And the Valley Drinks: Parish Strawberry Canebrake

Abita Strawberry has been a spring time staple in these parts for years now, whether you’re tailgating a baseball game or standing around the crawfish pot. And for good reason — and its accolades are enough that nobody really needs a review.

But as Parish Brewing has come up in the marketplace, their Canebrake Wheat Ale has become fairly ubiquitous fairly quickly. It seemed like a natural fit to add some fruit flavor, so the folks out of Broussard took their shot with Strawberry Canebrake.

Canebrake’s profile is that of a lighter, sweeter wheat ale that goes down pretty easy.

Canebrake is crisp and smooth with a beautiful golden honey color. This refreshing American wheat style brew highlights sweet remnants of sugarcane with notes of honey, spice, and citrus on the finish. A new Louisiana tradition, Canebrake was the first commercial beer in the world brewed with locally-made Steen’s sugarcane syrup!

Review

The malty, sweet bouquet hits you just like Abita, and you get the strawberries first before that wheat backbone. There’s a slight hint of sourness from the fruit, and then a nice sweet flourish. It’s slightly sweeter than strawbita, but only a hair. In that same fashion, its a good springtime beer and I imagine it’s going to sell well. Could easily see it complimenting barbecue or crawfish very well. Very very drinkable and easy to plow through when its hot out. Four stars out of five.