Restoration Pale Ale - Abita Brewing Co.

toolbrew

Illinois

2.63/5  rDev -24.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Pours a light copper color with a slight haze. Medium white head fell quickly. Good head retention and some lacing.

Crisp hoppy smell with some citrus.

Not much flavor in this brew. A slight hop aftertaste and slightly citrus. Mostly watery.

Feels overcarbonated as I have been drinking it. Mostly the rear of the roof of my mouth gets the sensations of the carbonation.

It would be easy to drink on a hot afternoon in the sun.

Serving type: bottle

05-26-2008 04:59:23 | More by toolbrew

RickS95

Indiana

2.55/5  rDev -26.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

Pours an golden coppery orange that's been well-filtered. Offers little head.

I think my beer was a little too cold because I didn't pick up much in the way of smell after the head died. While there were still a few bubbles up top, I picked up the citrusy Cascade hops and nothing more.

Again, it may have been too cold to tell, but if I hadn't picked up the citrusy hops in the nose, I'd bet this was a lager. Almost no taste.

Nothing happens in the mouth til deep in the finish where you pick up the hoppy bitter. There is a cleansing feel, but that's about it.

This beer, like most from Abita, has little going for it. Normal alcohol level, not much i the way of color, smell or taste. I'll pass.

Serving type: bottle

01-17-2011 02:50:29 | More by RickS95

DoctorDog

Ohio

2.53/5  rDev -27.3%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Presentation: 12 oz. bottle into a pint glass. No freshness/best by date indicated.

A- Clear and golden in appearance. Pours with ~1 finger of white head, which fades gradually, leaving a thin layer. Minimal lacing.

S- Very feint, earthy/yeasty odor. Neither offensive nor inviting.

T- Weak hopiness, and some mildly unpleasant bitter/astringent flavor on the aftertaste. Not much to describe here really....

M- Slightly crisp with medium carbonation.

D- Not terribly offensive, but no reason to go back for more. Not even very refreshing vs. many other not-so-exciting beers.

Future outlook: Other than not being disgusting, there is nothing really positive to say about this beer. No reason for me to get this stuff again.

Serving type: bottle

11-03-2008 04:09:19 | More by DoctorDog

matjack85

Illinois

2.48/5  rDev -28.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

I found this single, squatty brown 12oz bottle in the clearance bin at the Binny's store in Plainfield, IL for $1.49. No freshness date to be found.

The beer pours a nice golden/orange color with a 1 finger white head that only lasted a minute, but it did leave a decent amount of lacing on the glass.

Nice, mild, citrus hop smell - mainly getting orange and apricot aromas.

This stuff looks and smells a lot better than it tastes. The citrus hop flavors are there, but so is tons of medicinal alcohol. At just 5% abv., I wasn't expecting to taste much alcohol at all, but instead I found it was one of the major flavors here. Severely lacking a sweet malt presence for balance. The malt that is in here is not nearly enough to balance the alcohol and hop bitterness. I was very disappointed in this one.

Light to medium body with fairly high carbonation, but again too stromg on the alcohol taste and more unpleasant alcohol in the aftertaste.

I could barely finish one of these. Their website says they use 4 different malts in here. I just wish they would have made their presence felt more in the flavor. And with just a 2O IBU rating, its not the hoppiest beer in the world either.

Serving type: bottle

08-01-2010 06:42:43 | More by matjack85

donkeyrunner

Massachusetts

2.4/5  rDev -31%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Some foam tried to sneak out of the bottle while I was searching for glassware. Very sneaky. Dark gold with a large white head. Good retention and some nice foamy rings.

Smells of citrus hop acidity. No malt. Taste is thin bodied with airy orange citrus notes. No real hop presence as far as balance. Icky seltzer-like finish.

I remember having this with Death Metal Nick a year ago and thinking, wow, this is really average. Still is.

Serving type: bottle

11-14-2009 20:25:57 | More by donkeyrunner

wspscott

Kentucky

2.38/5  rDev -31.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

12oz bottle in Sam Adams glass

A: Crystal clear, gold color, thin white head leaves very little lace.
S: Very muted for an APA, no obvious hops. There is a hint of graininess, but not much.
T: Again, no hops. There is a little bitterness to balance any residual sugars, but there are no apparent aroma hops. Nothing at all going on here.
M: Crisp, medium carbonation for an APA, a little too much attenuation.
D: This goes down too easy, no thought required. I first had this at a friend's house out of the bottle. I think it might be better straight out of the bottle vs a glass. There is not much going on here, serve this to your BMC friends, they won't mind. A poor example of an APA, not recommended.

Serving type: bottle

04-02-2009 00:30:25 | More by wspscott

beersheppard

Texas

2.38/5  rDev -31.6%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

Appearance: golden color, almost transparent, white head, minimal lacing, well carbonated.

Smell: Nothing going on here. Some faint malt.

Taste: Lack of flavor, nothing bad, just not much good. A little caramel, black tea, mint, with a floral hop finish. Almost a light lager taste.

Mouthfeel: light on palate, with some tingle from the carbonation.

Drinkability: I think this was a swing and a miss. Like I said, nothing bad, just not much in the way of good. One word--void. I wouldn't buy it again.

Serving type: bottle

04-14-2010 04:07:27 | More by beersheppard

womencantsail

California

2.35/5  rDev -32.5%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

A: A light golden color, thick white head, almost no lacing.

S: Very light on all fronts. A slight citrus presence, and some malt.

T: Almost no hop flavor. Lots of malt with a bit of bitterness on the finish.

M: The body is medium with a moderate level of carbonation.

D: Not terrible, but not good either.

Serving type: bottle

08-06-2009 02:03:08 | More by womencantsail

drabmuh

Maryland

2.2/5  rDev -36.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 1.5

This ranks up there with one of the least drinkable beers I have ever had the misfortune of trying. This beer was a truly gross experience, seriously.

Poured from a bottle into an Abita glass. Yellowish to amber in color, carbonation low, head is broken and white and sticks to glass but leaves no lacing.

Aroma is overwhelmingly malty sweet. There is a good hop backbone in the smell as well. At this point I check to make sure I'm not drinking a DIPA, nope! American Pale Ale...

Taste....seriously? WTF is this? MALT MALT MALT MALT SWEET THICK MALT MALT MALT. Its like drinking liquid malt extract. This beer is seriously gross. I've had some terrible beers but this one. I walked to the sink on several occasions. I never poured it out but I came close a couple of times. I finished my 12 ounces and promptly got another beer to wash the taste out.

AVOID! AVOID!

This is the worst Abita beer I've had, and close to the worst beer I have ever had period.

Serving type: bottle

12-17-2009 03:57:20 | More by drabmuh

ForWhatAlesYou

Minnesota

2/5  rDev -42.5%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

12 oz bottle into a pint glass

A: Virtually no head. Cloudy golden-yellow. Unimpressive.

S: Light sweet malts. A little adjunct aroma.

T: Not great. Buttery (not good from a bottle). Not a lot of hop character for a pale ale.

M: Cloying and buttery. Not pleasant.

D: I would not seek this one out. I've had this beer before this review and liked it just the same as I do now. Avoid.

Serving type: bottle

02-23-2011 05:14:50 | More by ForWhatAlesYou