re: What is this boards opinion of Abita

They’re great at making wheat beers with fruit in them. That’s not a knock. Purple Haze and Abita Strawberry are refreshing beers.

Amber was the first beer that I drank as a teen and thought “I don’t hate this”

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They discontinued Golden a few years ago - great bottled beer for tailgates and other mass consumption events.

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I liked Golden

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I was at Abita one time for a Bday party with unlimited access to all of their taps for free. I left without a buzz. They even had some experimental beers and they were all bad

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They added more taps since the days of free beer (a secondary tap wall with the experimental stuff). Leaving without a buzz would be pretty close to impossible now with usually 3-ish Andygator mods on tap.

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What is this boards opinion of Abita

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They are the OG craft in Louisiana, and one of the survivors of the first bubble in the 80s/90s. They are essentially royalty of Louisiana craft beer. They specialize in lagers, but make a few ales as well.

But....

They were left behind (innovation wise) in the craft wave boom of the 2000's/2010's. They waited too long to diversify and frankly don't know how to brew anything other than their core beers. My opinion, is that they thought that IPA was a fad and it was going to die out, so they did not attempt to brew one (they brewed jackamo back in the day and it was awful). But then, say around 2016 or so, they realized that IPA and New England IPA styles were part of the beer scene now, and a huge moneymaker for most breweries. They've attempted many and they were all pretty meh. I haven't had any of their IPA's recently, but i've heard they turned a corner about a year or 2 ago and while they still aren't close to the best in the state, they are adequate and serviceable.

Their bread and butter is amber and abita strawberry. I was a fan of purple haze back in the day, but nowadays, i don't bother with abita. I'll drink it if i have no other options. I may have a couple strawberry's at a crawfish boil, but other than that, i completely skip them.

They have the size, equipment, and you would think, the knowledge, to brew any one style very good. But they can't compete with the lagers of Parleaux. Or the hazy's of Parish, Rally cap, Cypress Coast, etc...

They thrive because of name recognition, and the same reason the big 3 are still so popular in Louisiana (bud, miller, coors). It's because it's what the locals know, and "it's what i've been drinking since i was young", which is fine. They are big enough to survive any more bubbles, however, and the aforementioned locals keep them with a steady stream of revenue, moreso than the smaller craft beers that us beer "nerds" love.

Personally, I don't think they make terrible beer, by any means. Turbodog is considered a very good beer by most. But, they don't move the needle on the excitement factor, IMO. They make their beer, and they are good at making the beer they make. But you won't find the intense ale flavors, or any of the subtleties of a well made pilsner from Abita, like you will smaller craft breweries. Maybe they are a victim of size. Maybe they don't care and have a winning strategy of what they are doing. I'm not saying they don't care about making great beer, moreso they make their beer their way, and the flavors they desire, are what you get in their beer. I just don't care for most of their beers, and are sort of a last resort if the only options are Bud, Miller, Coors, and Abita.

The root beer is where its at.

I'll just copy/paste my normal comment on Abita since it comes up from time to time:

There was a time when Abita reigned supreme. They were a big fish in a little pond. Now they're a decent sized fish in the ocean. When the second craft beer wave got going, they focused more on scale than uniqueness. That's perfectly fine, and they're probably making money hand over fist. Amber, Turbodog, and Andygator are perfectly fine beers, and once or twice a year I crave one of those.

Most of the time when they step outside of their comfort zone, it's a miss. They particularly have trouble with more hop-forward beers. Most of that is probably due to their scale. They have a wider audience they cater to, so they can't be as bold as some of the smaller outfits in the state. It's a lot of money on the line to end up with a shelf turd. Just is what it is. I don't hate them.

That reminds me it’s Mardi Gras bock season. The beer itself is whatever but the bottle is pretty sweet to cruise around the parade route w/.

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I don't drink abita often, but when I do its an abita amber and I always enjoy it. It doesn't knock your socks off or anything its just a quality beer.