Thoughts on Sam Adams...

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BrianTheBrewer said:
Also funny...just thought about this...how Jim Koch came out with his new glass last year and how it actually does make the lager taste better. Then all of a sudden Bud goes and does the same thing for the Great American Lager.
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I have one of their lager glasses. I like it a lot. I especially like the tuliped lip. I really do think it helps to put the beer right on the front of your tongue and allow me to taste it more.
 
The more and more I learn about beer (which one can never learn enough i think) the right glass makes the beer better. Jim Koch took many years to find the right one for his Boston Lager and he got it right.
 
honestly, i dont like their beers as much as most craft beer selections, but I love that sam adams exists on such a large scale. I've been able to get boston lager in "middle-of-nowhere" gas stations when my only other option was BMC. For that, I salute you SA... (not the budweiser commercial type)
 
I agree with you. You can basically get Boston Lager everywhere. It actually has taste to it as well. I would choose a Stone, Rouge or Allagash over most Sam Adams any day of the week. When you are in need of a good brew Sam Adams is always around and I believe that is a good thing.
 
The biggest turnoff for me with Sam Adams is the price. Obviously when put up against a bud or mgd I would take a Sam Adams in a taste test, but a six pack of SA costs the same as say a three floyds, stone, etc., and I would prefer all of those to SA. Hell, even if there were no other craft brews available I would still probably take a Schlitz or PBR over paying the price for a SA, it's just too mass produced to justify the cost.
 
Not the first brand I would reach for, but their Boston Lager is well-done. I must be in the minority because their Octoberfest ranks at the bottom of the list for me. I used to drink the Double Bock when I could get it and generally liked it.

Sam Adams is the measuring stick for me when it comes to choosing restaurants. When I want a beer with my dinner, I will not patronize a restaurant that doesn't at least have Boston Lager on tap.
 
Boston Ale is very good.
Black Lager is outstanding.
Oktoberfest is very good.

Hell, outside of their forays into fruit beers like Cherry Wheat (which aren't aimed at me anyway), their beers are pretty consistently very good.

Hell, I think the whole premise of this thread is ****ed up, I don't hear too many people talking **** about Sam Adams anyway.
 
the_bird said:
Hell, I think the whole premise of this thread is ****ed up, I don't hear too many people talking **** about Sam Adams anyway.
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It's like Step #5 on the True Path Of Beer Enlightenment (Snobbery)...

Step #1, of course, being the tasting of anything besides BMC and enjoying it.

Step #2, as we all know, is the self-education in why better-tasting beer actually tastes better and learning terms like "malt", "hops", and "marketing". Soon after this, one sometimes erroneously decides that BMC has NO flavor, and starts turning their nose up at it at gatherings.

Step #3 is the choosing of a "pet" craft brand to begin forcing on your unwilling BMC-drinking (and enjoying!) friends, regardless of their protests. This is followed very closely by Step #3b, which is to being harassing and poking fun at your BMC-drinking friends for still drinking the same BMC you were drinking with them like 2 years previously.

Step #4 is a somewhat juvenile development step that involves mocking BMC breweries and all their products because they "suck". Showing no regard for the precision with which a consistent product is cranked out year after year, it is summarily stated that all products from any BMC brewery must by definition suck, and at this stage, active "Attack Mode" is activated in the burgeoning Beer Snob.

Step #5, then, is when you've become SO cool and beer-savvy that you've earned the right to start bashing craft breweries. This is not something that can be done without the foreknowledge of many witless and obtuse references to aromas and flavors you couldn't pull from a beer if they had a handle and a strobe light attached, but of course you read it in a magazine so it must be there. To ease the transition to such an expert level of beer-ninja verbosity, an easy target must be picked, and as a very visible, large-scale, and not-quite-outstanding-enough-to-be-untouchable operation, Sam Adams fills the bill quite nicely, an unfortunate victim of its own success.

It's not until Step #9 that one usually realizes that bashing Sam Adams has been counterproductive all along, but by then, no one wants to drink with you anyway, so the epiphany is wasted.
 
I like sam adams

I think this year they're having serious quality problems tho. from what i've had (winter lager, winter variety pack)

their winter lager used to be one of my favorite beers. this year it's different

and their "cranberry lambac" is just garbage.
 
I like Sam Adams always have always will. Was my first craft beer I had growing up as a teenager in Mass. Jim does a lot of good for the craft beer industry and the home brew world. Should people put him down I think they might have there head up there butt.
 
