Why does all Samuel Adams Beer Taste Bad?

[BeerAddikt]

I also used to enjoy a cold pint of Boston Lager and there is sentimental value in it still. But craft brewing is so much more diverse now than it was 15+ years ago when I first started drinking craft beers. I think our palates have changed along with the craft beer environment. I no longer enjoy any of their offerings.

Too bad we can't side by side the beer they make now with what I remember from my college days. Perhaps their recipes have actually changed in the name of profits?

 

[Vammy]

While I'm not a big fan of SABL, I'll drink that over a lot of other beer. I am a fan of their Summer Ale and Porch Rocker brews. Once Porch Rocker is released here, I will search it out and hoard it...a great lawnmower beer, IMO

 

[Pantherjon]

My understanding was many of their recipes now come from home brewers that win a yearly competition he does?

Just a limited release for the winners of each years 'Long Shot' competition..Go to the SA website and do a search for Long Shot to get the particulars..There is a thread floating around here somewhere that was promoting the 2016 competition..

 

[Bosh]

I still remember the rumors in college that someone somewhere was hosting a SA kegger.

Don't dislike SA but don't trust their product. Especially in bottles. Especially in Korea where imports are often old and badly handled. Not after their abomination of a cherry wheat.

Am surprised to see so many people liking their Oktoberfest. I found sweet to the point of being undrinkable. Just utterly cloying. And I like a nice caramelly mild or red ale but the SA Oktoberfest was just revolting, like drinking carbonated wort mixed with cheap-ass vodka.

Maybe the trip to Korea ruined it. Their Rebel IPA had no flavor in a bottle in Korea and was tasty on tap in America.

But tltheir Boston Lager is often the best beer by a mile in random Korean stores (with Guiness or Hoegaarden of Boddingtonscoming in second).

But then maybe 70% of the beer I drink is my homebrew so whatever...

 

[TheMadKing]

Bought a 12 pack of the Winter Lager w/o having tasted it as it was a good price. UGGGGG. Couldn't finish the first bottle. Now I have 11 more I try to porn off to friends that visit. LOL

Apologies for the bad recommendation though! but using porn to get people distracted enough to drink them is brilliant!

 

[ZmannR2]

Someone bought me their winter beer collection....has a really good chocolate stout, an excellent ginger beer, an odd yet enjoyable "old fezzywig ale", obviously their winter lager and their boston lager......I enjoyed them all

 

[mkelly601]

Their best beer, Brick Red, is only available on tap in the greater Boston area. I do enjoy the Boston Lager and Boston Ale as well. But I will say that some of their newer stuff is just ok at best.

 

[scottywags]

I'm with the OP. I have tried many times to like their beers but I just don't. They are very good at packaging! They've suckered me in quite a few times with their pretty labels and cool beer names, Only to have me dump out the other 5.
I've battled with myself in the beer aisle many times..."Oh, that sounds tasty...NOPE it's SA! But maybe this one is better"

 

[cegan09]

My biggest problem with SA is their damn release schedule, which gets worse every since year. I don't want your octoberfest in august when it's hot outside. I don't want your pumpkin beer then either. I want it in the fall. I love cold snap, but this year it was in stores BEFORE IT WAS OFFICIALLY WINTER! I expect to see summer on the shelves any day now.

I know seasonal creep is something that a lot of breweries do, but SA just seems so far out of wack to me.

 

[worlddivides]

For me, Samuel Adams is a brewery that has some pretty good beers, some mediocre beers, and some pretty bad beers. But it's all subjective after all. I'd say on the whole, I like them, but they certainly aren't a brewery that I drink much beer from recently (although I did drink a lot of their stuff, say, 10 years ago, for example. And back then, there were some really good beers and some pretty bad ones just like now. Still, some of their beers that I didn't like were some of my friends' favorites, so it definitely is subjective).

 

[Honda88]

I think I'm just done drinking mass produced beer. It just doesn't compete with carefully crafted beer. If I can brew a partial that is better than what a professional brewery can produce... There is something wrong in their brewing process. If you think about it...Do you really want to buy beer from a brewery that uses hazardous chemicals and tries to pump out beer as fast as they can....nope not for me anymore.

 

[Stealthcruiser]

I think I'm just done drinking mass produced beer. It just doesn't compete with carefully crafted beer. If I can brew a partial that is better than what a professional brewery can produce... There is something wrong in their brewing process. If you think about it...Do you really want to buy beer from a brewery that uses hazardous chemicals and tries to pump out beer as fast as they can....nope not for me anymore.

That's telling 'em!

