Abita Purple Haze

Rating: 3 out of 10

In yet another Father and Son Thursday night beer review, we head down to south Louisiana and stop back by the Abita Brewing Company. We've visited many times before and we're usually not disappointed. This time, however, we're not exactly happy customers.

The Abita Purple Haze is one of the staples of their lineup and it's touted outright as a raspberry beer. It's pretty readily available anywhere and I've even found it on tap in San Diego. With that said we poured our 12 ounce bottle into an American pint glass and got an initial temperature of 41.2 F. The ABV rates in at 4.75%. We got an average 1 3/4" foamy white head on our pour that dissipated slowly and left virtually no head lacing. There was no carbonation to speak of in the hazy golden body.

It's a little light on aromas - we picked up wheat, vanilla and of course a lot of raspberry. There may also be some other berries in there but we couldn't pull any out specifically. Don't get us wrong, it's a very good, fresh aroma, there's just not a lot of punch in it. The flavors echo the wheat and raspberry, but not the vanilla. We did pick up a touch of lemon as it warms in the finish, but that's it. Initial flavor notes are a light sweet, light acidic and light tart. The finish moves to a very light sweet, light bitter and light tart. The finish duration is short, the mouthfeel is dry and there's a fair amount of body lacing. On the super useful Dr Beer Love patented malt to hop scale it comes in just one click to the left of balanced on the malt side.

Bottom line notes - It's repeatable, drinkable and balanced. It's also memorable because you've probably not had a lot of other beers like it. No on the harmony and wow factor. Ultimately we probably wouldn't buy this again.

Don't get us wrong, we love Abita (probably a little too much sometimes), but this just isn't one of their better beers. It's not complex at all. The aroma is definitely the best part. Though it tastes like beer, it's a bit too fruited for us. The hops may be the only thing that keep it from tasting like Kool-Aid. It may be a good refreshing beer for cooling off, maybe after mowing the yard, but it's not a go-to beer. This is one of the few beers I'd say you should do with a frosty mug, because it's better ice cold, which dulls the taste a bit. Don't let it get too warm.

The reality is (and this may be their target market) it's a good chick beer. A great craft chick beer. It's very unique and it's the first fruited beer I ever had that I actually somewhat liked. That was quite a long time ago though and I'm afraid my beer tastes may have moved on past it.

By John & Dad on August 3, 2008 @ 10 PM with 7 Comments

Comments (7):

I was very sad to see Abita's Purple Haze rated so low here. Although I am biased, as I'm a born-and-bred South Louisianian who once lived a mere 5 miles from the Abita Brewery and graduated high school with their brewmaster.

Not to split hairs, but the brew is actually touted as a "Raspberry Wheat Ale" rather than just a raspberry beer.

I really do enjoy this ale, but honestly it's better out of the tap then out of the bottle. For a long time you could only get it as a draft, and it just tastes richer and fuller out of the keg. I'm not sure if it's just a delicate brew that it best enjoyed as fresh as possible, or perhaps bottling it changes the taste.

If you get the chance, try it on tap and give her another round. Maybe she deserves another point or two.

Posted by Lyell E. Petersen on August 25, 2008 @ 10 AM

Lyell - you make some excellent points! Beers on tap are usually an automatic slam dunk to have at least one point added to their rating. And I've been down to Covington in the last two years (there for business, though both Father Beer Love and I call Louisiana home, albeit North Louisiana) and had an Abita Purple Haze on tap (at an Applebee's of all places) and it was pretty special. Of course that leads to another issue - beers with food versus stand alone beers. I had it with food and some beers just do better with food - this may be one of them (some of the Sam Adams beers especially work better with food).

You also hit on something we've really not discussed - proximity to the brew site in terms of freshness, bottling, shipping, etc. With a beer this delicate that could definitely have some bias. Of course, there could also be some bias in the 7000% humidity in our beloved New Orleans that makes a beer like this just about exactly what the doctor ordered when you're in the Big Easy.

Thanks as well for pointing out that it's a raspberry wheat ale, if I recall the bottle used to say that, but nowadays it just reads "Raspberry Wheat Beer." Wonder why they've downplayed that?

Posted by John on August 25, 2008 @ 10 PM

Good write up! I have this beer on deck myself, and being in NJ I wonder if I'm going to be getting an accurate idea of what the beer is like. Sounds good from the tap, not so hot from a bottle that travels? We'll see I guess.

Posted by Scott on September 8, 2008 @ 10 AM

tasted purple haze at the disney world food and wine festival...since i do not like beer at all or liquor for that matter....this beer hit the spot...i could not get enough of it...it was similar to a dessert drink...loved it....

Posted by ruth on November 16, 2008 @ 8 AM

Ok, I was about to write about my poor experience with Purple Haze and decided to Google it first and see what others thought, thus my post. Was extremely disappointed with it. It had no body and didn't seem hold the taste well. Seemed like it was cough syrup and carbonated water. With the premium I paid and to mix up the variety at my tailgate this weekend (with beer sophisticates), I was exceptionally disappointed with the bottled variety.

Posted by Jim in State College on November 18, 2008 @ 9 AM

This is my third favorite beer. First is Guinness. Second is Abita Amber. Personally growing up in New Orleans, I am a little biased to Abita. They always have great tasting beers. I have tried Purple Haze in both bottled form and on tap. I have to agree that I prefer it on tap. If you have only tried it in bottled form you do not get the full experience of the beer I think. If you have the chance try it on tap. I think you will like the outcome alot better

Posted by Nick at LSU on November 28, 2008 @ 2 AM

Nick @ LSU - Thanks for the comments. I am a big fan of Abita too. I see your favorite is Guinness, my favorite Abita beer has to be their Turbodog. I call it stout light. Geaux Tigers!

Posted by Dad on November 28, 2008 @ 5 PM

Abita Purple Haze

Comments (7):

Post a Comment