SERIOUSLY Sam Adams

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cheezydemon3

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Form Dunkelweisen to Blueberry lager.

SA is the reason I know about these styles. The reason I order a dunkelweisen at a brewery and don't flip out.

SA is the reason I KNOW that experimentation is not only OK, but necessary.

If I could work at any brewery? SA.
 
I tried a Tasman Red of theirs the other day, it was very good, probably my favorite SA beer to date.
 
I should try some of their other beers. I picked up a sixer of boston lager once. I drank one bottle and used the rest for slug bait. Horrible, nasty stuff. Their other ones are better than that?
 
I should try some of their other beers. I picked up a sixer of boston lager once. I drank one bottle and used the rest for slug bait. Horrible, nasty stuff. Their other ones are better than that?

I think so. I don't hate the BostonLager, but I figure it is their BMC bait.

A lager to please the masses, but with a hint of flavor.

Yes, their IPAs are FANTASTIC. Their samplers always carry some predictable and some unpredictable styles.

I would NEVER have ordered a blueberry beer, but their bb lager is actually QUITE tasty.

I am particular. Guinness is 1 dimensional slug bait in my opinion. New Castle is not much better.
 
Some day I plan on crossing the pond and having real Guinness because the stuff that comes outta cans and bottles over here is watery crap.

Weird, I'd always heard that the stuff they make across the pond is more watery than what they export due to their alcohol regulations. That's not gospel, just what I've heard.
 
The Guinness you get in Ireland is, if not more watery, lighter and lass intense than the stuff here. Also feels less alcoholic. You can drink a couple of pints at lunch and still get work done afterwards.
 
No doubt Koch is a pioneer for home brewing/craft beers. I think my fave are Chocolate Bock, followed by Cherry Wheat and East West Kolsch.

But goddamn everytime I see one of those Boston Lager commercials I wanna scream. I've tried, believe me i've tried, for years, to like Boston Lager. Maybe its the Yuengling Boy inside me being biased, but I just don't get it.
 
ChshreCat said:
I should try some of their other beers. I picked up a sixer of boston lager once. I drank one bottle and used the rest for slug bait. Horrible, nasty stuff. Their other ones are better than that?

I like Boston lager on tap just fine, from the bottle... Not so much, I can relate to what you're saying for sure, I've encountered some darn funky and terrible SA-BL bottled beer. More than likely it's just really old or poorly stored or both IMO.

All that said, I kind of hate SA a little bit for charging $175 for a bottle of beer. I've never tried it, nor will I ever, but I think that's a pretty crappy way to treat those that enjoy you're product.
 
I definitely enjoy SA, even the Boston Lager! I'm actually kind of surprised to see so many people disapprove of it...

You can bet that if there is a new SA seasonal sampler out, I'm gonna try it!
 
I too have avoided Sam due to some funky bottles, but that was a while back when I wasn't as... advanced as I am today.

I trust mr. horse, so I'm gonna pick some up next time I'm at the store.
 
I'm actually a fan of Boston Lager. It's dependable, and it has flavor. In the northeast at least, I can count on having it on tap 9 times out of 10, and it's an enjoyable beer. Now, that's not to say that it's my favorite, but it's a good beer. They're my go-to case for samplers because of the vast difference in styles they offer.
As for the $175 beer, why would you never try it? And why would you say it's a crappy way to treat their customers? I've got a bottle, and while I won't buy it again, I'm glad I did get it once. It's incredibly unique, and pretty darn good in my opinion. If they decided to start charging that for all of their beers, that'd be crappy, but they did this above and beyond their standard lineup. They've also got some $10-$15 bottles. Personally, I think it's pretty cool that they have beers for everyday, special occasions, and then some for extremely rare occasions.
 
I am drinking a Dark Depths Baltic IPA from SA right now and I really like it. As for the Guiness in Ireland, I was there for a couple weeks back in 2006 and I much preferred the flavor of the product over there versus the stuff we buy here. It's not night and day different, but I felt that the beer there was actually less watery and much smoother tasting. It also didn't take too many pints for me to be feeling the effects.
 
I am also a huge SA fan. I do enjoy the Boston lager when the only other choices are generic. However as others have said their IPAs are really good and I mean all of them. But my favorite SA is by far their cream stout. The first beer I ever brewed was a cream stout because of SA
 
I too have avoided Sam due to some funky bottles, but that was a while back when I wasn't as... advanced as I am today.

I trust mr. horse, so I'm gonna pick some up next time I'm at the store.

