Why does all Samuel Adams Beer Taste Bad?

[TheMadKing]

True, but I've been drinking a lot of German beers in the last few years (mainly because I'm making lots of trips to Germany in the last few years) and I still think "we" (Americans) tend to overdo it with caramel malts when brewing Marzens and Oktoberfests, but it's not surprising because "we" seem to think bigger/more is better in everything, and brewing is no exception (see the rise of West Coast IPA, Then NEIPA, and the "Imperialization" of everything).
I often lament that not many breweries do enough classic, old world styles, but then again, the American beer drinker's palate has become so attuned to "Big" beers (be it IBU, ABV, massive dry hops, or bourbon-barrel-triple-chocolate-mocha-cherry-latte-stout).
Too many drinkers here think classic styles are boring, so they don't buy or brew them.
That's not a value judgement, because to each his own, and who am I to say that there's anything wrong with a bourbon-barrel-triple-chocolate-mocha-cherry-latte-stout, but I lament that the nuanced delicacies of German lagers and British ales are so often lost to the newer trend-chasing "beer snob" crowd.

Okay, old curmudgeon rant complete.

Young curmudgeon agrees. I brew mostly old-world styles, specifically German styles. My last 4 brews have been a Dopplebock, ESB, Munich Lager, English Porter. I had several members of my brewing club say "while its really good, for what it is.. It's boring"

I think of it in painting terms: picasso did something new and exciting and crazy and was a great painter. Da vinci just painted the world around him the way we all see it, but he did it SO WELL that it stood out. That's my goal in brewing.

 

[GHBWNY]

I'm not opposed to SA and in fact, I used to order one wherever possible. For better or worse, since home brewing, I have become more critical of beers I used to enjoy without question.

 

[303Dan]

Boston Lager is a solid beer for what it is and I remember really enjoying their Cream Stout, though I haven't had one in a very long time.

 

[APendejo]

Were you drinking them at a bar? Maybe the bar had bad tap lines?

Nope, 12 packs. Some of those SA mixed packs and Boston Lager.
The beer tasted ok but had that dirty mop water smell.

 

[xCSx]

boston lager is pretty much junk, their winter beers are pretty decent

 

[NSMikeD]

my very first attempt at homebrew was an extract with specialty grains attempting to clone Boston Ale, back in like 1995. That house had a large "Florida" room with a huge brick fireplace and bluestone floors, perfect for cool fermenting in the spring, which was unique to the Boston Ale. Back then it was one the better beers we could find. Boston Lager soon moved it from the shelves

 

[Anyhowe]

One should not mistake 'bad' for not your preference.

 

[IslandLizard]

One should not mistake 'bad' for not your preference.

Exactly!

I don't think their beers are bad, and the "soapy" flavor some refer too, is probably their yeast. Many homebrews have a bit of a soapy flavor too.

Back in the days SA was a breath of fresh air in the world of beer. I really enjoyed their Boston Lager and Oktoberfest (on tap) and their variety of ales at the time. By today's standards, I think we expect more from craft beer. It has to be a superb lager or an exquisite ale that can stand alone against the competition.

For example, I really dig a draught of Blue Point's Toasted Lager or Devils Backbone's Vienna Lager. I've tasted them, compared them, judged them, side by side on many occasions, and find it hard to choose which I prefer. They are both wonderful, yet slightly different. Either can stand alone, and not just in a competition. Today's SA's Boston Lager wouldn't even come close to those two.

But, I also had the most wonderful Sam Adams' Pumpkin Ale (on tap), and for that style, it remains my favorite because I can still taste pumpkin! I'm sure many prefer any of the other different breweries' offers. More spicy, clovey, cinnamony, sweeter, drier, whatever. That's mostly preference.

During one of the beer festivals I came across Gordon Biersch' Oktoberfest. Hmm, I remember having had that in the past. GB never impressed me that much (aside from a sumptuous "dirty" Saison 11 years ago) and is really not all that "crafty" by today's standards, but what the heck... Perfect! Better than you would probably get in Germany, or anywhere else.

 

[JordanKnudson]

Nope, 12 packs. Some of those SA mixed packs and Boston Lager.
The beer tasted ok but had that dirty mop water smell.

I gotta say, man, that sounds like the rim of your glassware dried damp and got a little funky, not like the beer was bad. Obviously we'll never know either way, but especially if it was the aroma and not the taste...I've had glasses do that to me before.

