I'm sure there are few people anywhere in the world with any regular access to the media that aren't aware of the complete cock-up by BP in the Gulf of Mexico. This is perhaps the worst environmental oil disaster to date. And, as if they needed more of a kick in the head, yet again the fine state of Louisiana is forefront in the list of disaster struck coastlines. Well, one fine brewery is doing their part to help.
Abita Brewing Company in Abita Springs, Louisiana, just north of New Orleans has launched not only a fund raising campaign to help clean up the Gulf shoreline but with this initiative comes one stellar beer. Abita developed the "
Save Our Shores" (SOS) campaign to do just that - raise money to help the cleanup effort. They offer a fine T-Shirt and a baseball cap as well as some other small items but most importantly to we beer nuts is their "Save Our Shore - A Charitable Pilsner". Abita donates 75 cents from the sale of every bottle to help in the cleanup of the Gulf shores.
While the beer sells for quite a high price (at least here in Texas), it is worth it - it's a bigger bottle (22 U.S. ounces) and packs a wallop at 7.0%. The Charitable Pilsner is classified by the brewery as an "unfiltered Weizen Pils", a mainly Pilsner style beer with a good addition of Wheat Malt to complement the Pilsner Malt. Unlike most Pilsner beers, it is hopped as well as dry-hopped with Sterling (somewhat similar to Saaz) and German Perle hops. This is not a beer for the faint of heart. As one would expect, the beer is light golden in color with a smooth taste belying the amount of alcohol in the beer. The hop profile comes through but is not overly assertive. This is one fine, big beer. So go and get some and help clean up our shores.
This is not the only beer Abita has produced related to the disasters that have befell Louisiana. Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc all along the Gulf Coast. Abita has produced "Restoration Pale Ale", to celebrate the resilience of the people of Louisiana in restoring their communities. Restoration is brewed with Pale and Lager (Pilsner) Malts, Crystal Malt, and CaraPils. It is hopped and dry-hopped with Cascade hops and fermented with a California style yeast which yields a very clean finish. It is golden in color and has a nice hop finish, again more subtle than overbearing.
I first fell in love with the Abita Brewery after having tried their "Amber" and "Turbo Dog" beers some years ago, both, at least in my mind, modern American classic beers. Whenever I go to New Orleans, outside of the occasion obligatory Hurricane, I always drink Abita Amber wherever it is available. To me, it ranks among the finest beers in the U.S. along side Anchor Steam, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, and a number of others. They also produce a great Root Beer and one the best Christmas Ales available anywhere. Go and check them out if you haven't already and be sure to get some SOS beer and other items.
Yours Aye!
Neil
