Tap/Bottle: Both

Rule of Citrus: None

If I were any kind of a songwriter, I’d pen a song about a delicious beverage that sent my mind into a haze. Oh wait, that’s already been done, albeit with other substances.  I guess I’ll pack up my 6-string for another day.

Until that day arrives, I’ll keep my vocal lubricated with Abita’s Purple Haze Brew. This raspberry wheat ale is not like Harpoon’s Raspberry UFO, no sir. Hailing from Louisiana, Abita boasts that this beer has raspberry puree added after filtration is completed and that it is made with natural spring water from the Abita Spring in Louisiana. Honestly, if you said tap water I wouldn’t have known the difference.

However the flavor sticks throughout, and you really can tell. If you have this in a bottle, make sure it is pretty cold because the flavor is very predominant. Even on tap you can smell the raspberry when it is put in front of you. As the beer gets warmer, some of the flavor dissipates but still manages to hang on until the end of the pint.

Once again flavor like this needs no citrus. The cloudy haze might make you think you’re drinking a hefeweizen, but you aren’t. This is a really great beer with solid flavor, a tangy sweet aftertaste, which makes it very easy to have at least two or three.

I’m a sucker for fruity beers, and this one ranks up there with Long Trail’s Blackberry Wheat for taste and drinkability. Tap or bottle doesn’t matter, it seems like bottles have a higher flavor concentration. I should know I’ve done the research.