 

[mmiddleton]

My biggest problem with SA is their damn release schedule, which gets worse every since year. I don't want your octoberfest in august when it's hot outside. I don't want your pumpkin beer then either. I want it in the fall. I love cold snap, but this year it was in stores BEFORE IT WAS OFFICIALLY WINTER! I expect to see summer on the shelves any day now.

I know seasonal creep is something that a lot of breweries do, but SA just seems so far out of wack to me.

Funny, because Newfoundland has the opposite problem. We often get things after the start of the "proper season". I think the Oktoberfest came in November this year...

 

[fatherdan]

for some odd reason I picked up a 12 sampler, pipeline was low.....had the boston lager....ok. irish red....not very good at all. helles.....pukeable. hopscape.....I guess it was drinkable. needless to say im gonna need to be pretty dry before I turn to it again...

noticed someone left 5 of a sixpack of molsen triplexxx, can't wait to hold my nose and down that lol

 

[sky4meplease]

I hadn't had Boston Lager in a while and have always really liked it.
I had a couple from the bottle recently and holy butterscotch!
I don't remember that from the past.
A few days or a week later I tried it from tap and same thing.
It was borderline offensive.
Has anyone else noticed this or has my palette changed?

 

[mongoose33]

SA Boston Lager started me down this path 30 years ago ..... I'll forever have a special place in my heart for it. I beleive it was better 30 years ago, in terms of hop flavor and aroma but it could just be that my tastes have evolved.

Same for me--BL was my first real non-BMC good beer, and it grew on me fast.

"Don't be afraid of flavor." Love that.

If there's one thing I've learned as a homebrewer it's that people like what they like.

 

[bleme]

I just finished a case of Hopscape and that is quite possibly the best pale ale I've ever had. I found this thread looking for a clone recipe...

 

[Honda88]

Sam Adams is just basic...That's the best way to describe them. In the craft world I would give them a C-. If you can even consider them craft....

 

[kh54s10]

Very late to this discussion....

BOY OH BOY!! What a bunch of beer SNOBS here!!!

I haven't had many Sam Adams beers lately, so many others to try. But I have never found even one to be bad. Some I didn't like as much, but... really.... BAD???

From page 5 or so:

Stouts and porters should be consumed within 3 months of brewing. RIS is a different story and should be aged though. [emoji16]

Really? Where did you get the idea that stouts and porters should be consumed within 3 months? I find that they are just getting really good at 3 months and are really good for up to a year and often longer.

RIS is a Stout and mine is now over 2 years old and going strong.

They age very well.

 

[bolus14]

BOY OH BOY!! What a bunch of beer SNOBS here!!!

I would agree with this. Boston Lager has tasted the same to me whether in a bottle or on tap, regardless of being a month old or 6 months old. If some are experiencing major flavor shifts you may want to look at the distributor, store selling it, or bar dispensing.

As someone else stated, I don't expect SA to give me a WOW beer, everything I buy of theirs I go in expecting a middle of the road representation of the style, and usually that's what's provided, at a much better price point than some craft beers that are much worse sometimes. They haven't shown that they're going to be the most innovative in any style, that's fine by me, and as well as they're doing must be ok for many others as well.

That said, I prefer to go to a local brewery that's churns out a new IPA, NEIPA, stout, or something else almost every month or two. I like trying the new stuff, am more of a seasonal drinker that going to a regular "standby."

I don't think many would say that everything SA brews is bad, they just don't push the envelope, relatively speaking, only starting making IPA's in the last few years, and don't mass distribute hardly any of their "small batch" or big beers.

 

[kh54s10]

I don't think many would say that everything SA brews is bad, they just don't push the envelope, relatively speaking, only starting making IPA's in the last few years, and don't mass distribute hardly any of their "small batch" or big beers.

I agree with this. With small breweries you get all their beers. Sam Adams commercials say they brew 60 different beers a year. At most I have seen maybe 20 different ones in the stores. And that is since I first saw a SA beer.

 

[bajaedition]

Sam Adams has always made a good beer with BL being their flagship. We can really thank SA for the entire craft beer movement getting as big as it did. They went national with BL and started the education in America that beer does not have to be LITE beer

I think if you find SA offensive you have developed a taste for a different style of beer. We do have a bunch of people who now think ales are the way to go.

SA may not be the best out there, I consider them the standard to compare too. Yes there are many better out there.

I am a lager head, prefer a lager over an ale, think most ales are brewed up unbalanced to the hop side as that is the current rage. SA is balanced.

