Abita Andygator

When a long-time friend of the Brew Blog and best man at my wedding not only makes a beer suggestion but hand delivers the brew straight from the bayou, I am more than eager to run it through the strict taste testing found here at the CU Brewquarters.

After hearing for over a year and a half, how good Abita’s Andygator is, I finally came into a bomber of this southern specialty brew and it was one of the most interesting/difficult beers I’ve had the privilege of describing.

Upon opening the bottle, I was instantly greeted with a heavy smell of bread. This beer literally reminded me of what my parents’ house smelled like as a child whenever my mom would make homemade bread on special occasions.

Past that, not much was easily identifiable. My taste buds kept ranging back and forth somewhere between the high “maltitude” one expects while drinking a Mickey’s and the distinctly cloudy pale undertones of orangey citrus one gets that first time you tasted a Blue Moon.

For me personally, like most beers heavy on malt, it is an acquired taste. Seeing as a typical pull of Andygator trended towards a grainy taste that quickly cedes way to the malt, I found myself having to readjust every time a citrusy flash came through.

Abita Andygator comes in at 7 mugs out of 10.