It’s officially strawberry beer season, and I could not be happier.

I am not usually a beer drinker because (a) beer is really filling (and I can’t drink much to begin with), (b) I don’t particularly like the taste and (c) there are WAY too many carbs in one for me to be drinking it and NOT loving it.

But Abita Strawberry Harvest Lager? Mmm — it’s like nectar from heaven. And it only comes around once a year, so the time is now.

This is the third year Abita (a Louisiana brewing company) has been bottling and selling their strawberry potion. The beer is made with real Ponchatoula strawberries. And it tastes like MAGIC.

The first season, my friends and I would sit around, sipping the berry nectar in between dipping into the pool. Our fave restaurants always had it. We wrote about it in the student newspaper. We drank it whenever we could, night or day. It blew our minds, and we were all about it.

It was incredible. And apparently, a lot of other people thought so, too.

Last year, there was a strawberry beer shortage. Heartbreaking, I know. One of the batches was bad, and I think another factor was the people who loved it and spread the word.

Word passed throug the grapevine about whatever restaurant or bar had it. I wanted my parents to try the beer when they were in town, so we ended up at a skeezy wing bar. Dad enjoyed it, and my mom said it tasted like cotton candy.

My friends and I scoured liquor and grocery stores high and low in search of the elusive drink. I found three cases at Albertson’s one day in April and saved one ’til mid-June, savoring each and every drop, minus the one that I kindly gave the boy.

I’ve been told they upped the number of cases for this year since there was such a panic last. My source had better be correct or I’m going to be disappointed. Majorly, incredibly disappointed would be an understatement.

So far, since I found out about the beer three weeks ago, I have had only imbibed FOUR bottles. All on separate occasions. Because this beer is too good to drink carelessly.

It has been easy finding the beer this year, and I hope that doesn’t change because I need to enjoy it for as long as I can. Because, after all, I might be halfway across the country next year without an Abita distributer. (Yeah, not a pretty thought..)

So, if any of you are around Louisiana or happen to know your local beer distributer (and know he’s willing to order something), I recommend this beer wholeheartidly.

Because if it can make a girl who doesn’t drink beer at all enjoy beer, it’s worth a try. No?