The unofficial online home for fans of the Old Dominion University Monarchs. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

Tonight I went with a pint bottle I'd been eyeing for a little while: the Abita Select Shotgun Double IPA.



This beer pours amber and clear, and it will assume a healthy head if you pour just a bit down the middle at the end of the pour.

I gave this thing a whiff right after popping off the cap and it was quite a concentrated burst of citrusy hops and tropical fruit. Once it settled in the glass, I got citrusy hops up front, some tropical fruit following, just a touch of piney bitterness, and also a touch of sweet malt. The hops had something of a floral quality to them. There might have been just a little bit of alcohol in there too (the beer is 8.5 after all). Aside from that initial extracurricular sniff, the nose on this beer did not blow me away.

Citrusy hops and an assertive hop bitterness are the two primary taste components of the Shotgun. There is some tropical fruit here and there, and a bit of pineyness at the back of the taste leading into the finish, but by then the story has been pretty much written.

The Shotgun definitely isn't a heavy-bodied beer, feeling fairly light to moderate in terms of consistency.

This beer says goodbye with citrus, bitterness, some tropical fruit, and more lingering bitterness. It coats the mouth with bitterness IMO. It isn't oppressive, but I find myself disappointed that I couldn't seem to get past it. Maybe I just don't like high-IBU IPAs.

I don't think that I would buy the Shotgun again, but it was a worthwhile experiment for the $5 I paid for it. I have enjoyed large-format offerings from Abita before, notably their Vanilla Dog and their Bourbon Street Honey Pale Ale.