I dont really hang out with people that say bad things about Sam Adams. Its more hear say and chatter at homebrew club meetings.
 
I still like SA, they may not be the best brewery out there, but they still have a bunch of solid brews and I still pick up the variety pack every once in awhile.
 
I buy the Longshot box every year, and that's about it when it comes to SA. Their other beer is decent, and I appreciate them as a company, but I drink a lot of beer from smaller breweries. Jim Koch is a brilliant businessman and marketer, and SA has always sold well because of that. They make a good product, though, and I'm glad they are around.
 
carnevoodoo said:
I buy the Longshot box every year, and that's about it when it comes to SA. Their other beer is decent, and I appreciate them as a company, but I drink a lot of beer from smaller breweries. Jim Koch is a brilliant businessman and marketer, and SA has always sold well because of that. They make a good product, though, and I'm glad they are around.
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I agree 100%. I pick up a six pack here or there, not often. I am happy they are around and on tap everywhere.
 
I agree with most of the posts. There's nothing wrong with SA and it is one of the first non-BMC beers I ever drank and enjoyed. Still today, Sam Adams serves as a good back up beer for me when I'm out to dinner or someplace random that doesn't have anything else I would prefer.

But, I don't think there's anything wrong with BMC either. When I'm on a fishing or rafting trip, sweating in the middle of summer, and someone tosses me an ice cold Miller High Life I'll gladly drink that too. It just isn't what I like most of the time, and I'm sure as hell not going to risk breaking a bottle of homebrew or wasting money on a can of craft brew that gets tossed overboard, stepped on, or warmed up in the sun.

To me there is a time and place for almost any beer, it's just that the time and place for BMC doesn't occur very often for me.
 
No lie, I had a taste of Sam Adams lite, and thought it was good. I have always loved their lager.
 
Unfortunately, during my first sampling of Sam Adams Lager I was coming down with a particularly virulent bug. It started with soreness in my neck and shoulders, a slight chill, and then fever - all within about 2 hours. So now, when I think of Sam Adams, I think of that nasty evening.
 
I've never much cared for Sam Adams beer. Some is OK, like the Winter Lager. But there's something about the flavor I just never cared for, though I haven't been able to put my finger on it. As others have said, though, that may just be because the beer wasn't treated right by the people selling it to me.

I've never had anything against the company or anyone in it, though. They seem to put out a product that many people enjoy. What's wrong with that?
 
My opinion is that overall they're pretty solid as a brewery. While they're never my first choice if I'm picking up stuff for myself, it's great when I'm heading over to someone's house and want to bring some beer with me. They're generally not overly inventive or flavorful brews, but if I want something of a particular style and I'm not sure what everyone will like, Sam Adams is a pretty safe choice. It's decent enough to almost never be nasty, and not adventurous enough to put off pickier people.
 
I've got nothing against Sam Adams, but I've never been impressed with any of their regualr beers. The Imperial pilsener was very good.

For the same money, I'm going to pick up a Sierra Nevada or Great Lakes six pack every time.
 
Fishin-Jay said:
I agree with most of the posts. There's nothing wrong with SA and it is one of the first non-BMC beers I ever drank and enjoyed. Still today, Sam Adams serves as a good back up beer for me when I'm out to dinner or someplace random that doesn't have anything else I would prefer.

But, I don't think there's anything wrong with BMC either. When I'm on a fishing or rafting trip, sweating in the middle of summer, and someone tosses me an ice cold Miller High Life I'll gladly drink that too. It just isn't what I like most of the time, and I'm sure as hell not going to risk breaking a bottle of homebrew or wasting money on a can of craft brew that gets tossed overboard, stepped on, or warmed up in the sun.

To me there is a time and place for almost any beer, it's just that the time and place for BMC doesn't occur very often for me.
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Ya I hear ya when I am out on the boat in the middle of the hot summer sun I wont turn down a Miller light.
 
Their Octoberfest is my fave. wish I could find a HB recipe for it...

also love their Brown ale.

not a fan of their Boston lager, though. Looks like I'm in the minority on that.
 
I will say, I don't usually buy a lot of Sammy just because there's so much other outstanding craft brew that I'd rather try. But, avoid the known stinkpots and Sam Adams will treat you alright.

Plus, you can't really spin negatively all that they've done for the craft beer community (selling hops at cost when they could have easily re-sold them for 3x or 4x more) and in the support they give homebrewers via the Longshot competition.
 
