Abita 18th Star Biere de Garde:
Bonjour a nouveau everyone!  Okay, I promise no more French after today, but this is a special occasion.  A few times a year (if not less), Abita puts out a premium draft beer that is only available at select restaurants and bars in the New Orleans area.  Tonight we review one of these beers, 18th Star Biere De Garde which is an unfiltered French farmhouse ale and means “beer that has been kept or lagered” and is aged 3 months before distribution.  The beer arrived via tap in a nice chilled pint glass from my bartender as I was researching the beer’s name, which is in two parts, the latter being divulged already and then there is the “18th star“.  Anyone have any guesses?  Anyone?  No?  Alright here’s one for the cocktail party conversation circuit: 18th star refers to Louisiana, the 18th state to join the union and which is celebrating it’s 200th anniversary of statehood in 2012.  How about that, you’re getting a beer review and an education.  You can thank me later.  The beer’s is very light in color, almost a white beer and the nose is of citrus and wheat.  The taste is the interesting, being more akin to champagne than a beer with a lot of carbonation and a very dry aftertaste.  The flavor is a heavy wheat one with a back note of lemon that lingers throughout the sip till the dryness takes over.  Very impressive, wish this was more widely available, but then again, maybe not. If the was then it’s unique flavor might have been compromised by mass production and we wouldn’t want that issue.