Barney
Abita Brewing Co.

 

RB transfer

 

Pours a hazy amber color with a nice head and lacing
Aroma has raspberry and malt hints
Taste has a raspberry and malt flavor
A medium bodied decently carbonated beer
A good Fruit and Field beer

Well I gave Andygator a 3.75 and the purple Haze a whopping 4.17 so to meet in the middle this one to me a blend of the two is like most have said drinkability of the purple Haze but with more alcohol by volume. It's not bad there is no off putting flavors and the price is right I could see this going over well with binge drinkers but for me it mostly just makes me want to pick up the purple Haze.

Abita’s Purple Haze is one of the most delightful beers that has ever been created, this is that, with less raspberry flavor and a bit more alcohol.

Style: Fruit Beer | Tap/Can/Bottle: Bottle | Abv: 6.1% | Rating: 5

From the bottle, it pours a hazy amber color with a modest white head that soon diminishes to a thin layer. The nose gets some fruit and malt. The taste follows, with raspberry notes and some tartness coming through. Medium body, a little slick feeling to me.

Slightly hazy golden color with a very modest white head.
The aroma is raspberry and light caramel malt.
The taste is also raspberry with a malty base, mildly sweet with a bit of hops in the dry finish.
The body is light/medium, good carbonation level, fairly smooth and drinkable.
Altogether, this is a decently tasty and refreshing brew, good for a summer cooler, tastes best cold.

 

 

Medium straw color that is minimally hazy. I hesitate to use “hazy”, as I don’t want it to be confused with any “haze-boi” stuff. It’s just a tad less than crystal clear.
The head was almost non-existent, but there was a faint cap and skim after it settled. Lacing was minimal.
Aroma was dishwater (not in a bad way, I’ve had it [‘dishwater’] before and it can be complementary in some beers), berry (black, or maybe rasp?).
Not overly hoppy in aroma, taste or bitterness.
Carbonation was good.
Overall a decent beer if you like obvious but not overpowering berry character.

The pour is golden yellow. The taste is mild raspberry & mild malts, I actually prefer this over the regular andygator but strawgator is still the best out of the bunch. Cheers! B

A golden cloud broods in the middle of a rather clear brew. Atop it, a towering white head, it dies quickly and lacing is minimal. The nose is underwhelming but adequate. Hops present in taste, notes of Callicarpa, wild berry skins. Refreshing, cool, light. Is it good? Yes. Should I want it again? Not really.

 

 

 

(12 oz bottle, 022030165773A; purchased single off shelf... poured into a 14 oz mug)

L: polished-clear, pale gold liquid, with perhaps a slight purple tinge; thin foam stand on pour... keeps a tight, but thin collar; no lace

S: raspberried malt, somewhat heavily so; golden bread crust highlight, smells thick; no apparent alcohol; almost excellent overall intensity

T: raspberry cordial-infused, dead-weight malty malt bomb; not much distinct, depth-ful malt or yeast/fermentation expression within the finish or aftertaste; bit of a nutty (granola) berry note emerges after a minute... bold enough in intensity, just lacking definition; muddy, murky

F: near-lusicous, silky swell up front; quiet, luxuriously sedate release in the finish; touch of warmth lingering... in spite of not much carbonic simmer lifting, it avoids feeling weighty, elegantly flowing/floating across the palate, thanks in no small part to its disappearing, mellow finish... could keep endlessly sipping and not get fatigued

O: passed by the bottle on the way out of the beer aisle at Total Wine; the hybrid descriptor alone made this a must try... I suppose this met my low, loose expectations; something different, but I'd rather have either of its component parts instead (1930)

Abita Brewing Co. "Barney"
12 fl. oz. brown glass bottle coded "22119 18:20". Sampled on 6 July 2022
$3.29 @ Total Wine & More, Cherry Hill, NJ

Ahhh, the elusive Barney, a beer that I once had my hands on in New Orleans but somehow lost. What intrigued me about it is that it's a blend of their Purple Haze and Andygator. That didn't seem like a good choice at the time so let's see how they did. It's poured a hazy golden body beneath a short head of white foam. Already the head retention seems limited. The aroma clearly shows off some of the raspberry from the Purple Haze but it's not strong. It's malty and grainy. On to the taste... well it's not such a bad combination after all. The malt is richly grainy, somewhat wheaty, honeyish, and almost cereal-like but the little bit of raspberry helps to balance it. I shouldn't say it's a 'little bit', there's actually more than that, but it's not strong. Those two components, however, are about it. HaHa! I just looked up my review of their Andygator to get an idea of what I thought it was like before but it's gone, vanished into the ether of cyberspace. Oh well, I can at least tell you that there are some herbal hops in there. It might have been different in the Andygator but that's how they're coming across now. The alcohol never shows but how strong is it? Ah, it's only 6.1% so I wouldn't expect it to. A dull bitterness balances it and it finishes mainly dry with some cereal grain and honey-like malt lingering along with some muted herbal hops. In the mouth it's medium-full in body and creamy smooth with a moderate carbonation. All in all it's not a bad beer by any stretch of the imagination. One point, however, the head retention and lacing are not good. That hurts is a little bit.
Review #8,126

Poured from a bottle into a pint glass
Appearance – The beer pours a lightly hazy amber color with a small head of foam. The head fades rather fast, leaving a light lace on the sides of the glass.
Smell – The aroma is quite strong of a bready and doughy malt smell mixed with quite a bit of caramel and raspberry. Along with these smells comes notes of apricot and peach as well as a touch of mustiness and hay.
Taste – The taste begins with a raspberry and bready malt flavor mixed with a touch of grain and hay. As the taste moves forward more raspberry and grain come to the tongue, all while a little bit of caramel sweetness that was present upfront fades a touch. Other fruit flavors of a light apricot and apple come more toward the end, and are joined by some toast and light herbal hoop, leaving one with a rather pleasant raspberry and malty taste to linger on the tongue.
Mouthfeel – The body of the brew is slightly bigger in thickness and chewiness with a slightly higher carbonation level. Overall for the mix of fruited beer with doppelbock the feel is quite right, adding a little to the two styles (light fruit brew- big carbonation; thick body-dopplebock).
Overall – I was actually surprised how well the flavors melded. Easy drinking, with each of the styles balancing the other out rather well.