Abita Andygator

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

Serve in Lager glass, Shaker, Stein

650 ml bottle. Golden body with a nice, dense white head. Aroma is quite mild but pleasant, fruit, flowers and slightly perfumed. Flavor is mild malty, fruity, a bit sweet and moderate bitter. Decent without being great.

Clear golden color in the glass. Light cereal grain malt aroma. Not an overly complex palate, but somewhat refreshing.

20-Jul-09 (22-oz bottle: Purchased 28-Jun-09 for $4.49 at BevMo in La Jolla, CA) The beer delivers plenty of sweet, grainy malt aromas, and the dusty hops smells like old books, although some cheesiness develops over time. One the palate, the entry is very malty and the finish sees the malts balanced with floral hops, but it’s also fairly sweet. In fact, it’s quite a bit more on the sugary-sweet side than most German examples, and that’s where this beer falls down. The maltiness is medium in body, but the cloying sugar makes it seem increments thicker. Carbonation is moderate. As you’d expect from a helles bock, the beer is crystal clear and bright golden in color, and the creamy white head pours to half an inch before slowly retreating in rocky fashion to a filmy layer and wide ring. Seemingly like all the Abita beers, this one is drinkable, but not all that great. It bears a decent resemblance to the intended style, but because of the sugary sweetness, doesn’t pull off the trick quite well enough. In the end, it’s worth trying, but better helles bocks can be found.

Appearance: clear golds with brushes of amber. Orange pithy head is mousse and bubbles, sticking generously to sides of glass. Steady stream of bubbles. Swirls leaving a spidery web of lace all along the sides, not much head.
Nose: stewed fruit skins, a bitter-sweet spiced boozy delight; peaches, apricots, and mango. Husked grains along edges and underneath. Nutmeg and cinnamon powder. Bread crust, biscuit cookies.
Palate: sweet first then quickly followed by spice before drying into a warm finish. Peaches and their skins up front and personal, sticky and sweet. Woody in the back swallow. More apricots along with peach, mango, and a smidge of kiwi, stewed of course. Coconut underneath with the woodiness which mingles well with the husk of raw coconuts. Apple skins slide in and slide out. Orange honey adds to the stewed spiced goodness. Solid lingering warmth in the chest which creeps gently up the neck.
Final Thoughts: Abita tends to get a bum rap from beer geeks but I personally find them quite alright, sometimes even great. Some are better than others sure, like the Andygator, which I have enjoyed quite a few times since my first tasting.

A clear, golden pour with a rocky, white head. The aroma is somewhat boring with wheat dominating. The medium body is smooth with average carbonation. The taste is sweet with some alcohol in the finish.

Slightly murky yellow with a small head. Some loose lacing noted. Aroma is lemony, grassy, malt. Taste is sweeter than expected and this sweetness hurt the points some. Push the hops a little more and this would have been a decent drinker.

Bottle. Head is initially average sized, frothy, white, mostly lasting. Body is medium yellow. Aroma is lightly to moderately malty (toasted grain, husks), lightly hoppy (flowers), with notes of cotton candy, marshmallows, DMS. Flavor is moderately to heavily sweet, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly to moderately sweet, lightly to moderately bitter, slightly husky, slightly unclean. Medium body, watery/oily texture, lively carbonation, lightly to moderately alcoholic. Ugh. Smells like a cream soda mixed with a swill lager. Drain pour.

Bottle.Pours golden with a white head.Aroma of yellow apples, floral , fruitiness, honey and malt.Flavor is sweet and fruity with some caramel notes.Sweet finish, medium to full body, average carbonation.