 

[bajaedition]

I agree with this. With small breweries you get all their beers. Sam Adams commercials say they brew 60 different beers a year. At most I have seen maybe 20 different ones in the stores. And that is since I first saw a SA beer.

that is your local beer distributor, not SA. They choose not to carry the full line.
A distributor needs to make a profit and carrying a beer that may only sell a few thousand units is not a viable option

 

[roadkizzle]

I would agree with this. Boston Lager has tasted the same to me whether in a bottle or on tap, regardless of being a month old or 6 months old. If some are experiencing major flavor shifts you may want to look at the distributor, store selling it, or bar dispensing.

As someone else stated, I don't expect SA to give me a WOW beer, everything I buy of theirs I go in expecting a middle of the road representation of the style, and usually that's what's provided, at a much better price point than some craft beers that are much worse sometimes. They haven't shown that they're going to be the most innovative in any style, that's fine by me, and as well as they're doing must be ok for many others as well.

That said, I prefer to go to a local brewery that's churns out a new IPA, NEIPA, stout, or something else almost every month or two. I like trying the new stuff, am more of a seasonal drinker that going to a regular "standby."

I don't think many would say that everything SA brews is bad, they just don't push the envelope, relatively speaking, only starting making IPA's in the last few years, and don't mass distribute hardly any of their "small batch" or big beers.

Years ago I loved SA Black Lager... I stopped drinking it because I became obsessed with barleywines, RIS's, IPA's, and the like...

But I started getting extremely bored with strong beers and find the vast majority nowadays to just be way to gimmicky and poorly made beers because the breweries never actually learned how to make good beers just cover up flaws with different flavors.

After a while of enjoying balanced and well made beers I eventually decided to try SA Boston Lager because it was the only good beer at an airport bar... I was really surprised at the hop flavor and bite and how it combined with the somewhat toasty malt flavor. It was really good...

I am happy to drink it when there's nothing else available, but that rarely happens because I almost always buy locally made beers even if they're not made as well or Wernesgruener german pils which I can normally be confident is fairly fresh.

That said I definitely don't like all SA beers. Cherry Wheat is disgusting (although my mom loved it years ago) as is Cranberry Lambic. I also am one of those that does not like Fezziwig. I don't care for their IPA series.

I bought the hopscape mixed 12. I did not care for their IPL. I was really nervous about the Fresh as Helles but I thought it was a lot better than I expected... It may be one of those things as it was better than low expectations. I really liked Hopscape and Noble Pils.

Their Triple Bock was a drainpour when my wife and I tried it... It came in a very small bottle and the two of us couldn't even finish that. I've never seen their Utopia's though to try...

 

[John Eberly]

Boston Lager was a groundbreaking beer. It was one of the first mass market "craft" beers - meaning different from what BMC was selling. It was more widely marketed than Anchor Steam and many of the other early craft products.

Thing is, Sam Adams was never a producing brewery. They went for years with no production at all - everything they did was contract brewed. Even the show brewhouse in Boston is pretty much pure marketing as I understand it.

I liked the beer (Boston Lager) and stlll do, but Jim Koch's contribution was more about getting people to accept a new kind of beer flavor than in rolling up his sleeves and "crafting" beer. He did come up with a better tasting product, but his whole effort was to be the same kind of producer that BMC were - selling mass market beer. He did seem to care more about the ingredients and taste, and he was smart enough to go the premium beer route and not compete on price.

 

[Bosh]

Sam Adams has always made a good beer with BL being their flagship. We can really thank SA for the entire craft beer movement getting as big as it did. They went national with BL and started the education in America that beer does not have to be LITE beer

I think if you find SA offensive you have developed a taste for a different style of beer. We do have a bunch of people who now think ales are the way to go.

SA may not be the best out there, I consider them the standard to compare too. Yes there are many better out there.

I am a lager head, prefer a lager over an ale, think most ales are brewed up unbalanced to the hop side as that is the current rage. SA is balanced.

Boston Lager tastes exactly like it's supposed to taste and I quite like it and their dark winter lager was quite tasty. It's just that a lot of their more obscure beers seem pretty slapped together without much care. Their Cherry Wheat was a dumper and their Oktoberfest came pretty close. I like malty beers a lot but those two were just stomach-turningly sweet. All that means is that I won't buy anything from SA without having had it before confirmation from someone I trust that it doesn't suck. The SA brand doesn't mean anything to me, while other breweries I know that if they put their name on it then it won't suck even if it sounds strange.

 

[Vedexent]

Samuel Adams Claims to be a "craft brewery" but nothing I have ever had from them tasted like a craft brew. It tastes highly watered down, even if the bottle says "loaded with hops". I have given them many tries, as they come out with different beers all of the time, but it is all watered down beer. I can get a better beer at a local brewery any day.

