Samuel Adams, Brewed in Boston!
May 07 '01
The Bottom Line Samuel Adams brews some fantastic specialty beers in Boston.
Did you know not all Samuel Adams beers are brewed in the same brewery? It’s true. Samuel Adams began life as a contract brewed beer back in 1984. Rather than come up with the capital to build a brewery in an unsure market for bolder, tastier beers, entrepreneur Jim Koch founded the Boston Beer Company by renting unused capacity from other brewers (Iron City in Pittsburgh, for example), bottling his brew and selling it in New England. Koch literally went from bar to bar in Boston to get his beer sold on tap.
Today, Boston Beer has grown from a small regional brand with one beer, Samuel Adams Boston Lager, to one of the nation’s largest brewers with a line of beers that includes stout, India Pale Ale, Kölsch, Pilsner, and many, many others. Contract brewing still continues as a means for the company to deliver fresh beer quickly around the country, but Boston Beer now owns the former Hudepohl-Schoenling brewery in Cincinnati and is no longer exclusively a contract brewer.
Still, some New Englanders are sometimes distressed to learn that the Samuel Adams beer they drink here is not always brewed here. What they should know is that Boston Beer does in fact operate a small test brewery in the Jamaica Plains section of Boston. Some draft beer, experimental beers, and special beers are brewed here, and tours are given to Boston residents and tourists. The brewery is located on the site of the old Haffenreffer brewery, which was a famous New England brand from the early 1900s right on into 1965 when Haffenreffer fell victim to the growing success of the national brewers, most notably Anheuser Busch and Miller.
Ironically, Haffenreffer at one point bought out a brewing company called the Boston Beer Company that had been in business since 1828, only to have a new Boston Beer Company sprout in its old buildings in 1985. Did Koch have the old Boston Beer Company in mind when he named his own company? Perhaps. What is not in doubt is that many fine test beers have come from the small Jamaica Plains facility, and living in Rhode Island I’ve tasted many of them at the Mews tavern in Wakefield here in my home state, and at the Great Lost Bear in Portland, Maine. You won’t always see these beers make their way to bottles, but perhaps that is part of their charm. Here are a few of them:
Samuel Adams Dark Wheat
This was once a seasonal beer in the Sam Adams line. Cloudy yellow-brown in color with a generous head formation, Samuel Adams Dark Wheat has a spicy clove nose with a hint of smoke. There's a cracker-like wheat body, a touch of chocolate, heavy clove notes, banana, and a tart refreshing finish. Loaded with hearty yeast character, this is a very authentic dunkelweizen. