Does anyone else think Sam Adam's beer sucks

MaxStout said:

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right click annnnd stolen.

So opened in Texas and moved to Ma ... so what .
well anyway I tend to agree with the not complaining endlessly about the beer if you do not like it . Just do not buy it . I do not like most of their beers I have drank but that does not mean their beer is horrible it just means I do not like it . I do not like brussel sprouts either so I do not buy it .
Obviously their beer is quite good for some or they would not be selling it like they do .

MarcusKillion said:

So opened in Texas and moved to Ma ... so what .

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Well that's the thing... Sam Adams was founded in Boston and is still headquartered there to this day. That's what makes the "Texas to Massachusetts" scenario so perplexing. What does it have to do with anything?

Sam Adams Boston is a good beer that is pretty well available anywhere -- pretty safe one to get when getting a beer somewhere with limited selection. Also I did enjoy the Octoberfest quite a bit. I wouldn't say the beer is incredible but for an inexpensive / available everywhere brew it's a solid choice.

Yep going to have to flatly disagree. While all of their beers are not rock stars they have a decent quality core product and a good number of their seasonal ales are good too.

They also get super bonus points for having excellent bottles for your own brew. They are dark brown, non twist off, and their labels come off super clean and easy.

www.samueladams.com/craft-beers/boston-lager#

Jim's tasting notes give a bit of insight into the brewing process. I think the proprietary malts have something to do with that Sam Adams 'wang' some people taste.

I also wonder if somebody filled his glass with a fine German Dunkel because he definitely wasn't describing any SA lager that I have ever had.

Sam Adams got me into "craft" beer 20 years ago. I credit then with opening my eyes. With so much out there these days, I usually pass it up at the store. I'm at the point where even Abita seems a bit too commercial for me, and I live 5 miles from the Abita Brewery. Sometimes I pint for the days when Miller Lite was good!! Made drinking away from home much easier!

I'm just getting into home brew and collecting what i need so never actually made any myself yet and I'm pretty new to craft beers and really dont drink much at all. saying that, Oktoberfest is the only Sam Adams ive tried and it is pretty good to me, a little on the bitter side for my tastes but after the first couple of drinks you get used to it.

Jim_Holmes said:

I'm just getting into home brew and collecting what i need so never actually made any myself yet and I'm pretty new to craft beers and really dont drink much at all. saying that, Oktoberfest is the only Sam Adams ive tried and it is pretty good to me, a little on the bitter side for my tastes but after the first couple of drinks you get used to it.

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It's kind of crazy but after you have done about 3 batches, your taste buds will be craving that bitterness!

Welcome to the obsession!

A local bar had a tap takeover with SA and they had 12 beers on tap. Their dark depths was phenomenal. I also won a raffle for a sample of Utopias. Oh. Man.

Sam Adams isn't the best brewery by far, but they definitely make some decent beers IMO. Boston Lager, Oktoberfest, Winter Lager, all good. Now that Cranberry Lambic, I think it was, that stuff was *blech*

But at many a restaurant, Sam Adams is the best available, and they're really not bad at all.

Love there oktoberfest and double pumpkin and harvest pumpkin. Agree there boston lager has an after taste still better than any bmc

Their mainline stuff is average.. Some better than others... You can't say they suck unless you've been to Boston and had some of the small batch stuff they make... It's phenomenal... They are a business and the bulk of it is sending out a lot of beer for the average consumer... Not the hop head or Belgian sour lover. Although they do have beers that would satisfy those... I've only had them in Boston

Sam adams makes some damn fine beers.
Not all are winners but alot kick major butt.

Jim koch is also now a billionaire and still american owned.
I am into craft beer because of him.

boston lager,boston ale,winter lager great beers

I remember back when I thought nobel pils was too bitter

SA Whitewater IPA was my first IPA and when I finished it my tastebuds were so happy I had to look up what an IPA was. The search took me in a round-about way to this website.
A year later I can make my own and am constantly looking for good IPA's in stores. And yes I still purchase whitewater just to remember my first time!

First time I had DFH 60 minute years ago I thought it was ripping the enamel off my teeth with bitterness... Now I barely notice any hops in it.. Damn you west coast ipa you ruined me

Try victory's hop devil. Hits you right in the throat with hop bitterness.

jmcm_brew said:

Their mainline stuff is average.. Some better than others... You can't say they suck unless you've been to Boston and had some of the small batch stuff they make... It's phenomenal... They are a business and the bulk of it is sending out a lot of beer for the average consumer... Not the hop head or Belgian sour lover. Although they do have beers that would satisfy those... I've only had them in Boston

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E

Exactly. I do love that Chocolate Squirrel they put out a short time ago... I'm not usually one for malty beers, either.

sam adams makes sam good beer if you think otherwise your taster is out of whack.

Sam Adams makes great beer. They have some fruit and spiced styles I'll pass up, but all in all great beer.

I used to feel the same way before I really got into drinking craft beers. But now I enjoy most of their beers. They aren't necessarily my favorites, but most are generally good.

I used to really like the Winter Lager, but it seems they changed the recipe a couple of years back, and it's ho hum now.

I really like Jim Koch. What he has done to help micro brewers is astounding. Outstanding gentleman for sure!!!

I'm still looking for the Noble Pils as I've heard it's outstanding. Can't seem to find it though...

^ I was just going to say I bought some winter lager and really like it (but haven't had it before yesterday). I also bought a ltr of Sam Adams Merry Maker (gingerbread stout) - Hope that is good

732Brewer said:

^ I was just going to say I bought some winter lager and really like it (but haven't had it before yesterday). I also bought a ltr of Sam Adams Merry Maker (gingerbread stout) - Hope that is good

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Merry maker is well done but overspiced for me. Then again, I think almost every commercial spiced beer is overspiced. I'll age one for a year. Wife loved it though

I've posted in here in the past, I see this thread is still going at 39 pages. Sam Adams makes damn good beer, they really do. I can't see how anyone could think it "sucks". I think Budweiser sucks but I actually like Miller Genuine Draft (yes I know, hop extract). So I'm not all against non-craft brew. About the only thing negative I could say about Sam Adams is their draft tastes significantly superior to anything they put in a bottle.


Rev.

How true! I was out eating dinner and chose a Boston Lager. My second beer was their Summer Ale. I was blown away by how much of a hop presence. Bought a 6 pack and found I didn't care at all for it. I'm not really big on many wheat beers, but my initial taste was quite good, and has inspired me to brew what I thought I was given on draft.

Count me in the non-Sam hating crowd. I appreciate a lot of what they brew, though I don't buy much beer at this point.

I did just pick up the Winter Sampler, primarily so I can get my hands on the Ole Fezziwig. Aside from the Chocolate Cherry Bock, I'm looking forward to trying the others in the pack that I haven;t had (like the Juniper IPA).

Might as well go on record and say that it's fairly myopic to dismiss an entire brewery in this way. Their beers are crafted for mass appeal without intense flavors and to keep the cost low so as to not put off new or recent craft beer drinkers. There was a period in my life that they were my craft brewery of choice and I owe them a thank you for making me realize there was more to beer than an American pilsener or Guinness.

Sam Adams is a gateway beer, certainly there are better beers out there, but preference is preference.

Find the things you like and talk bout those. You can find them in any beer (even Sam Adams). Don't waste time and energy hating on something that truly doesn't affect you in any way.

Last summer I found a few of my grandfathers old beers (he's been dead for 5 years now) and one of them was a Sam Adams Boston lager from 1999. I drank it. It tasted pretty good. Oxidation note was mild. No hop presence but the finish was still light and dry. Malts were nice. A slight protein slug (or something flaky) at the bottom, poured carefully and it was fine.

I'm with the pro SA crowd. Liked it before I knew anything bout beer and still do. Not as interesting as a "real" craft brew, but certainly not a bad beer.

Tried their Black Lager a while back. Pretty Good. Faired well in BA and RateBeer ratings too.

Rev2010 said:

About the only thing negative I could say about Sam Adams is their draft tastes significantly superior to anything they put in a bottle.

Rev.

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That's any beer for me as long as the draft setup is functioning properly. I've always preferred draft and will rarely order a bottle at a bar unless it's something I just really want and don't have the option for draft.

clarksc4 said:

A local bar had a tap takeover with SA and they had 12 beers on tap. Their dark depths was phenomenal. I also won a raffle for a sample of Utopias. Oh. Man.