Just my $0.02 - but no beer that isn't spoiled, skunky, or loaded with off-flavors ( although "off-flavor" is in the mouth of the beholder ) is "bad".

Best I can say - and only for me - that that X beer ( or brewery ) is not for me.

You may think the beer I hate is an Earthly incarnation of Ambrosia, and vice-versa ( especially if you're an aficionado of IPAs ).

 

[akthor]

Not every beer is supposed to be "hoppy". Not everything is supposed to be the over hopped swill this IPA craze has brought on.

 

[Lefou]

Not every beer is supposed to be "hoppy". Not everything is supposed to be the over hopped swill this IPA craze has brought on.

True, not all of us like overly-hopped beer with a bitter aftertaste.
I tend to buy certain brands and have noticed there's even a variation of consistency within different lots of the same beer.

Let's take the Blue Moon, for example.
I've witnessed different carbonation levels and had perceptions of hop levels not being quite the same. Just last week I bought a "seasonal" summer honey wheat ale and thought I was drinking one of my early extract experiments. When changes happen in consistency, it can put you off from buying commercial beer.

 

[roadkizzle]

Boston Lager was a groundbreaking beer. It was one of the first mass market "craft" beers - meaning different from what BMC was selling. It was more widely marketed than Anchor Steam and many of the other early craft products.

Thing is, Sam Adams was never a producing brewery. They went for years with no production at all - everything they did was contract brewed. Even the show brewhouse in Boston is pretty much pure marketing as I understand it.

I liked the beer (Boston Lager) and stlll do, but Jim Koch's contribution was more about getting people to accept a new kind of beer flavor than in rolling up his sleeves and "crafting" beer. He did come up with a better tasting product, but his whole effort was to be the same kind of producer that BMC were - selling mass market beer. He did seem to care more about the ingredients and taste, and he was smart enough to go the premium beer route and not compete on price.

While the facts about their contract brewing is true Boston Beer Company and Jim Koch has done tons to support and grow the craft brewing industry... You know... Their competitors.

During the 2008 hop shortage there were many many microbreweries throughout the country that couldn't get access to any hops to make their beer. It was going to drive many breweries to bankruptcy.
Boston Beer looked at their inventory and orders. Because of their size they had contracts with the hop growers that the smaller breweries could not. They decided they should take on risk and sell their hops to more than 200 breweries at the cost they purchase them (no profit).

They annually provide loans for people trying to open up new microbreweries. They do more to support their competitors.

They are a big brewery, and definitely have their shady business practices. But they are not the "bad guy" that others in the industry are.

I will buy a Boston Lager without hesitation which is not what I can say for other craft or pseudo craft beer industry.

 

[Mainer]

I put Sam Adams in the same category as DL Geary's or Shipyard here in Maine. They don't taste bad, but all of their beers taste pretty much the same. They're not going to do anything to surprise you, but they're perfectly serviceable beers. I'm very happy to find them at, say, a concert venue or a baseball game.

 

[Bosh]

I put Sam Adams in the same category as DL Geary's or Shipyard here in Maine. They don't taste bad, but all of their beers taste pretty much the same. They're not going to do anything to surprise you, but they're perfectly serviceable beers. I'm very happy to find them at, say, a concert venue or a baseball game.

I'd put Sam Adams on the same level as Geary's and both above Shipyard.

Sam Adams (amber lager) and Geary's (old fashioned APA) flagships are both tasty brews whose styles are a bit out of date in the wider craft brew world but make beers that taste like they're intended to and that stand out a bit since most brewers aren't even trying to make beers like that.

Shipyard is just craft brew so painfully generic that there's nothing much to say about it good or bad.

 

[Eugenio]

Sam Adams (And harpoon) are my go to Non $5 a bottle beer. I think they are solid beers, and most importantly they are what got me interested in trying other beers. If It wasn't for Sam Adams, I would still think Heineken and Corona where what beer was supposed to be.

Much respect for Sam Adams.

 

[Kushner]

I've personally gone through 20 1/2 barrels of Boston Lager and never had an issue. All sour taste I've experienced have been the result of the faucet. But it is strange that it's only the Adams fouling. One way to isolate the keg or delivery system would be to hook a party pump to the keg and sample that beer right out of the keg. Of course I don't have to tell you not to pump air into the keg since there's enough pressure to push out the small sample needed for tasting. I'd contact the distributor and have him check out if all the kegs are off the same run from the brewery to him.