Picked up a sixer of SA IPL yesterday. I wanted to get a lager or something of the sort because I was getting mostly IPAs and IIPAs and what not (scored a couple Plinys too; bottled 04/10/13 and freakin' delicious).

It is a really tasty, slightly fruity, but not too heavy beer. It was nice and smooth; a big change from the heavy, (overly?) bitter IPAs I was drinking otherwise.

Glad I listened to mr. horse and tried out some SA. They have a lot of crazy looking limited SA brews there too so I'll be trying out some of those, along with some other sixers, in the near future.
 
Iv'e been a beer drinker all my life and i can honestly say It was a Boston Lager draft, on a bet from a buddy, that turned me from canned Budweiser in the fridge into buying my first keggorator just so I could experience what I tasted that night in my own home whenever I wanted....haven't looked back since.
 
I love the variety that Sam Adams brings to the table - their Boston Ale has always been a favorite of mine.

A small complaint is that they tackle a ton of styles and interesting takes but rarely use different yeasts - from what I can tell they basically have a lager yeast and an ale yeast and that's it.
 
I like their Barrel Room collection beers. I had the Belgian Stout and their Red. The Tasman Red and its accompanying IPA are good, too. And the Imperial series is very reasonably priced. I've had the Triple Bock, but I hope to try the Utopias one day. I think it's a great brewery.
 
HDogBrewer said:
Iv'e been a beer drinker all my life and i can honestly say It was a Boston Lager draft, on a bet from a buddy, that turned me from canned Budweiser in the fridge into buying my first keggorator just so I could experience what I tasted that night in my own home whenever I wanted....haven't looked back since.

All your life, eh?



image-1690636322.jpg
 
The first real good beer I ever drank was a Sam Adams Boston Ale.. I still remember the night, my friends who were there, etc. I haven't kept up with all of their offerings, but I pick up a 6 pack every once in awhile of whatever toots my horn.
 
I like their imperial stout. The white is good to. Wouldn't get a six pack of their other stuff tho, when there is always new Belgian brewing. Sorry for being the first negative person.

Hey! The gas station next to my house was selling borderline expired Sam Adams Boston Lager at 50cents a bottle. I mainly got them for the bottles, but i defiantly enjoyed them A lot more than my last fresh Boston lager. It's hard to say, my brew taste buds seem to change a lot nowadays.
 
I will say I didn't care at all for their Imperial White, but they can't all be ballads, Julian!
 
Sam is hit or miss for me. THey're hardly my go to, but if you're going to a party and want to contribute to a group beer hard to go wrong with sam. Some opinions of the beers of theirs I've had

1. Lager - A solid Lager, certainly way better than BMC, but also way worse than Brooklyn's to name another one that's easy for me to get.

2. Lattitude IPAs - Some were big hits, some were big misses. I enjoy the one they released for this year, thought it was solid.

3. Cherry Wheat - Solid light beer

4. Winter Lager - Maybe my favorite Lager of theirs

5. Octoberfest - Solid

6. Summer Ale - Not the biggest fan, but sometimes its the best thing on the menu.

7. Old Fezziwig's - Not bad at all, good for the season

8. Cranberry Lambic- Yuck. Doesn't do it for me at all. I'll admit I'm not a huge wild beer fan in the first place, but that's probably my least favorite Lambic.
 
First off, Yuengling > Boston Beer Co.

Now that I've got my regional preferences out of the way, I think it's great what Sam Adams has down with different styles and making them widely available. On the flip side, they bastardize lots of styles, like their "Cranberry Lambic". There's no brett, or even lacto that touches the beer. That's an offensive to Belgian (and a few American) brewers making real lambic.
 
The only big downfall to Sam Adams now is they've hit that in between point. Their pulling the BMC crowd, but still need to maintain the "micro" tag. It's nice to see them phasing out beers and trying new things. At this point I akin them to Ben and Jerry's. Still artisan in a sense, more options than their core "best sellers" good mission statement, but pushing the point of being "too big."
 
The only big downfall to Sam Adams now is they've hit that in between point. Their pulling the BMC crowd, but still need to maintain the "micro" tag. It's nice to see them phasing out beers and trying new things. At this point I akin them to Ben and Jerry's. Still artisan in a sense, more options than their core "best sellers" good mission statement, but pushing the point of being "too big."

Last thing I got from them (sampler) had some beers that BMCers would absolutely HATE, and plenty to keep this snob happy.
 
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