Sam Adams beer and me...

[user 22118]

Last night and the night before, just to make sure I wasn't biased by the over consumption of alcohol during the prior tasting, I tasted the SA Winter Beer pack that I have not been touching since I purchased it.

I tried twice on two seperate nights to finish the Old Feziwig ale and each morning after it was still mostly full.

The porter is alright, but on the sweeter side. Really not for me.

The Boston Lager is just downright malty and not as crisp I was hoping for.

The Winter Lager had a little bit more crisp mouthfeel than the Boston, but still was essentially Boston Lager.

I avoided the two remaining bottles of Cranberry Lambic due to the fact that I was going to throw them out when my girlfriend said she would drink them. I replied (poor decision), "You didn't like them the other two times we tried them, so I will just thow them out." Hell ensued and they are going to live in our fridge until we move out and I finally get to place them where they belong, in the garbage (not even down the drain as more important things exist there that I don't want to kill off with this foul thing called beer).(EDIT: Somehow SWMBO made it through both of these devils last night. I tried it again and almost vomited. I would rather drink a tube of toothpaste or a bottle of cough medicine before doing this again)

I haven't reached the stout yet, but will report more on this later. (EDIT: I tried the stout and it was nice. I did however find a little nail polish smell in it that surprised me. Typically I smell that in oxidized beers and wouldn't expect it from Sam)

I don't know why, but Sam Adams isn't for me and I don't see myself purchasing any more of their beer in the future. More for you guys.

 

[Parker36]

I'm not a huge Sam Adams fan either. Every once in a while one will come along that is pretty good, but I've never had one be my first choice for beer.

 

[tmoney1224]

They can be hit or miss, but mostly I enjoy there beer.

I have to give them a lot of credit though, the Black Lager is probably what got me started on craft beer.

 

[fastricky]

Hmm, I reckon all great minds don't think alike...

I like S Adams Lager. I can find it at most places and I have no problem ordering that over the usual suspects you find on tap. Of course I'd prefer something more micro, but for something commonly available I give it props.

The new Imperial series Stout is very good I thought too.

 

[Ewalk02]

I usually enjoy Sam Adams Boston Lager but for the rest of the cr@p that's in their winter sampler pack.....no thank you!

 

[HSM]

Boston Lager and Boston Ale are fine by me.

 

[McKBrew]

I'd say they are hit and miss.

I like the Boston Lager personally, and the Cream Stout is damned fine. I'd drink just about anything else they had without no major regrets.

Cranberry Lambic must be a year round April Fool's joke though.

 

[JuanKenobi]

Boston Ale was an early favorite of mine, before a lot of craft beer was available. I still like it and the lager, but most of their other beers are pretty generic these days. The winter pack stuff is all crap. What I've tried of the Imperial series are pretty good.

 

[rtfick0]

Sam Adams is the best beer available in a gas station. I give it no further credit.

 

[MgMt_Home_Brew]

Im not s big fan of many of their beers. However I do like their Scottish Ale. But I have never seen it in anything but a variety pack.

 

[Homercidal]

I don't mind the Boston Lager, and I like the Winter Lager (and if you think they taste the same, I think I've found your problem...) but for the most part I'm a bit hesitant to try new ones. I've had some pretty nasty SA beers. There wasn't enough interesting stuff int eh winter pack to get me to buy it.

 

[llazy_llama]

I love the Cream Stout, and I love how easy the labels come off from all of their beers. Other than that, not a fan.

Just my 2/-.

 

[Weizenheimer]

I must say I will never buy that sampler pack again.....however I love their Octoberfest

 

[Sigafoos]

It's nice that they're practically guaranteed to be on tap wherever I go, but unfortunately sometimes it's the seasonal instead of the lager (I ordered one when I was at Dave and Buster's for a friend's birthday and got a wit or something... I was surprised).

They aren't amazing, but they're not macro. And the tour in Boston is short but comes with free beer and a tasting glass.

 

[fastricky]

Yeah the Octoberfest is real good! But true enough, there are quite a few clunkers...

So, I do admire Jim Koch... where'd he go wrong?

 

[MikeG]

I love the SA lager and winter lager. More for me!

