By Greg B. With fat Tuesday upon us, you may be celebrating with some traditions of your own.  An annual visit to Mardi Gras, celebrating Carnival with a night of costumes and debauchery.  But if you’re like most folk, you may wish you were at the events, but really be at a local bar to celebrate.  Well, why not open some Louisiana beer and get (one of) the tastes of Mardi Gras?

Abita Brewery is located in Louisiana and produced some pretty good beer, surprisingly enough.  Typically, the farther south, or close to the equator one goes, the more trite the beer selection becomes, full of pilsner and lagers that are a dime a dozen.  However, Abita brews some nice beers, no doubt designed to help the people of Louisiana get through those hot bayou nights!  Here are two beers you want to look out for on this 2009 Mardi Gras celebration.

Abita Bock, 6.5%abv.  An American take on a German beer style, this actually is a nice beer.  Brewed seasonally by Abita and available starting in January, this beer is a good one for mardi gras because of it’s smooth malt character and sweet taste.  It comes in a twist off, so it’s easy access, though you wont be saving the bottles for homebrewing.  Pours (if you’re pouring it in a glass this Mardi Gras) a perfect gold color with a nice white head that recedes slowly leaving little lacing on the glass.  It smells very strong in that typical ‘beer’ smell, not overtly hoppy or malty, but a good balance of all on the aroma, though nothing in particular stands out.  Tastes sweet, with a good amount of body and texture from the malts.  However, this tastes sugary sweet, not so malty sweet, almost like a honey flavor.  I give this beer a 3.2/5

The Abita Jockama IPA, 6.5% abv.  I saw this at Zella’s and had to give it a shot and was very pleased.  It pours a darker gold/copper color, again with a nice amount of bright white head.  The head recedes slowly and was fairly light and foamy.  The nose on this beer was incredible though!  It just exploded out of the glass with citrus and flowers and bright herbs.  Even after walking in the cold outside and getting the obligatory cold-weather stuffy nose, I could easily smell this beer and it was fantastic.   To taste, the beer has some good bitters at the finish but up from there is a bit of sweetness that slowly becomes the bitter flavor.  It is a very nice IPA, actually one of the better new ones I’ve tried recently.  I would order this again in a heart beat, it’s a very drinkable beer.  It’s score is about a 3.9/5.

And that’s what I have for a quick update on Louisiana beer!  If you’re down in New Orleans for Mardi Gras, pick up a few of these or try some other Abita beers.  I’ve had their Turbodog before and it’s quite nice, as well as the Restoration.   If you’re celebration somewhere else, why not reach for a Louisiana beer and give it a shot, just to get a taste of the festival.  It is fat Tuesday, after all