Abita Brewing – Mardi Gras Maibock

…OR MAYBE THIS beer is why Abita doesn’t call Andygator a Maibock, since they already seem to have one in Mardi Gras. The two beers do share plenty: roughly amber color, comparable pale grain base, a malty center, and 25 IBUs derived from balanced additions of Perle hops. There are also some appreciable differences: Mardi Gras is ‘only’ 6.5% ABV compared to Andygator’s 8%+ and also features more crystal malts to deepen its color, push their kilned grain flavors forward in the profile, and boost the body to middling. While fuller than the nearly-dry Andygator, Mardi Gras is not especially robust; a 12 oz bottle still contains only 80% of Andygator’s calories (an approximate gravity stand-in, lacking Plato figures).

As those malts come forward so do the hops sit back a little, too—still noble for their lower bitterness and slightly spicy bouquet, but more generically leafy than crisp and overall less prominent in the finish. They remain substantial enough to balance the creamy caramel flavors of the midpalate, though, and strike the right balance against moderate carbonation levels. Alcohol is faintly present in the finish, which is a little sticky though none too long. Mardi Gras is altogether rather tame compared to its off-kilter larger cousin, to say nothing of the holiday it’s named after. Yet it’s composed with enough balance to be pleasant drinking and just sturdy enough to keep up with milder gumbos.

Served: 12 oz bottle

Rating: 81

Abita Brewing – Andygator

ONE WOULD USUALLY expect an 8% ABV bock with an attacking alligator on its label to be a swampy monster of a beer. And yet Abita’s Andygator pours a clear gold, capped with a generous white, and finishes dry enough to be recognizable as a lager. It’s called a ‘helles doppelbock’, which plays off the style’s traditional suffix of –ator while also nodding to Abita’s Louisiana provenance. Clever. But perhaps ‘imperial maibock’ might be closer to the beer’s actual character. The classification ‘doppelbock’ has such strong associations—bready, malty, full-bodied—that Andygator’s light body, gentle grains, and nuance of Perle hops seem tepid in comparison. Once style preconceptions are put aside, though, Andygator can be enjoyed as a distinct and rather well-balanced strong lager, mildly hoppy with refreshing grain at its core.

Fairly high pinpoint carbonation combines with a light body to keep the beer’s mouthfeel smooth and more balanced between than most bocks, which tend towards medium-plus bodies and maltier flavors. Andygator does have sweetness to show—primarily honey and some orange from a dose of crystal—but the focus overall is on highly-fermentable pale malts and the clean, almost transparent fermentation of a lager yeast. Thus the mouthfeel tapers steadily from the midsection to a nearly dry finish, making room for cereal grains (perhaps some Munich?) and earthy, slightly spicy Perle hops that snap a little (25 IBUs). The alcohol slides into the finish, surprisingly mild for such a light body, especially when the beer’s actual ABV is rumored to be considerably higher than the 8% on its label.

Andygator’s overall impression is distinct, strangely attractive even as it confounds the fundamentals of doppelbock. Perhaps the term also helped Abita separate the beer from the adjunct-laced boozy bombers that usually come to mind when one thinks ‘malt liquor’ or ‘strong euro lager’. At least in smaller doses, Andygator’s ingredients and layers of flavor inhabit a plane above those thoughtless throwbacks—and also Abita’s own Purple Haze.

Served: 12 oz bottle

Rating: 80

Abita Brewing – Purple Haze

IT’S ODD TO be so ambivalent about so unequivocally subpar a beer as Abita’s Purple Haze. Fermented as a lager with substantial wheat in the grist, it’s then finely filtered and dosed with raspberry puree. The result is light golden tinged with pink, scarcely hopped (13 IBUs), and 4.2% ABV. Its aroma is suffused with fruit, tarter than ripe raspberries but still red and sugary, while also hinting at floral hops (Vanguard, an American derivation of Hallertauer Mittelfrüh) and faintly of pale grain. Not very promising, really.

To be sure, fruited wheat beers can be delectable, even enlightening, as evinced by Belgian precedent and American innovation. But Purple Haze has virtually none of that depth. It’s a summer spritzer, a party drink, like a mild seltzer mixed with a cloying dollop of fruit juice concentrate. The thin fizzy head dissipates swiftly, the malt base is hardly present, and a scant dose of bitterness pokes up in the finish. It’s deviously easy to quaff with hardly a thought, perhaps whilst tooling about the yard on the John Deere lawnmower or cavorting through the brick streets of the French Quarter on Mardi Gras. Its refreshing combination of sweetness and tartness appeals directly to the primal part of the brain that craves sugar.