 

[mmiddleton]

I really like their Summer Ale. It's something I've been meaning to try making. Most everything I've tried of theirs (which is not many, since I live in the beer desert known as Newfoundland) has been enjoyable enough, if a bit unremarkable.

Can't bring myself to try their cherry wheat.

I've had it, and I enjoyed it. Then again, I like cherries in beer, when it's done carefully (ie. doesn't taste like cough medicine).

 

[PlexVector]

There is no such thing as a 'bad" beer (unless it has faults) only different beer...

 

[seefish]

Seems like this thread or one exactly like it gets started again every 6 months.

 

[Stealthcruiser]

Seems like this thread or one exactly like it gets started again every 6 months.

What thread?

 

[augiedoggy]

I actually like several sam adams beers. The original Boston Lager is a very good beer, and is much better on tap than from a bottle. The octoberfest is not bad. There are certainly better octoberfests out there though. Their winter lager is also good, but it varies year to year since it's a seasonal. This year's was good.

I don't like any of their other beers though. I wouldn't call them watered down, as their alcohol content is correct for style, but they are intentionally designed to be approachable beers. So even their IPAs are not terribly hoppy. They sometimes do more extreme small batch beers, but I'm not close enough to Boston to actually get any of those.

Different strokes.. I don't like anything New Belgium has ever made.

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

 

[mattdee1]

True, but I've been drinking a lot of German beers in the last few years (mainly because I'm making lots of trips to Germany in the last few years) and I still think "we" (Americans) tend to overdo it with caramel malts when brewing Marzens and Oktoberfests, but it's not surprising because "we" seem to think bigger/more is better in everything, and brewing is no exception (see the rise of West Coast IPA, Then NEIPA, and the "Imperialization" of everything).
I often lament that not many breweries do enough classic, old world styles, but then again, the American beer drinker's palate has become so attuned to "Big" beers (be it IBU, ABV, massive dry hops, or bourbon-barrel-triple-chocolate-mocha-cherry-latte-stout).
Too many drinkers here think classic styles are boring, so they don't buy or brew them.
That's not a value judgement, because to each his own, and who am I to say that there's anything wrong with a bourbon-barrel-triple-chocolate-mocha-cherry-latte-stout, but I lament that the nuanced delicacies of German lagers and British ales are so often lost to the newer trend-chasing "beer snob" crowd.

Okay, old curmudgeon rant complete.

Never mind "curmudgeon," I think this type of thing needs to be said as a counterpoint to the obsession with bigger and bolder everything.

I cringe when I hear supposed beer enthusiasts dismiss, for example, classic German and English styles as garbage, then go on to extoll the virtues of the latest 10% ABV / 100 IBU IPA with a stupid name. I enjoy a crazy IIPA or bourbon barrel aged imperial stout once in a while too, but there is much more to the world of beer than what lay at its extremes. Likewise, occasionally I will enjoy some kind of meal that I drench in sriracha sauce; it makes for a nice complement to the lighter tasting meal I may have had the day before, but it’s not nearly my entire diet.

As for SABL, I think it’s a great product. I buy it from time to time and it never lets me down. Drank a whole bunch of it while in Boston this past summer… when in Rome, and all that.

 

[z-bob]

Do you really dislike their beer, or are you trashing them because you don't like the Koch brothers?

 

[JordanKnudson]

Do you really dislike their beer, or are you trashing them because you don't like the Koch brothers?

Lol! I'm not sure if it would be more entertaining if you were being serious or joking.

 

[C-Rider]

I actually like several sam adams beers. The original Boston Lager is a very good beer, and is much better on tap than from a bottle. The octoberfest is not bad. There are certainly better octoberfests out there though. Their winter lager is also good, but it varies year to year since it's a seasonal. This year's was good.

I don't like any of their other beers though. I wouldn't call them watered down, as their alcohol content is correct for style, but they are intentionally designed to be approachable beers. So even their IPAs are not terribly hoppy. They sometimes do more extreme small batch beers, but I'm not close enough to Boston to actually get any of those.

Different strokes.. I don't like anything New Belgium has ever made.

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

 

[Murphys_Law]

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

Do your friends come for the porn or the beer!? Or porn AND beer?

 

[MidAtlanticBrew]

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.

 

[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).