I happened upon this beer by chance during a beer run and exchange with Eli and Erik from BeerTapTV. I traded one of my brews for one of these. Today's beer comes from the Abita Brewing Company of Abita Springs Louisiana just north of New Orleans and is called Turbodog.
Turbodog is a dark English Brown Ale by style and weighs in at 6.1% ABV. For you calorie counters, Turbodog has 168 calories per 12oz serving. Older versions of Turbodog were 6.1% ABV, today it's more like 5.6%.
I had never tried a beer from Abita Beer before so I was looking forward to it. Abita Turbodog was brewed with a mix of pale, crystal and chocolate malts and was dry hopped with Willamette. The brew was then fermented with some German Alt yeast.
Originally, Turbodog was one of Abita's specialty beers but it quickly became one of their most popular brews and now is one of their 3 flagship beers.
Turbodog poured a very dark brown with reddish highlights. I served this cold out of the fridge and it left a small, less than a finger tall, light tan head that quickly disappeared. This beer seemed to have a very low amount of carbonation as well.
Being a darker beer, I knew to let this beer warm up a bit before sampling. The hop smell became a bit more apparent as it warmed up. Strangely enough, I couldn't get much of a smell out of this beer. I could detect the dark malts but it wasn't very dominant in the aroma.
The taste reminded me of molasses, some coffee and caramel malts. It also had a mild spicy hop bitterness.
One thing I noticed was shortly after the first taste my mouth began to salivate heavily. It left my mouth with a strange feeling that I've not experienced before. The water they brew with must be a bit different as to trigger a mouth watering effect.
In this sample, I can only describe Turbodog as nutty but somewhat flat. It burped with little aroma or taste. The brew slightly coated my tongue.
For a brown ale, the flavor just wasn't all there for me. I expected a bit more sweetness and maltiness but rather I got more roast. I bet this would have tasted much better on draft with a bit more carbonation. However, by the end of the glass this brew was starting to get a bit better.
I suggest drinking this beer fresh and well carbonated (on tap would be best) and not too cold else you risk masking the flavor. I ended up liking this beer but couldn't help think it could have been better.
I'll give this beer a Thumbs Sideways rating for now with the desire to try this again later. Brown ales aren't as flavorful as other styles so seek this out if you are looking for a step up from a typical session beer.
Did you have a similar experience with this beer? Think I just got a semi-flat bottle? Let me hear your opinion in the comments below.
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This article came from FermentedlyChallenged.com
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Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Abita Turbodog review
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I've seen this before with some of the Abita beers that made it too far out of Louisiana - including an Abita Purple Haze. I assure you it's a much better beer than you had and I'm not sure why yours was flat. On tap in the French Quarter with spicy Cajun food (I'm guessing the way it was intended) is one of the all-time experiences. Of course it's got to stand alone as well, but this one hums with real Cajun cuisine. Red beans and rice, any etouffee, any gumbo, heck anything with a roux calls for this one! Of course I'm from Louisiana so I may be a little biased!
ReplyDeleteWhenever I give a beer review for a beer that I didn't initially give a thumbs up rating for I always intend to revisit the beer at a later time. I understand that conditions of the beer before I bought it weren't under my control and that it may have simply not stored properly. I'll be sure to try this beer again.
ReplyDeleteDave, yeah, I think you'll find Abita does brew some good stuff. My favorite is actually the Turbo Dog, but their amber is tasty and they released a new Pecan ale that is kinda wacky, but worth a try.
ReplyDeleteIt's good to see more people checking out that place.
Cheers.
Dave,
ReplyDeleteMost definitly a beer to try when in my neck of the woods! As you know, all beers are better when closer to their respective brewers. Ain't nothing better with a big ol' pile of spicy crawfish than some Abita! They'll be coming out with their big beer series this January. They'll be bottling Andygator and their Abbey Ale in 22oz bottles! Can't wait!
Cheers!
The Beerbuddha