It’s perfectly reasonable that a drink should exist for these purposes. But it can be done more tastefully than this. Too, there’s no reason this flavor profile needs to contain alcohol but as an excuse to get buzzed. Purple Haze shares more with sugary vodka mixers and binge-worthy alcopops than conscientiously crafted beer, where ingredients are chosen for flavor and alcohol is natural byproduct that can deepen and intensify a beverage—not just be a headache waiting to happen. If judged solely as easy refreshment Purple Haze would earn higher marks; on principle, though, it barely passes.

So where does the ambivalence come in? When Purple Haze is put down and Abita is taken up instead. The brewery was founded in 1986—making it one of the nation’s oldest—and this “malt beverage” has been an essential contributor to that longevity. The southeast is a challenging market for craft, and even today Abita is one of a scant handful of significant producers in the region. So while one might argue that recipes like Purple Haze haven’t done serious craft beer fans any favors, perhaps this fitful pinkish beacon is better than none at all?

Served: 12 oz bottle

Rating: 62

Great Lakes Brewing – Eliot Ness

AT THIS POINT it’s hard to find a member of Great Lakes rotation that hasn’t won scads of awards. Each of their year-round beers has at least three gold medals from World Beer Championships (some more like 10) and could easily be the brewery’s flagship if its peers weren’t of comparable worth. Dortmunder Gold is reportedly their top-seller, but its lead over its brothers is declining. Perhaps this is only appropriate: the idea of an ensemble cast just seems right for these Midwestern stalwarts.

Still, if any beer were to take that crown from Dortmunder, it would likely be Eliot Ness, a robust lager of 6.2% ABV colored a marvelous deep amber, crystalline clear and with a straw-colored head of medium-sized bubbles. Its aroma is clean, not quite noble but still a little earthy (single-hopped with Mt. Hood to 27 IBUs) with some crisp minerality and the light graininess of Munich malt. Higher temperatures and a few swirls bring its sweeter side to the fore, showing caramel, pecan, and a little biscuit. Two kinds of caramel malts combine with Munich and Harrington in a substantial body (est. 3.5 Plato), full enough to assert itself early on the palate but light enough for the carbonation and small dose of alcohol to leave the finish full of sensation instead of residue. A light leafy bitterness last for a while, persistent though not growing in strength, making this beer a flavorful foil to moderate fare and refreshing enough to be enjoyed alone. A touch more assertive than its original inspiration, Eliot Ness remains balanced and dapper. Quintessential Great Lakes.

Served: 12 oz bottle best by 1/25/14

Rating: 91

Leinenkugel’s – Hoppin’ Helles

FREELY ADMITTED, Hoppin’ Helles is hardly a world class example of the style. Yet it has to count as a step up from Leinenkugel’s other year-round brews. And while it may give an American twist to German precedent, at least this time the focus is on fundamental beer ingredients instead of added sweeteners. Thus a slightly skeptical cheers goes to the quasi-craft appendage of MillerCoors for ensuring a serviceable option in bars where craft has limited currency.

Hoppin’ Helles is neither particularly hoppy nor much of a Helles, but at 27 IBUs it is Leinenkugel’s most assertively bittered beer (Big Eddy small batches notwithstanding). This is tragic. At least they chose well this time, including a quintet of cultivars such as Citra and Simcoe, well-known for their pungent citric and catty aromatics. Here they’re applied with a relatively light touch, enough that they could almost be mistaken for noble at first—a little floral, not quite spicy, with a bit of lemon zip. Fresh, in any event.

Returning somewhat to continental precedent, the beer has a slight bicarbonate edge that underscores the bitterness and crisps the finish. But the body overall is too light, lacking in texture, aroma, and fizzing out a little aimlessly with the carbonation. A stronger aroma of grains and stiffening of the body (just a bit) would have helped given the beer a firmer anchor on the back half. As of now, it’s almost more a pleasure to the nose than it is the tongue. A poor Helles, if a decent lager.

Served: 12 oz bottle

Rating: 77

Veteran Beer Co. – The Veteran Lager

IT’S NOT OFTEN that a brewery’s session lager is more assertive than their core pale ale, but so it goes with Veteran Beer Company. Whereas their Blonde Bomber is a non-descript American blonde ale, featurelessly round and a little watery, The Veteran lager cuts a confident, more commanding figure. Veteran is a brand new company launched just in November of this year with a mission to employ only US veterans; headquartered in Chicago, they brew from a facility in Cold Springs, Minnesota. Providing ranges for characteristics like color (10-15 SRM) and bitterness (20-26 IBUs), it’s likely that recipes are still being tweaked.

