Founded in 1986, the Abita Springs Brewing Company is nestled in the piney woods 30 miles north of New Orleans. In its first year, the brewery produced 1,500 barrels of beer, and they had no ideal what they were embarking on! In 1994, they outgrew the original site (which is now their 100-seat brew pub), and the brewery moved up the road to a larger facility to keep up with the demand.
Currently they brew 125,000 barrels of beer plus 8,000 barrels of root beer annually. Their lagers and ales all are brewed in small batches, hand-crafted by dedicated workers with only the highest ideals of quality. This, their brewing processes, and the fact that Abita Springs is blessed with the purest of water drawn from deep wells, creates their great brews.
Clubs of America is so very glad for its relationship with Abita Brewery, the oldest and largest craft brewery in the Southeast, and one of the oldest craft breweries in the United States. Hats off to them for “giving back” – charity fundraisers, donated beverages for local events, etc.
Abita Restoration Pale Ale was born after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita spared the brewery, but devastated its neighbors. Abita Brewery contributed $550,000 to the recovery effort, and continues to lend a hand. It’s brewed with pale, caramel and carepils malts, liberally hopped. This golden ale has a rich body, mild bitterness and snappy citrus hop flavor and aroma.
A lager brewed with real raspberries (added after filtration), Purple Haze Raspberry Wheat has a fruity aroma, is tartly sweet, and if you look closely, you may see fruit pulp!
Featured Beer from Abita Brewery:
Restoration Pale Ale and Purple Haze Raspberry Wheat
www.abita.com
PALE ALE – Abita Brewery’s Restoration Pale Ale: Top-fermented pale ales are expected to be amber to dark in color, with medium alcohol. You can’t miss their snappy citrus hop flavor and aroma. This one is blessed with a rich body, too. Mildly bitter, the citrus flavor makes it the perfect partner for most fish dishes or American, Muenster, Havarti or Monterrey Jack cheeses.
LAGER – Abita Brewery’s Purple Haze Raspberry Wheat: This month’s only bottom-fermented brew, lagers are aged for several months at very cold temperatures, which gives them a smooth, refined taste. (The word “lager” means “to store.”) Best served very cold, straight from the cooler, with salads, fruit or desserts.
