Abita Brewing Company’s “Turbodog”

Located about 30 miles north of New Orleans, the Abita Brewing Company has been pouring choice ales since 1986.   As there is 18 inches of snow on the ground in our sleepy Midwestern town, I had to reach for something dark and powerful to get through this frigid night.  Abita’s Turbodog, a 5.6% ABV and 28 IBU black ale served that purpose well.

Dark and mysterious, the Turbodog sticks to your bones like a wrack of ribs.  Smoky and sweet, these ribs have been slow cooked and baked with a toffee rub.  The rub used to season these ribs wasn’t too sweet, like the sweet nectar of the Sweet Baby Rays, nor was it spicy.  It was dark like molasses.  The Turbodog uses Willamette hops, the same hops that I used to drive by every day on my way to work.   Not overly hoppy, 28 IBU’s is low, the dark roasted malts are the hallmark of this ale.  The dark roasted malts give the ale it’s mysterious nature, rolling like thunder clouds over the prairie town.  Turbodog’s label, black with silver grain overlaid, conveys its serious nature.  As an aside, I love the Abita packaging.  As you can see in the picture above, the carrier envelops each bottle so you can’t drop them.  It has two small holes for carrying ease which I find convenient.  The box and packaging engineers have outdone themselves this time!…..

Abita uses only yeast, barley, hops and water, the only four ingredients allowed under the German purity law, to make Turbodog.  HTNL appreciates the purity law because it forces better brewing practices and keeps nonsense to a minimum.  Fruits belong in a salad, not in a beer.  But, if one adheres to the purity laws, quality of ingredients is crucial.  Abita’s water, specifically, is of the highest quality.  Drawn from a deep well, millions of years old in the Southern Hills aquifer, the waters are magical and make for great beer.  According to the Abita website, the pristine water is even free of man made Tritium… a radioactive isotope popularized in Spider Man 2 … I believe Doc Ock was often looking for Tritium and even kidnapped Spider Man to get it!  So you know it can’t be good for you…

Aside from Turbodog, Abita has other fine ales you can sample from.  Their amber is also stellar and has often passed my refrigerator shelves.  In an industry where Southern breweries are sparse, Abita is holding it down in Louisiana!

Cheers!

HTNL rating of 7.3/10