Abita Variety 12Pk

Abita Variety 12Pk is a 12-pack sampler from Louisiana's Abita Brewing Company featuring four distinct craft beers ranging from 4.2% to 6% ABV. The collection showcases the breadth of a brewery whose Amber lager earned a 93-point rating from Beer Connoisseur, all brewed with untreated artesian spring water drawn from the Southern Hills Aquifer.

Quick Facts: ABV: 4.2%–6%  |  Origin: Covington, Louisiana, USA  |  Style: Mixed Variety Pack  |  Brewery: Abita Brewing Company (est. 1986)

Production & Heritage

Abita Brewing Company was founded in 1986 by Jim Patton and Rush Cumming in Covington, Louisiana, on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain. What distinguishes Abita from nearly every other American craft brewery is its water source: pristine artesian spring water drawn from a deep well tapping the Southern Hills Aquifer, a system over 3,000 feet deep in places that holds fresh water more than 2,000 years old. While most breweries must filter and chemically treat their water before brewing, Abita uses its water straight from the source — a foundational element that shapes the clean, distinctive character across all four beers in this variety pack.

What's Inside the Variety Pack

Abita Amber: The brewery's flagship. A Munich-style lager with a smooth, malty body and slightly caramel flavor. It earned a 93-point rating from Beer Connoisseur, making it a benchmark for the style in the American South.

Purple Haze: A wheat beer brewed with real raspberries that keeps fruit character in balance — fruity but not overly sweet. The raspberries complement the lager's grain backbone rather than overwhelming it.

Strawberry: A fruit lager with a pleasant sweet taste and aroma, a rich golden color, and a slight cloudiness from the strawberry addition. Refreshing and approachable, it leans lighter than Purple Haze.

Jockamo Juicy IPA: An IPA that defies regional convention — it is neither a West Coast nor an East Coast IPA. Tasters describe it as having a slightly tarragon-like, herbal quality that makes it entirely its own thing within the American IPA landscape.

How to Drink the Abita Variety Pack

Each beer in this pack is best served chilled, ideally between 38°F and 45°F, and poured into an appropriate glass — a pint glass for the Amber and Jockamo, a weizen glass for the wheat-based Purple Haze and Strawberry. The Amber works well as a session beer alongside grilled foods, while Purple Haze and Strawberry shine as warm-weather porch beers. Jockamo Juicy IPA pairs naturally with spicier fare thanks to its herbal hop character.

Best For

• Introducing someone to Louisiana craft beer with a single purchase
• Stocking a cooler for a backyard crawfish boil or barbecue
• Gifting a craft beer drinker who appreciates regional American breweries
• Sampling the Abita range before committing to a full six-pack of any one style

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the Abita Variety Pack include? The 12-pack contains three bottles or cans each of four beers: Abita Amber, Purple Haze, Strawberry, and Jockamo Juicy IPA, covering a range from smooth lager to fruit wheat beer to hoppy IPA.

How does the Abita Variety Pack compare to Brooklyn Brewery variety packs? Both offer a cross-section of a single brewery's lineup, but Abita's pack skews toward fruit-accented lagers and a Southern-style IPA, while Brooklyn's packs tend to lean heavier on traditional European-inspired ales and hoppy styles rooted in the Northeast brewing tradition.

Is the Abita Variety Pack good for beginners? Yes — the Amber, Purple Haze, and Strawberry are all approachable, lower-bitterness beers that welcome new craft drinkers, while Jockamo provides a gateway IPA without extreme hop intensity.

Where is Abita beer made? All Abita beers are brewed at the Abita Brewing Company in Covington, Louisiana, located about 30 miles north of New Orleans, using untreated artesian spring water drawn on-site from the Southern Hills Aquifer.

What foods pair well with the Abita Variety Pack? Amber pairs with smoked sausage and grilled burgers thanks to its caramel malt structure. Purple Haze complements light salads and goat cheese with its raspberry brightness. Strawberry works alongside fruit-forward desserts or a simple shrimp po'boy. Jockamo Juicy IPA stands up to Cajun-spiced crawfish or blackened catfish, where its herbal hop character cuts through richness.

What size is the Abita Variety Pack? The standard format is a 12-pack containing 12-ounce bottles or cans, with three of each of the four featured beers.

Is the Abita Variety Pack worth the price? It positions as a solid value within the craft beer variety pack segment, offering four genuinely distinct styles — not four variations on a single theme — from a respected independent brewery with over 35 years of history.

Why the Abita Variety Pack?

Abita Brewing's defining advantage is something no competitor can replicate: naturally pure artesian water from an ancient aquifer, used without any filtration or chemical treatment. That clean foundation underpins every beer in this pack, from the 93-point Amber to the unconventional Jockamo IPA. The variety pack genuinely covers different corners of the flavor spectrum — malty, fruity, sweet, hoppy — making it one of the more diverse 12-packs available from a single American craft brewery. For anyone curious about Louisiana's oldest and most established craft brewery, this is the most efficient entry point.