The Swill: Abita Amber Ale and Abita Purple Haze
The Still: Abita Brewing Company
Abita Springs, Louisiana
http://www.abita.com/
The Drill: Amber Ale: Munich style lager, 12oz bottle, 4.5% ABV
Purple Haze: American wheat beer with raspberries added, 12oz bottle, 4.2% ABV
The Spill: When a brewer uses terms like "slight" or "delicate," they usually mean nonexistent. Thus is the caramel flavor of the Amber Ale. However, slight is a good thing when it comes to the Purple Haze. Unlike the previously mentioned Wild Blue, the drinker at least knows they've got a beer in their hand, and not a wine cooler when they're drinking it. Unfortunately, it's a weak beer that tastes a little like raspberry. Neither brew is big on character, or hops for that matter. Appropriate for the timid, but boring to the adventurous.
Says Bill: Just like Scoville units measure spiciness in chili or a habanero pepper, they also have a measurement for bitterness in beer, appropriately named the International Bitterness Unit, or IBU. It generally runs on a scale of 0 to 100. The higher the IBU rating of a beer, the more hops that were added, and the stronger and more bitter it tastes. Many great beers have high IBU ratings without having a hoppy sting however, because it's well balanced with malts. More of everything, in other words, which is usually not a bad thing. These two beers have extremely low IBU ratings: the Amber Ale rates a 17, and the Purple Haze a 13. Bland.
Refill: Raspberry is not just a flavor of beer, it's the sound I make when offered one of these: Amber Ale: 1 tap out of 5; Purple Haze: 1 tap out of 5.