Samuel Adams - Norse Legend

I was truly looking forward to trying this and finally had the opportunity last night. Maybe I built it up too much in my mind but it was disappointing. I'm not saying it was a bad beer but it definitely did not have the complexity that one would expect given the tradition of a sahti style brew. It had a very mild piny taste and the finish was nonexistent. Their was no noticeable effect from the juniper and it truly tasted like a generic brown ale. When I told the barkeep my thoughts he poured himself a sample to taste and completely agreed.

Has anyone else had this? We're my expectations too high?

i plan on trying it at a beer festival i am going to in 2 weeks. the festival is hug so maybe i will cross it off the list.

Good to know, I almost bought a bottle the other day but passed in favor of their Gose, which was not bad...I can't say its a good representation of the style as it was the only Gose I've ever had..

Isn't that more or less true of all Sam Adams beers? Sort of bland to make the beer more approachable to new craft beer drinkers?

Whoever is doing their contract brewing that makes its way to Texas is doing a terrible job. I used to enjoy some SA products but they have all been downright nasty for the past year or more.

I have a bottle of this sitting in my beer fridge, waiting for my head cold to go away completely. Not good to hear. Although I'm not sure the beer is supposed to "exciting". Is there evidence that this style had strong flavors?

I think SA beers are hit and miss. They make a few really nice beers and a bunch of underwhelming or downright off target beers IMO.

I've had a couple of sahti style beers and they were more complex than the SA. I'm not enough of an expert to tell you if this is a good representation of a traditional sahti but it really did disappoint. When I told this to the bartender he had a taste and agreed with me that it was incredibly underwhelming. In fairness to Sam Adams, I may have built this up too much.