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I’ll fess up. I’m a beer girl. It’s not excessive drinking so as to warrant concern, but hey, my liver started the war. (You try studying in England and see if your tolerance doesn’t build.) Another confession: I watch a bit of TV. I try to read or garden instead, but as of late have been suckered in by my no-good roommate and freaking Grey’s Anatomy. (Dear ABC, I only watch to figure out how McDreamy’s hair is so poofy. And dearest roomie, you know the TV is my fault, though that mold on the back door is yours.)

If you drink beer and/or watch TV, this week’s blog is for you. It’s all about Abita. So let me borrow your attention for just a few minutes so you can learn something. Then we can all go back to killing brain cells! Wahoo. I’ll drink to that. I know it’s the holidays and there’s so much drinking to do, but do keep the questions coming here.

Question: Who’s behind those Abita commercials I keep seeing during Grey’s Anatomy and Desperate Housewives?

Answer: Well, Abita, of course, and a company called Innovative Advertising.

If by chance you don’t know what I’m talking about, join the cool kids club and watch some of the commercials here first. We’ll all wait right here for you. Done? Excellent. I’ll let you gauge how effective you think they are. I won’t go around spouting my opinion just because I have a little ole blog. No sirree. I know you don’t care anyway. Covington-based Innovative Advertising began working with Abita 6 or 7 years ago and has since produced pieces for Abita in both print and broadcast forms. So far, the commercials run only in Louisiana, typically during Grey’s Anatomy, Lost, Desperate Housewives and LSU and Saints games. The special 20th anniversary television commercial began airing in July and will run until the end of the year. In rotation with the 20th anniversary commercial are the previously aired and Addy award-winning “Abita Party” and “Abita Brewery” commercials.

Innovative began working on the commercials in 2005, shooting sometimes with actors and sometimes with natural bar scenes. Innovative’s senior media director, Heidi Thiess, says there are always perks to shooting Abita commercials. “They bring everything,” she says. “They ask, ‘How much beer do you need? 10 cases? You got it.’” And just like the jingle, Abita president David Blossman thinks the commercials are “Louisiana true.” Blossman says, “We always want to be a part of the culture and lifestyle of Louisiana and celebrate it. I think it [the commercial] does a good job of showing that.” Thanks to Heidi Thiess at Innovative and David Blossman at Abita for letting me soak in the knowledge of Abita.

Question: Who’s behind calling Abita an ‘import’?

Answer: Not Abita.

Abita sells its brews to one distributor, Crescent Crown, who stocks local bars and retailers with the good stuff. Once it gets to the retailer, they set the price and the category. Blossman says retailers sometimes lump Abita into the ‘import’ category for pricing purposes because they’re more expensive than many mainstream domestics. “Depending on their pricing structure and depending on how they want to categorize it geographically, they’re at their whim to do what they want,” Blossman says. So pay for it and call it what you want, but either way, be on the look out for the Abita’s seasonal Christmas Ale and select Mocha Porter.