I love SA, they have a lot of variety and most of their beers are great. I love the Oktoberfest, they make one of the best "light beers", and my gf loves the Cherry Wheat (it is a bit nyquilistic though).

Cranberry Lambic aside I don't think they make a beer that I genuinely don't like.
 
I was fortunate enough not to be a huge drinker in college - even after turning 21. A few years after my 21st birthday, a good friend of my brother sat me down one evening with a Sam Adams Boston Lager and schooled me in the way beer was SUPPOSED to be! From that point on, I was always a huge Sam Adams fan and to this day have a deep appreciation for them. I think someone else on this thread referred to them as a "gateway" beer. That's actually a really great description. Their fine offerings certainly got me hooked on a great craft beer and Jim Koch's homebrewing roots really have inspired me in this hobby.
 
I boycott Sam... Not because of the quallity of the beer but because Koch is a habitual line cutter.

Don't go to a beer fest when Jim's there unless you like getting dropped down one person in line constantly.

... the bastid.

SO punching him at the Night of the Barrels.

"THERE!!! Take THAT Sam Adams guy!! How do you like THEM apples Mr. Line Cutter!!?!? Hmmm!?! HMMM!?!? You want some more a' that!?!? Here, you're next in line for another left to the jaw!!!"

it's gonna be sweet.
 
I think their beer is pretty good. So far I've had Winter Lager, Boston Lager, Boston Ale, Octoberfest and Honey Porter. Octoberfest and Winter Lager are on sale now, I might pick some up if I can find it next time I buy beer.
 
Yeah, I'm a huge fan and I tend to get prickly when people compare then to BMC. I often wonder if we're drinking the same beer. Boston Lager is definitely one of my favorite lagers, and for me, sets the standard for the definition of a 'balanced' beer.

I'm not crazy about a number of their other offerings, but that doesn't take away from what they do well. I'm a fan of Boston Ale and Lager, the Brown, Black Ale, Oktoberfest, and few others. The Winter Lager is my least favorite, but I'm pretty staunchly against spiced beers as a rule.
 
They brew so many beers, it's hard not to dislike at least some of them. But many are good, especially the Black Lager, IMO.
 
I like most of their beers, but the Summer Ale just doesn't agree with me. Don't get me started on the Cherry Wheat and Lambic - ugh... Their Ol' Fezziwig tends to be inconsistent from year to year as well.
 
Actually I think/feel that the SA bashing has gone way down from what it was a while ago. SA when compared to BMC wins, hands down in every category. Sure some of the stuff them make (have to go with yooper on the cherry wheat...yuck.) isn't my cup of tea. But it's a beer company that seems to care about the beer it sells, not just about making a global empire (Inbev, for example).
 
Kaner said:
The biggest turnoff for me with Sam Adams is the price. Obviously when put up against a bud or mgd I would take a Sam Adams in a taste test, but a six pack of SA costs the same as say a three floyds, stone, etc., and I would prefer all of those to SA. Hell, even if there were no other craft brews available I would still probably take a Schlitz or PBR over paying the price for a SA, it's just too mass produced to justify the cost.
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Does it cost a lot there? It's like $13 for a 12pack here, which is pretty much the bottom of the non-BMC beers here.
 
Boondoggie said:
Does it cost a lot there? It's like $13 for a 12pack here, which is pretty much the bottom of the non-BMC beers here.
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At my store it's 8.99 for a 6-pack and 16.99 for a 12-pack. Which is the same as three floyds, stone, goose island, sierra nevada, etc. Here there's literally no price difference between any of the other non-BMC stuff and SA. Maybe it's just the store I go to?
 
Kaner said:
At my store it's 8.99 for a 6-pack and 16.99 for a 12-pack. Which is the same as three floyds, stone, goose island, sierra nevada, etc. Here there's literally no price difference between any of the other non-BMC stuff and SA. Maybe it's just the store I go to?
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yeah, that's really pricy.
 
Cape Brewing said:
I boycott Sam... Not because of the quallity of the beer but because Koch is a habitual line cutter...
...SO punching him at the Night of the Barrels...

..."THERE!!! Take THAT Sam Adams guy!! How do you like THEM apples Mr. Line Cutter!!?!? Hmmm!?! HMMM!?!? You want some more a' that!?!? ...
/quote]

damn that was funny.

(btw, most of their beers are great, and the glass isn't thick enough)
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