Beer - Abita SOS - Save our Shore - A Charitable Pilsner

Perusing the shelves of a local beer and wine shop, I found a beer that brought back memories of college in the south. I couldn't decide what to buy, but seeing a familiar name with a good cause behind the bottle made my decision for me.

Since 1986, the Abita Brewing Company, located 30 miles north of New Orleans in Abita Springs, Louisiana, has been brewing delectable treats such as their well known brews of Turbodog and one of my favorites Purple Haze. In their first year, Abita produced 1,500 barrels of beer. In 1994, they outgrew the original site and moved just up the road to keep up with demand.

Today, Abita brews over 109,000 barrels of beer and 6,000 barrels of root beer in their new facility which is just a short drive from their old site which is now a brew pub that features their 18 beers (which include 8 mass produced/flagship brews, 5 seasonal ales, 3 harvest beers, and 3 “Big Beers”) and root beer.

Abita Springs, LA, offers the purest of water from deep wells (according to the website), and the brews are created with no preservatives, additives or stabilizers during the cold filtered process. Together with the water from Abita Springs and malted barley (both British and North American), yeast strains (from Germany and America), and hops (from the Pacific Northwest), Abita has become the largest beer producer in the south.

I can remember nights at the University of Alabama, sitting on porches and sipping Purple Haze (a raspberry-wheat beer at 4.2% ABV) as the sun set on a hot day and nights in the French Quarter in New Orleans drinking countless pours of Turbodog (a malty brown/amber ale at 5.6% ABV) to get the night started. The beer I chose today was SOS (Save Our Shore – A Charitable Pilsner at 7% ABV) which was new, but came with a name I could trust not to let me down.

After a BP oil rig spilled thousands of gallons of oil into the Gulf Coast Region of Louisiana, Abita decided to give back to their community that helped them grow into what they are today. Working with the Louisiana Seafood Promotion - Marketing Board (LSPMB), Abita established the “SOS – A Charitable Fund” to assist with "the rescue and restoration of the environment, industry and individuals fighting to survive the disastrous oil spill." Abita has given back 75¢ for every bottle sold.

The brew is an unfiltered, Weizen Pils (a German style Pilsner), made with Pilsner and wheat malts and dry hopped with Sterling and German Perle hops which produces a gold color, a sweet malt flavor, and a gratifying bitterness and aroma. Since this is a Pilsner styled brew, it is extremely easy to drink, and though this style of beer is usually best consummed in the late Spring/early Summer, it offered a refreshing get away from cold and snowy Washington, DC.

Not only is this a great brew, but it gives us all a chance to help the cause while sitting back and enjoying a great beer and the ensuing buzz. Pick one up today and give back to a struggling community. You wont be disappointed.