Samuel Adams Boston Lager

[dmtaylor]

I like Sam Adams stuff a great deal. It was somewhat of a gateway beer for me as well, although I also liked Pete's Wicked, German imports, etc.

I think even the guys who proclaim that they don't like Sam Adams... secretly love it. Sort of like Neil Diamond. I mean, who can't rock out to Neil Diamond? Am I right? Am I right?

[Nate Diggler]

I, too, like many of the Sam Adams beers... many are quite "mainstreamed" for the styles they represent, but you could do much, much worse. They recently bought the brewery a few miles from my place from Diageo (the old Schaefer/Pabst/Strohs brewery, which last brewed Smirnoff Ice before Boston Beer Company bought it)... so it saved a lot of jobs in the area (a guy from my homebrew club just started there)... plus, my mom's maiden name is Adams, so I guess its the family label

[UcfLumberjack]

Never hated BMC because they were big companies, just because their beer sucks and they convinced everyone that its good.

Aside from that.... Sam Adam's makes some great beer. The Boston Lager is an awesome beer. I'm glad to see flavorful beers on tap at mainstream restaurants. Maybe next we'll see pliny at Outback Steakhouse.

[celticgladiator]

i just had a couple SA Boston Lagers last week too for some reason. not a normal go to beer for me even though its good, i was just in the mood i guess

[Jaeger48]

I too like a Sam Adam's Boston Lager but I don't drink much because I'm lucky enough to be in an area that has a a good selection of craft beers on tap.

To plead ignorance, and from what I've found it's a bit of a "tweener" but what category does the Boston Lager come closest to?

[ApresSkiBrewer]

I too like a Sam Adam's Boston Lager but I don't drink much because I'm lucky enough to be in an area that has a a good selection of craft beers on tap.

To plead ignorance, and from what I've found it's a bit of a "tweener" but what category does the Boston Lager come closest to?

I was thinking one of the Euro Amber Lagers... Category 3. Looked up on the sam adams website and they say its pretty much 2-row and caramel 60 for the grain bill, hallertau mitt, and tett tettnag.... Beer advocate lists it as a Vienna Lager, which would be Cat 3A.

This could all be debated, and I am not very familiar with Vienna Lagers.... not a style I know anything about.

What do other people think?

[dmtaylor]

It's not a Vienna lager. It doesn't fit any style well. It's sort of a combination between a Vienna and an APA or amber ale. Vienna lager requires the use of Vienna malt, which Sam Adams does not use. And pale ale, of course, is an ale, so that doesn't work. That's really the beauty of it -- it is unique, tastes great, and defies categorization. There's nothing else quite like it.

[BDawg]

I'd say its like an American Amber grain bill, hopped with Noble hops,and fermented with lager yeast. An American Amber Lager