It’s a sign, I suppose, when a craft brewery decides to make a light beer. A sign that they’re going after a market that their usual beers likely won’t appeal to. That market, of course, is made up of the health conscious consumer who is counting calories and watching his or her weight. I’m not a believer in light beer. I think it is the very anathema of what beer should be all about, namely, taste.

Boston Beer Company has a winner on their hands with its Sam Adams Light, though that beer at least does have some flavor. So, it only follows that other regional brewers would produce their own light brew. Louisiana’s Abita Brewing Company is no exception, and their Abita Light is their entry into the light beer world.

Abita’s beers are ubiquitous in New Orleans. Abita Amber is widely available on tap in the Crescent City, thought the light seems to be a beer that will be more popular in bottles. Abita Light is cold filtered rather than pasteurized. To its credit, Abita Light is adjunct free and made with only barley malt, hops, and a German lager yeast. It has 119 calories per 12 ounce serving and 8.2g of carbohydrates.

As such, this is a beer that may appeal to those counting carbs and calories, too. But how does it taste? Let’s find out.

Abita Light pours to a pale golden color with a medium sized spritzy head formation and a faint touch of malt in the nose. There is a very light amount of malt in the palate, along with a faint hint of the creamy nutty flavor found in Abita Amber. The beer is fairly clean overall and benefits from the lack of adjunct flavors. Unfortunately, the flavors here are too light for my taste. In the finish, a very subtle kiss of hops is barely perceptible. The beer finishes on the watery side.

As light beers go, this is one of the better ones. If I were drinking light beer I would still prefer a Sam Adams Light, though. And of course, Abita Light only saves you about 20 to 60 calories or so per bottle, depending on the beer you usually drink. My advice is to drink something with more body, and drink one less bottle or glass. Or just walk off those extra calories.

Still, as light beers go, I can certainly recommend this one.



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