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The beer so rare you have to win a raffle just to get a taste of it!

Kealia said:

Count me in the non-Sam hating crowd. I appreciate a lot of what they brew, though I don't buy much beer at this point. I did just pick up the Winter Sampler, primarily so I can get my hands on the Ole Fezziwig. Aside from the Chocolate Cherry Bock, I'm looking forward to trying the others in the pack that I haven;t had (like the Juniper IPA).

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This is the second time in 2 days I have seen someone rip the cherry chocolate bock. I just finished the winter sampler 3 minutes ago and the cherry chocolate bock and the old fezzywig were both great in my mind. To each his own I guess.

ericinthewoods said:

Might as well go on record and say that it's fairly myopic to dismiss an entire brewery in this way. Their beers are crafted for mass appeal without intense flavors and to keep the cost low so as to not put off new or recent craft beer drinkers. There was a period in my life that they were my craft brewery of choice and I owe them a thank you for making me realize there was more to beer than an American pilsener or Guinness.

Sam Adams is a gateway beer, certainly there are better beers out there, but preference is preference.

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This is definitely true. I do generally think SNPA is a better gateway beer (I'm biased as it was mine), but I know quite a few people that started out with Boston Lager, then Winter Lager, Latitude 48, and then all of a sudden they are into 15 west coast gems. It's great to see.

Generally, if you're a craft beer enthusiast and you have all this hate for Sam Adams... you really need to think about where the craft beer industry would be without them.

I won a contest from SA and they never paid out fully so I am on strike against that company!

Boston Lager is a consistent safe bet and I always grab a 6 of Octoberfest. I got a 6 of the double agent IPL and while I like the idea, there's still 1 bottle around here somewhere...

mcmeador said:

That's any beer for me as long as the draft setup is functioning properly. I've always preferred draft and will rarely order a bottle at a bar unless it's something I just really want and don't have the option for draft.

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In the many years I'd been beer connoisseuring I've come to find it simply depends on the beer and that draft doesn't always mean it's better. For example, Paulaner Hefeweizen in a can is by far better tasting than in a bottle and on draft. The sad thing is they don't appear to export the cans to the USA so I only get to enjoy them when I'm in Germany. The wife also agrees, I can't explain why this is the case but there is just something so magical about the taste of Paulaner Hefeweizen in a can (500ml) that simply isn't there in draft or bottled Paulaner Hefeweiss. Franziskaner for example tastes best on draft, but also very very close to draft taste in the bottles as long as they are fresh. However, Franziskaner in a can tastes like crap, it just loses all the banana/clove flavor. Heineken tastes far better on tap as do many other beers. Hoegaarden, if you've ever had it in the corked bottles is far superior to draft! I used to get them when visiting England since you can't find them here in the USA. It's regular Hoegaarden, not a special beer or anything, just in the corked Belgian bottles. For some reason it just tastes so much better than tap. There's more of that bubblegummy flavor to it and overall it just has more flavor than draft. Next best is on tap, followed by the larger 25.4oz bottles, and the 12oz bottles are the worst, so much flavor is lost for some reason.

Go ahead and call me crazy, but I've had many agree with these assessments.


Rev.

SWMBO wanted me to BBQ a chicken with a beer can. I don't have any canned beer so she went to the store. Considering that she decided to get a quality beer instead of something like Bud, and brought home a 6 pack of Brooklyn Brewery Pre-Prohibition Lager.

I said, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on now. Gotta try that first." It had an amazing quality to it that I just couldn't allow on the grill so I filled a can with a bottle of my beer.

Later I had it in a bottle and that amazing quality was lacking. I'm guessing there was something to it sitting in a can for an extended time or something. Dunno what it was, but I don't find it all that amazing in a bottle. Strange.

I dig a summer ale every now and then... and the boston lager fresh-on tap in a cold mug is pretty damn tasty... like their swarzbier... that's about it though...

They come out with alot of different brews, some are great, some are good, and a few fall short. With so many different styles that they make, it's hard to make a blanket statement like "their beer sucks".