Sam Adams Summer Ale 2010?

Has anyone else found that this year's Sam Adams Summer Ale tastes significantly different than in years past. I know my brother has had the same sentiments. This year it seems to have a weird bite to it, or almost astringent. It used to be a top five favorite and it has now declined to a point where I no longer want to buy it. Anyone know why it may have changed?

i picked up a case, i was disapointed with it

yea man it's definitely different

I thought the same thing. I got one on draft last week and thought it tasted different. i thought it was just the difference between bottle and draft.

it doesn't taste bad...i found that it's a good re-hydrating beer in between heavy and hoppy beers...doesn't say much for the summer ale though

we had a few this weekend.
I didnt notice any weird flavors, thought it was pretty decent and my dad liked it a good bit.

I didn't like it, the citrus flavor is gross and tastes synthetic. I'm sure they use real lemon zest (or whatever) but it tastes gross.

I think it taste the same as prior years. I use to love it, not so much anymore, but I think it's pretty much the same and more of my palate changing to more maltier yeastier wheats, like seirra nevada's kellerweiss.

I've noticed this in MY summer ale I brewed to start the season as well. I haven't changed anything in the recipe and I'm using the same yeast I've always used and ended up with the same subtle astringancy as the Sam's summer ale. I'm almost positive they cultivate their own but I'm not half wondering If theirs something going on with a strand of hefe yeast this year.

doctorRobert said:

I think it taste the same as prior years. I use to love it, not so much anymore, but I think it's pretty much the same and more of my palate changing to more maltier yeastier wheats, like seirra nevada's kellerweiss.

Click to expand...

YES! The maltheads shall rise again!

Yes, I had to buy a 12pack after both my kegs kicked. I could barely drink it. I though I had a skunked batch or something. I know my tastes have changed but the recipe must have been modified. It almost seemed to have a strong fake vanilla taste in it? Glad to see its not just me.

It may depend on where people are. I wonder if where it is brewed may be changing the character of the beer?

tfrost12 said:

It may depend on where people are. I wonder if where it is brewed may be changing the character of the beer?

Click to expand...

This could be the most likely answer. I know they're "outsourcing" a lot of their beer production and almost none of their popular beers are brewed in Boston anymore.

I heard A LOT of similar complaints about their Winter as well. People thought is was significantly different with some kind of off taste.

I don't know if being local to the brewery makes a difference, but I haven't noticed a real difference.

I've had Summer Ale from several different bars, both bottle and draft, and find it significantly worse than I remember. Several of my non-beergeek friends said the same thing without even being asked.

doctorRobert said:

This could be the most likely answer. I know they're "outsourcing" a lot of their beer production and almost none of their popular beers are brewed in Boston anymore.

Click to expand...

I've outsourced my Summer Ale to myself, and am much happier with the results.

jpsloan said:

I've outsourced my Summer Ale to myself, and am much happier with the results.

Click to expand...

way to bring it back to homebrew, homes

Drank a keg of it last weekend, its definitely different, I know Sam gives a lot of leeway to their brewers from season to season but maybe they need to get better correspondence between the sales people and the brewhouse.

Haven't had it this year. Last year it was great. Two years ago it tasted like Lysol.

I had a couple bottles this weekend in Disneyland. After a long day of walking with a 2 year old they both went down just fine. The lemon peel was subtle and refreshing. It was a good beer after a tiring day. I know setting can have a big influence on perception of taste so maybe that's why I thought it was a good summer brew.

I had a nice tall mug of it last night. It was not what I remembered from previous years but I did not find it to be undrinkable. I found after a few pulls off the mug I was kinda digging it. It went down very nice with teriyaki burger & fries.

Does anyone else here think that it tastes "soapy"?

To be honest... SA Summer Ale has been slipping for the last couple years. 2-3 Years...

Its not what I remember back then, and now its something that I'd rather order a Stella over it when given the choice... Never did that up till this year... My summer Ale is much better...

jpsloan said:

I've outsourced my Summer Ale to myself, and am much happier with the results.

Click to expand...

Exactly my plan. I'm going to brew it w/ Safale-05, because I got busy going to a brew fest in PA and then catching back up at work and forgot to make a starter...so...2-3 packs of Safale it will be later tonight.

i'm actually a bit surprised to hear that a lot of Sam Adams isn't brewed in Boston anymore...why is this? are they that big? and are these other places sam adams/boston brewing or are they separate companies with a "license" from sam adams?

