Abita Christmas Ale

Brewed by Abita Brewing Company
Style: Amber Ale
Covington, Louisiana USA

Appears a red amber with a small white head that quickly fades into a small collar. Smell is malty, bready, with a sugary, corn syrup aroma standing out. Taste is of the same aromas albeit kind of weak with mild honey in the mix somewhere. Mouthfeel is watery, cardboard-ish, with an off, flowery funkyness in the finish.

12oz bottle shared courtesy of weeare138. Poured a medium amber color with a small sized off white head. Aromas and tastes of caramel and just all around earthy. I really didn’t get too much out of this one and wrote down all around bland. Thinner body.

Pours a clear orange pink color with a nice amount of froathy white head. Aroma aint too hot: mostly just some caramel malt and a slightly hayish sour undertone. Flavor too is off the mark: slightly nutty and sweet, but mostly stale overcarbonated sweet brown sugar thats watered down. Overall, very subpar.

Bottle. ’05 Pours with a ~1cm. off white head. Color is a nice reddish amber. Clear. Head disappears quickly. Definite spice in the nose. Very light at first, almost watery, then a little spicy then a caramel / nutty maltiness going down. Light, dry mouthfeel. Just OK as far as winter / x-mas ales go.

05, I assume (different label from the one pictured - silver label). Clear dark amber pour with a generous rocky off white head. I can smell hops from 8" away from my glass. Grassy hop aroma, upon further inspection. As I swirl the beer and take a big whiff...YIKES!...I smell my nephew Alain’s dirty diaper. Wait, let me try this again, maybe I am mistaken. DAMN. nope. still smells like dirty ass. Well, I guess I will try a little. Hope it doesn’t taste like it smells. Tastes to me like an english pale ale. Kind of muted hop flavors, needs something to make them jump out at you. They are there, maybe just confined by that damn diaper, I don’t know. Sweet malt along with hints of toasted malts. This could be a decent beer with a little tweaking, to bring those hops out better.

05: Deep copper; mostly clear; thinnish head. Medium body. Quite a bit of toast throughout. A little sweet corn follows in the finish. Subtle aromas of wood and smoke and spice. Cracker-like, whole grain characteristics build over time. Grassy-herbal bitterness in the aftertaste. Some off-flavors of cardboard, and it’s a little flat-flavored, if that makes any sense.

Eh. That is about all I can say about it. Not much aroma and even though there is a nice hoppy bitter finish there is too much grain corn taste.

What the world needs more of (and certainly this beer does) is more head. Dissipated very quickly. Very little aroma and tasted flat. Maybe the bottle...I don’t know. A very uninspiring brew.