Abita Brewing Christmas Ale

Despite the lackluster experience I had with Abita's Pecan Harvest Ale yesterday, I chose Abita Christmas Ale as the beer of the day. Based on the description on the label, Abita Christmas Ale is Abita's winter seasonal beer, and is a hop-centric Brown ale built around Pacific Northwest hops.

Abita Christmas Ale had a loose but copious foamy head and poured a gorgeous ruby red in the glass. The nose was interesting in that it had no real character; there was an even balance of bready malt and piny hops, but both were faint and generic.

Abita Christmas Ale opened with a light, lemon hopped front that fizzled slightly in my mouth. The ale had a subtle dry malt background that didn't add much flavor so much as supported the body.

In the end, Abita Christmas Ale wasn't a bad beer... it was just bland, generic, and unable to deliver anything more than a passable session drinking experience. Whereas the character of Abita Pecan Harvest Ale was too overbearing, Abita Christmas Ale really needed to find one before being released. It's especially discouraging that this is their Christmas ale... as it's the equivalent of hoping for a puppy and getting a hamster.