Beer Forum

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http://brewdogblog.com/2009/01/an-open- ... ton-lager/

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An Open Mind Pays Off (Samuel Adams Boston Lager)

Another quick post, this time about a beer that I was quite surprised by. I’ve been down in West Palm Beach, Florida for a few days visiting my folks who winter down here — typical “snowbirds.” While the company of my family, fresh fish, good homecooking, and lots of sun are always on my agenda when I’m here, beer certainly is not. My parents don’t drink a drop beyond the occassional glass of red wine or Appletini (or “Lemon Drop” shots, sometimes, as I learned from my Mom this weekend), and since I spend all of my time down here with them, I don’t usually bother seeking beer or drinking much of it at all. After four nights, though, at an excellent local restaurant known for great, fresh grilled fish, I couldn’t resist. Asking for the selection of beers (bottles only) was the typical tour through the BMC (Budweiser, Miller, Coors) beers that I tend to loathe, plus the occasional random import. And then, there was Sam Adams.

I haven’t had a Boston Lager in a while, and since it was cheap enough, I decided to go for it. As the title of this post hints, an open mind pays off, and I was quite surprised and delighted with the beer I was presented with. Boston Lager pours a deep golden-brown color with a lasting head. I hadn’t remembered this beer being quite so hoppy, but it had a lot of resinous hop aromas and flavors interwoven throughout. Very well balanced with some bready, caramelly malt flavots, Boston Lager even tips more toward the hoppy than it does toward “perfect balance.” A nice, bitter finish, with a decent amount of spicy hop character on the palate made this an excellent accompaniment to the grilled, somewhat oily fish I had for dinner. This beer struck me as well-crafted, and above all, fresh, fresh, fresh. I still doubt I’ll find myself drinking much of this in NYC because, well, there’s just a lot of other stronger, bolder flavored beers around, but in a pinch, I’d choose this, the last truly American beer of its stature, amongst any of the other choices available. A nice surprise that I’ll have to bring a sixer of to a barbecue in the spring, just to see what my friends have to say — I think they’ll be surprised too.

It is one of my favorites, but I live in New England so it's the law.

I usually get them in the Winter Sampler packs, but don't find myself buying six packs because I like to mix things up bit. I will get it on draft when out for dinner if there's nothing else worth getting ( i.e. BMC, etc).

Had one at the Olive Garden a week or two ago because...well...it was either that or BMC. I hadn't had it in several years and was reminded of how good it really is. Props to SA

I usually buy the samplers too, for the same reason as The DarkSide, and I usually am more impressed with the lager than the other beers. Although, I am fond of the ale. . .

I must admit that was my gateway beer

+1
SA was my first craft beer.. and I go back to it once in a while.

Now that Sam Adams is the largest American brewer, shouldn't we start hating their beer? Just curious.

Dirk McLargeHuge wrote:Now that Sam Adams is the largest American brewer, shouldn't we start hating their beer? Just curious.

Nice try. SA is to craft beer, as Charlie Papazian is to homebrew. I had my first SA back in the late 80's at my brother's house. I think my first words after taking that first sip.... "Now that's a barley sandwich!"


Mylo