This year Mardi Gras will bring people to the streets of New Orleans and others around the area on March 4. In leading up to the celebration Abita Beer has again released its seasonal Mardi Gras Bock to build the excitement.
David Blossman, the president of Abita Beer, believes the Mardi Gras Bock is one of the true bocks in America and truly reflects the culture of the season. “Mardi Gras season is huge here,” said Blossman. “It starts 12 nights after Christmas and runs through Mardi Gras day, which is the day before Ash Wednesday. It’s a big part of our culture here in Louisiana and especially in the Greater New Orleans area. We wanted to make a beer that we thought fit the season very well.”
With the cool climate, not like the freezing temperatures of this year, Blossman and Abita designed a beer that could match the typical season — Mardi Gras Bock made that happen. “We thought a beer with a little bit stronger in alcohol that had some perceived warmth to it, so we came up with the maibock, which is traditionally spring time bock, and we thought it fit our season very well. It was very malty and very balanced and smooth.”
Blossman said that Mardi Gras Bock was also designed to compliment the cuisines in Louisiana that is enjoyed even more so during the Mardi Gras season. “Whether it’s at a party at somebody’s house and they are doing gumbo, or something convenient like that, or it’s actually at the parades where you go out early and set up your chairs and ladders and people bring muffalata’s or fried chicken — it’s a natural fit for these types of foods,” said Blossman.
Mardi Gras Bock was Abita’s first seasonal, and at the time the 6.5 percent alcohol was something extraordinary. Clearly, today that has since changed, but the beers purpose and spirit has persisted. “We thought about what would go good for this season, and that’s food, culture and weather,” Blossman emphasized once more. “We thought that Mardi Gras Bock, and a maibock was traditional in Germany and it would lend itself over here too — and it did. Obviously we put our own stamp on it. We’ve got our artesian well water which is really very soft water and very wet. It’s not hard water where it accentuates the hops or the bitterness, it’s very sessionable and that’s really part of our culture. It needs to be sessionable during that time period because people are going to drink more than one of them.
“Being part of the culture is very important to us. So, from the beginning we wanted to be tied to music, we wanted to be tied to the culinary industry, we wanted to make beers that Louisianans wanted and wanted during that time period. We thought we hit it off with the Mardi Gras Bock, and that’s why it stayed so long!”
Be the first to comment