And The Valley Drinks: Abita Bad Mother Shucker Oyster Stout

Abita was one of the gateway beers for me when it came to the craft beer world. From drinking Schlitz, Dixie, and Red Dog I picked up an Abita Amber one day and, well, the rest is history. They were also my gateway beer as far as styles too – with one of the first being the oyster stout.

Oyster stouts have a long history and any Louisianan can tell you how good oysters pair with beer, particularly stouts. The chocolate, toasty, rich flavors of stouts being perfectly complimented by the juicy, brininess of the oysters – the intermingling of the viscous stout washed away by the salinity of the perfect saltwater oysters is a mouthwatering mental image. Hell, I’m starting to salivate a little right now.

The oyster shells eventually found their way into beers and the oyster stout was born. With Bad Mother Shucker Abita creates their stout base then infuses it with fresh Louisiana oysters to add salinity to the flavor of the beer. The end result is supposed to be a big, toasty stout supported by the saltiness reminiscent of fresh oysters.

I found that there needed to be more of a sea salt flavor and that the beer was lacking that aspect. The stout base was good and perfectly rich and roasty, but was missing that distinct saltiness to truly make it a memorable oyster stout.

This beer should work well when preparing an oyster dressing for Thanksgiving and should support that classic Louisiana dish well. You should still be able to find Bad Mother Shucker out and about but they’re becoming harder to find since it’s release date is January through March, but if you do get one don’t worry - it should age well enough to last until Thanksgiving at least.

My Untappd rating: 3.75/5 stars