 

[SumnerH]

Sam Adams Boston Lager is one of a handful of beers I just can't drink--give me a BMC over that any day.

I like most of their seasonals that I've tried, but I haven't tried the winter pack yet.

 

[Coastarine]

I like most SA beers, but my favs are the oktoberfest and the winter lager, but I really like the boston lager and even Sam Adams Lite. I think it's a good "table beer". Some of them are pretty meh, and fewer are downright bad (I think we all know who I'm looking at) but for the most part I can enjoy their stuff. The white ale, or wit, or whatever the hell the seasonal is right now that they're serving at bonefish grill is a no-go.

 

[DrinksWellWithOthers]

I'm a fan of a handful of their beers. I'm a huge fan of the Boston Lager. I never buy it at the liquor store but I always get it when I go out to dinner or to the bar. Besides that I also like the Black Lager, Cream Stout, Winter Lager, Octoberfest and even sometimes the Summer Ale. I think their Holiday Porter is amazing and wish it were available separately.

 

[user 33090]

i don't care for most of their beer. There are a lot better beers out there so I buy those instead. I think most of the sam adams beers I have tried lack flavor and might be made for people who drink mostly coors light, mgd, etc.. Maybe I am wrong, but that is my impression.

 

[Hammy71]

The SA holiday packs are on sale for like 13.99 a case. Not to bad...although the Boston Ale and Cream stout are about the only ones I like.... (Oktoberfest and Summer are my favorite seasonal beers by them ....)

 

[IanP]

I enjoyed trying the Winter SA pack, although I can wait until next year to try it again. I thought the Porter, Stout, Black Lager and Old Fezziwig (my favourite) were all decent drinkable stuff, albeit unlikely to win any prizes.

I'm just pleased that we've reached the point in the development of craft beer that styles like these are readily available in my local supermarket, and since Sam Adams played a big part in making that happen, I'm not going to knock them.

 

[ThatGuyRyan]

The new Imperial series Stout is very good I thought too.

X2 on that the Dbl Bock and Stout are excellent. I didn't care for the Winter Imperial at all. Those two and the Cherry Wheat are the only Samuel Adams that I stock up on.

 

[chelero]

I dig sam adams alot. I must be in the minority, but I love old fezziweg! I remember when they only sold it in the big bottles-i think it's great they're putting in this holiday pack. the cream stout was one of my 1st loves,right around when i turned 21. we drank pitchers and pitchers of the stuff. this is when, in TX, the only way they could get around the TABC to sell it, was changing the name to "Cream Stealth". (antiquated tx law about having to have a certain min. alc. % to be called a "stout", and cream stout came in under the min. %) then SA thought it wasn't worth it going through the trouble just for TX, and pulled it. SO we used to drive to louisiana to buy the stuff-LOVE IT.
also love their cherry wheat, winter lager, lite, scotch ale, chocolate beer, and-don't shoot me-the cranberry lambic. good company, too. they get serious props from me.

 

[KerryD]

I really think their offerings are as middle of the road as you can get. It's like the very first step up from BMC on the way to the craft brews. I haven't paid for one in several years and I hope I'm never in a situation where it's the best offering on the plate.

 

[Christian]

Sam Adams is the best beer available in a gas station. I give it no further credit.

My sentiments exactly. I only purchase it when the only other options are a BMC beer.

And to the OP i couldn't agree more on your position on the cranberry lambic.....although i feel that way about ALL lambics.

 

[GunnerMan]

I had their holiday pack, I did like Old Fizzwigs. The only one in the box I can say I did not enjoy was the lambic. I thought it had some potential but in the end it tasted like a bottle of rotten fruit mixed with some vile tasting finish(assumed it was the lambic that was not properly aged). I just had their White Ale, it seemed like a light wheat beer(which I liked, to much wheat turns me off), but it had some good flavors. I would def. buy it again.

For the price you can't go wrong with SA when you run out of homebrew.

 

[Joos]

Their stout,winter lager and oktoberfest,are great.I like the black lager too.Their spring ale was awesome then they replaced it with that sorry excuse for a wit.

 

[Rubberband]

I really like the Black lager. It reminds me of Kostrizer, while not as good, it is close enough. I can only find Kostrizer in mini kegs and they are not always in stock. I can, however, always by the SA black lager so it is a standard in my refrigerator.