The brewery calls The Veteran an amber lager, but as of recent sampling its color is more a pale yellow. No argument about its positioning, though, as an approachable session lager of light (but not too light) body, average strength (5% ABV), and good balance. Its aroma is pure—pale grains with some light background hopping—suggesting a clean and efficient fermentation. Carbonation is fairly assertive and carries through well into latter-stage bitterness from floral, slightly spicy hops. The finish is crisp with some small mineral impression, making the most of that pure Minnesota water. Solidly sessionable, The Veteran should far and away outperform the Bomber. But thus far it seems Veteran’s success will depend more on its principle than its product.

Served: 12 oz bottle

Rating: 84

Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan – Korbinian

THE BAYERISCHE Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan, aside from being the world’s oldest continually operating brewery (est. 1040), is broadly regarded as brewing the world’s best Hefeweissbier. The ‘Bavarian State Brewery’ also makes several other estimable wheat beers (e.g. the Weizenbock Vitus and a dunkelweizen), but none can compete with the flagship for sheer delightfulness. If any Weihenstephan brew has a chance at that throne, it might be their doppelbock, Korbinian. Within the confines of Bavarian tradition the two could hardly be more different: Hefeweissbier is a light-bodied, highly-effervescent, refreshingly fruity, straw-colored wheat ale; Korbinian a sweet, earthy-brown, heavily-malted, ‘liquid bread’ lager. Yet the two recipes are still comparable for their focus, cleanliness, clarity, and an overall excellence that is simply inspiring.

Korbinian pours an earthy and almost vibrant brown with ruby hues at the edges, hinting at a clarity that is hard to make out at its dense core. Apparent carbonation is fairly low, both in the glass and on the palate, and the retention of its tannish head merely modest. It presents well, but is frankly not quite equal to its bottle label, which is among beer’s most appealing.

The fruitiness prominent in some doppelbocks is restrained here–perhaps some figs and a bit of red berry in the aroma but relatively little on the palate, where cocoa and slightly husky grains lead the way. The body is rich and pushing full (estimated around 5 Plato), leaving a little residue on the lips like sweet wort. Unambiguously shaded towards specialty malts, it blends dry cocoa, rich melanoidins, and even a few coffee tones atop a rustic base likely heartily dosed with Munich.  Its finish is protracted and toasty, though still sufficiently clear to reflect its lager fermentation and a long cleansing rest. Yeast residues are untraceable and the 7.6% ABV completely masked. Hops must be somewhere in here (32 IBUs is hardly miniscule and actually high for the style), but they make virtually no impression on the palate. Like many quality doppelbocks, Korbinian is also a coup with food: roast root vegetables such as beets and parsnips, herbed potatoes, barley risotto, and bone-in pork are all magnificent pairings that it embraces like closest kin.

Unfortunately, for all its virtues Korbinian can’t quite unseat Hefeweissbier as Weihenstephaner’s best. Nor does it emerge as the world-beater of doppelbocks—that honor still goes to Ayinger’s Celebrator. For all Korbinian’s depth, it is less dynamic and coasts a little too easily compared to Celebrator’s animated, inspired conclusion. Nonetheless, it is still a leading example of the style and a worthy member of Weihenstephaner’s august lineup. And at only two-thirds the price of Celebrator, Korbinian may also be the superior value.

Served: 500 ml Bottled December 12, 2012

Rating: 92

Brauerei Aying – Celebrator Doppelbock

PAULANER’S SALVATOR may have defined the modern doppelbock, but Ayinger’s Celebrator has come to dominate it. Adorned with red twine and a white goat trinket, this full-bodied dark lager is also one of the most iconic and well-named beers on the market; opening each bottle is a ceremony, as if it were a gift.

And deservedly so, for Celebrator is a world-class doppelbock that deserves to be treated with patience and even some pomp. Once its wintry white cap is popped, the beer pours an alluring garnet color with a modest yet highly tenacious and ultra-fine head that is borne up by persistently beading bubbles. Its aromas, naturally, are deeply malty, caramelized to red, and pricked with dates, cola, a few subtle floral notes, and licorice. On the palate it reigns in the fruitiness to deliver a cleaner, more grain-focused flavor (husks, bread crust, a little toast) bracketed with molasses and coffee. The mouthfeel is full of classic German crystal malt, dextrinous but not gummy, and each sip is capped by a touch of that creamy head.