DoctorDuvel said:

i'm actually a bit surprised to hear that a lot of Sam Adams isn't brewed in Boston anymore...why is this? are they that big? and are these other places sam adams/boston brewing or are they separate companies with a "license" from sam adams?

Click to expand...

According to the wikipedia machine:

"As of late 2009, The Boston Beer Company has over 350 employees and owns breweries in Boston, Cincinnati and Breinigsville, PA"

I think they also outsource beer production to other companies as well, no idea if they are partially or fully owned subsidaries or not.

ah, good ole wickerpedia...thanks, Doctor

beerloin said:

Does anyone else here think that it tastes "soapy"?

Click to expand...

I think a lot of wheat beers have a soapy quality to them. It's a byproduct of the yeast. Sam Summer is more-so because of the lemon. Makes it a bit dish-soapish.

That isn't to say it's a bad thing, I love Sam Summer.

And I definitely don't think they changed the recipe. Tastes the same to me as it always has. It has more to do with changing tastes than any differences in the recipe.

CenturyStanding said:

I think a lot of wheat beers have a soapy quality to them. It's a byproduct of the yeast. Sam Summer is more-so because of the lemon. Makes it a bit dish-soapish.

That isn't to say it's a bad thing, I love Sam Summer.

And I definitely don't think they changed the recipe. Tastes the same to me as it always has. It has more to do with changing tastes than any differences in the recipe.

Click to expand...

this could very well be the case...the first time i had widmer's broken halo IPA, several years ago, i wasn't crazy about it...i had it again a few weeks ago and now it's one of my favorite IPAs...though i understand their recipes change slightly every year, but couldn't have been that much different

i have a summer sam in my fridge now, think i'll go try it again

update: drinking one now...pretty enjoyable stuff

I cannot compare to other years.....becaus ethis is the first year I have tried it.....actually on tap at a York Revolutions baseball game.....anyway, I really liked it....I drank it the whole nite.

I give props to Sam Adams for being one of the first truly Microbrewery to go mainstream and have success. That being said, In my opinion I think their beers are average at best.

redalert said:

I give props to Sam Adams for being one of the first truly Microbrewery to go mainstream and have success. That being said, In my opinion I think their beers are average at best.

Click to expand...

i agree with you, mostly...but i have to say, the Noble Pils is definitely above average...one of the best pilsners i've had

DoctorDuvel said:

i'm actually a bit surprised to hear that a lot of Sam Adams isn't brewed in Boston anymore...why is this? are they that big? and are these other places sam adams/boston brewing or are they separate companies with a "license" from sam adams?

Click to expand...

My parents just toured the Boston brewery. Apparently they only do R&D in Boston. Also they just recently expanded their other brewerys. They claim that now they brew 95% of their own beers. Maybe that has something to do with the lower quality

I havn't had the summer ale before this year but I didn't really care for it. I don't know why they switched out the spring seasonal (which I love) so early in the year.

I really liked the Summer last year, not into it this year. I miss the White Ale as the spring seasonal. I have a pair of White Ale pints that laugh at me.

I had the Summer Ale at an Outback Steak House last night. It had a taste to it that I generally associate with extract homebrews (homebrew twang).

i just wish they could sell me a keg of stout: cream or imperial would be fine!

Don't know if it's been mentioned, but there is likely a 90% chance the recipe is the same. Breweries rarely risk changing recipes due to risky profit margins. More likely is your taste perceptions have changed from last year.

Tastes the same to me, both on tap and in bottle, although they should have just made Noble Pils a year-round thing.

JonW said:

I had the Summer Ale at an Outback Steak House last night. It had a taste to it that I generally associate with extract homebrews (homebrew twang).

Click to expand...

I have visited 2 different Outbacks in 2 different states and both places had a bad taste in my opinion. I had the waiter take back the Summer Ale when we were in Myrtle Beach, SC. The manager came out and tasted it and told the bartender "Whoever said this is bad doesn't know their beer". She wasn't aware I was right behind her (oops). She left for a bit, then returned and poured a new glass of the Ale for me and apologized, saying the keg was almost empty and that is why it tasted bad. The new beer was on her she said. I politely told her she could drink it, as I knew it wasn't from being at the bottom of the keg that it tasted badly.

I like other Sam Adams brews, but the summer ale is different, maybe it is just the place you get it from.

Salute!

A bunch of the bars around here have resorted to taking off regular sam adams and just selling the summer. I don't like the summer, there is kind of bite to it, too much carbonation or something.