This weeks brew review comes from Abita, a brewery located in Abita Springs, Louisana, 30 miles north of New Orleans. Founded in 1986 by Jim Patton and Rush Cumming, two home brewers who wanted to turn their hobby into a vocation. 27 years later Abita produces over 151,000 barrels of beer per year and sell their beer in 46 states as well as Puerto Rico. They are currently the biggest craft brewery in the United States south of the Mason-Dixon Line and make quite good beer. Now you get to hear about the beer voted in 2005 as the best beer in America by Stuff magazine. Enjoy!
Abita Turbodog
Availability: All Year Long
Serving Type: Bottle
ABV: 5.60%
Appearance: Pours a deep brown with two fingers of fluffy white head that fades fairly quickly, nice chunky lacing on the glass. Almost has a ruby hue when looking at the glass from the side.
Smell: The nose is just loaded with malty notes. Pretty sweet nutty aroma with hints of milk chocolate and some caramel with moderate roastiness. Quite inviting so far.
Taste: Up front with a little smoke and coffee, very pleasant tasting. Hops and malts were in great balance. The finish had faint bitterness and more of the toasted character. A bit more roasted and bitter in the flavor than the aroma suggested.
Mouthfeel: Smooth and creamy with a medium to lightly heavy body. Moderate carbonation levels and body. Feels similar to a black lager with the dark flavors hanging on.
Drinkability: Very drinkable and satisfying brown ale. Definitely well crafted and very tasty. Was pretty easy to drink with a good balance of sweet and bitter. Goes down very easy.
Overall thoughts: Thoroughly enjoyed this beer. It’s a solid English brown that doesn’t get boring after a few pints. If you like an easy drinking malty beer that packs a punch (pretty decent ABV, too) then grab a six pack of Turbodog. Around $8.99 for a sixer, tough to beat for a decent craft beer. Bottoms up, y’all!
Freshness Rating: 7.7/10