Then, befitting its lager fermentation, Celebrator kicks into its second act with alacrity. Its effervescence gains momentum and bits of citric oil and phenol combine with a hint of flinty water to sweep away some malt sweetness, leaving the finish a little woody and almost dry. This graceful a pivot is remarkable considering that Celebrator’s body is unusually full, even for the style (estimated 5.5 Plato). With such limited attenuation its 6.7% ABV is among the lowest of any doppelbock currently produced, and yet it never tastes too stuffed or sweet. A feat of magic, really.

Still, Celebrator is still not a beer likely to be quaffed by its lonesome. Yet its combination of thick malts and assertive, almost spritzy finish make it a surprisingly flexible beverage. Its effervescence refreshes the palate enough for the last bite of beef stew to be as stimulating as the first, and the combination of hearty malt and tangy carbonation would make an attractive pairing for game with robust sauces, reductions, or chutney. Indeed, for any seasonal spread between Oktoberfest and Easter, arriving with four Celebrators in hand will guarantee one a warm and esteemed welcome.

Served: 33 cl bottle

Rating: 95

Great Lakes Brewing – Dortmunder Gold

JUST AS IT IS meet that Great Lakes Brewing be responsible for one of America’s best Oktoberfests, it is equally fitting that their durable reputation should rest upon the shoulders of Dortmunder Gold. The usually modest Cleveland brewery allows itself some pride over this recipe, which dates back to their establishment in 1988 and has anchored their year-round rotation ever since. Each bottle’s label depicts a Great American Beer Fest gold medal, making it clear that its name refers less to its straw-bright color than to its many accolades. With more than a dozen gold medals (mostly from the World Beer Championship), Dortmunder edges out the highly respectable Edmund Fitzgerald porter as Great Lakes’ most decorated brew. So—whence all this fuss?

Admittedly, Dortmunder doesn’t have much competition. While Rheinland staples like Kölsch and Altbier can readily be found outside of Der Vaterland, Dortmunder lager is relatively overlooked by brewers and drinkers alike. Happily, this beer’s fortune depends on more than just exclusivity. It pours with an appealing clarity, plenty of visible effervescence, and a wispy white head that dissolves with a tasteful hint of merengue froth and the lightest note of its 5.8% ABV into a crisp, mineral-tinged finish. The aroma is fresh and nuanced: clean light grains and a little spice and citrus. True to its style, the malt profile is a little more prominent than a pilsner though not quite as dark as Vienna lager—2-row pale and caramel 60 alone are enough to provide its base, color, and just-medium body. The hops are American (Cascade and Mt. Hood), reasonably based in tradition but a little more assertive and appropriately suited to the slightly elevated body. Overall it’s a surprisingly characterful but still easygoing companion, drinkable in summer and beyond. Quintessentially ‘nice’, at the risk of sounding blasé over what remains one of America’s best lagers.

Served: 12 oz bottle best by 12-28-13

Rating: 92

Victory Brewing – Prima Pils

THE CARD: two breweries from the class of ’96 clashing in a duel of cocksure pilsners with an alliterative twist. In the Northwest corner, Firestone Walker’s Pivo Pils, whose name derives from the very Czech word for ‘beer’. In the Northeast corner, Victory Brewing’s Prima Pils, confidently declaring its top spot in the pilsner ordination. Some leads simply write themselves.

In addition to its claim to general primacy, Victory’s Prima classes itself as a hoppy pilsner, and that at the least is the unequivocal truth. After a conventional pour—quite clear, a golden yellow, with a white lacy head that plumes but doesn’t last—it opens up a refreshing and assertive bouquet. Alongside its clear malt aroma, still fairly mild like fresh pale malt or dough, earthy and spicy hops are clean and invigorating. Its body is nimble on the palate but not tepid, and the hops develop a little herbal or nearly menthol kind of texture that’s intriguing and hard to place.

Overall its focus is still on refreshment, though, and despite its bold talk up front Prima Pils doesn’t overstay its welcome; the finish is appropriately crisp, well-carbonated, and delicately brushed with soft water. In nominal terms, these qualities seem hardly to distinguish it from Firestone’s Pivo, but as with all pilsners the difference is in the small, nearly inscrutable details and here Prima comes out the victor. Indeed, it is rightly celebrated as one of the US’s premier pilsners, if admittedly a little pushy about it.

Served: 12 oz bottle

Rating: 91