it more of a Belgian ale than a doppel bock, which it dosent really resemble in the least bit.