One day, I will give Lagers a try but I'm not capable yet. Still need the cold storage, so until them, its SA.

 

[grammatron]

I definitely admire and support what they do (small beer ideas, big beer production), but I don't like any of their beers. I promised myself I'd stop buying SA beers like 2 years ago, and I've fought it off a few times since then. I just don't like them.

But they're a great gateway brewery, and I wish them the best of luck.

 

[EisBerg]

+1 on the Black Lager. A very nice beer. I seem to always have a sixer of that in my fridge. I also enjoyed the Chocolate Bock on a few occasions but I feel that it's a little overpriced so I don't think I will be getting too many more of those.

 

[rico567]

I enjoyed trying the Winter SA pack, although I can wait until next year to try it again. I thought the Porter, Stout, Black Lager and Old Fezziwig (my favourite) were all decent drinkable stuff, albeit unlikely to win any prizes.

I'm just pleased that we've reached the point in the development of craft beer that styles like these are readily available in my local supermarket, and since Sam Adams played a big part in making that happen, I'm not going to knock them.

This, particularly the last sentence. Sam and Yeungling are as close to corporate beers as I will go......and I won't touch a micro that's been absorbed by a BMC (like Blue Moon), or one that's trying to portray itself as a craft brewer (like Leinenkugel.....although my spouse insists on her Sunset Wheat fix from time to time). I have no problem with creative partnerships, so I'll drink a Rogue, despite their involvement with Anheuser-Busch-Euro or whoever they are now. I am becoming very uneasy at the way the "corporate craft crap" is creeping into the grocery store where I pick up most of my homebrew, and seeing craft brews I used to notice on the shelf disappear. Oh, well, at least Bell's is back in IL. Michelob and Bud may be mounting an expensive national ad campaign, talking about how they use better hops than anyone else, and bottling with pry-offs, but I. Won't. Buy. Them.

 

[Coastarine]

I am becoming very uneasy at the way the "corporate craft crap" is creeping into the grocery store where I pick up most of my homebrew...

Err...you buy your homebrew at the grocery store?

 

[brrman]

I enjoyed a SA White Ale off tap yesterday for the first time. I thought it was quite good.

 

[user 22118]

Wow, a lot of responses! I was just venting a little bit of unhappiness and didn't expect a response really.

I am not knocking SA for their role they played in getting people away from BMC, or for marketing in a way that they are craftsmen and not just a factory. I am glad that I can get a SA at many bars and restaurants (but then again, there is Sierra...so), but I have to say that if my choice is SA over Ice Tea on a hot day, I might go tea. I am amazed at how malty their beers are. I woke up this morning with a sweet taste left in my mouth (after finishing off the rest of the winter pack...finally!)

The Boston Lager and the Winter Lager aren't as much the same taste as very similar in profile. They are so close in maltiness and lack definition from each other that if I was tasting them with a blindfold on I would be hard pressed to say which had more hops, or which had more roast.

Granted, SA got the entire country from coast to coast interested in craft beer, so good for them.

 

[Yunus]

I enjoyed a SA White Ale off tap yesterday for the first time. I thought it was quite good.

I enjoy their white ale on tap. But in bottles the last couple sips are always very sour when you get the yeast portion.

I recently got their blackberry witbeer, its not bad nothing fantastic but not terrible either.

Overall Sam Adams is way better than BMC but not a craft brew either so if I am at a restaurant without a good tap selection I usually go with a SA.

 

[Coastarine]

I enjoy their white ale on tap. But in bottles the last couple sips are always very sour when you get the yeast portion.

Are you suggesting that one would drink a beer directly from the bottle?

 

[Yunus]

Are you suggesting that one would drink a beer directly from the bottle?

When you put it like that it makes me wonder why I didn't put them in my Sam Adam's glasses SWMBO got me for my Birthday.

 

[talenos]

I wouldn't mind if Sam Adams completely supplanted the BMC at any bar. It's fine for what it is.

 

[nleppo]

I have 2 cranberry lambics taking space up in my fridge as well. I tried it twice...but if it comes down to no beer or cranberry beer...