Abita Abbey Ale doesn't ring my bell

I'm arriving home from a dinner at the Alibi Room (the Kogi Food Truck restaurant) where I had dinner with bowling team partner Betsy and then ran into Heather G, who is always a pleasure. The first test of the 10 beers a week rule came tonight, and I passed with flying colors. Thank goodness this was a dinner and not 'drinks,' because 3 glasses of water can only get me so far. HA

For each Abbey Ale bought, 25 cents actually goes to St. Josephs Abbey. Classy move Abita!

Even in the beer, I'm surrounded by church bells ringing

Abita is well known in the south, especially for their Turbo Dog and Purple Haze wheat beer. They have a variety of beers and even make a root beer, but this their only Belgian Style entry. It's a dubbel that clocks in at8% alcohol. It has a fruity smell, caramel body that's lighter than most belgians and is slightly sweet. The light body I feel, lacks a full flavor profile, but its still a decent scrumpet. It's no Belgian Dubbel and won't make you want to ring the abbey bells, but you won't be entirely disappointed. ARMAGEDDON rating.

Abita Christmas Ale for Houston Sunday Funday

Went to midtown to meet Kelle and some old friends for NFL Sunday Funday. We tried buckets of seasonal beers, including many solids Southern brews but I settled on a Louisiana Abita Christmas Ale for my beer o'day.  It's an amber ale, nutty and malty but it didn't really strike me as anything above THE ISLAND rating.

Here are two other beers I liked:

Stash IPA -  it's a dark ipa, fairly well rounded and solid brew from an Austin brewery I'm unfamiliar with but I certainly enjoyed it. Damn Dirty Hippies done good!

Real Ale Full Moon pale Rye Ale (touch of rye malt) - not a fan of rye malt but the 'splash' at the end adds a nice touch to finish, and it smooths out the beer. Dig it.

Also, I discovered that Chuck Norris' ranch in Andersonville Texas is named the Lone Wolf Ranch. My day is complete.

P.S. For the first time I witnessed a bottle being thrown at someone. 1 guy had spilled beer into a girl's purse and didn't apologize, so she chucked a Miller Lite bottle at his back from across the room, which connected and exploded. It was one of those, 'holy shit, did that just happen?' moments. Then we laughed about it later. Oh you crazy ass Texans

Abita Andygator Helles Doppelbock

That beer title is a mouthful. Isn't Andygator something you'd name a stuffed animal? Or a character in TOY STORY? I can just imagine the goofy Dinosaur screaming, "AHHHH! It's the AAAAndy Gator!!!" and then turning around and running straight into a wall. Anywho, here it is.

As I type this up Sunday, I'm watching Star Wars IV (the first one). And I forgot about all those weird creatures and extra CGI Lucas put in on the new DVD's. It's the same movie but because I've seen the original so many times, the additions make watching some scenes a completely different experience. It's fine, it's just not what I expected.

This beer says it's a Doppelbock but if you look at the picture it, it poured much lighter than expected. And the taste was a beast unto itself. It's unique. Not to say I enjoyed it, but it's unique. The taste I couldn't place for some time because I wasn't expecting it, but David made an excellent point and nailed it. The Andygator is crisp with a dry finish. But it's also starchy. I think it's safe to say that this isn't like your typical Doppelbock. The taste is close to a cereal or even a rice based beer. It's very much like drinking a bowl of Kicks Cereal (which are for kids, so I wouldn't dare). The Andygator's odd name alludes to its flavor but to Abita's credit they made a unique beer. ARMAGEDDON rating.

Remember, the Sand People are easily startled but they'll soon be back, and in greater numbers.

Put some Abita Andygator in my Chex mix

About to walk out the door at 8:45 and Walker calls me back to grab today's beer. A helles dopplebock, this is much more on the dopplebock track that I enjoy. The Weihenstephaner Doppler from Wednesday was way too dark for my liking. That being said, there's still a pretty unique nuttiness to the big fat sweet middle of this beer. My glass smells a lot like cereal. It's almost a yeasty taste, can't quite ID it. It's kinda like drinking a beer made out of corn chex. If this wasn't so strong, it might be a good light summer beer.

This beer is River Phoenix brought back from the dead. Distinctively blond, but not a blond. Difficult to pin down, from a "granola" background but fighting to be defined by a distinct liberal character.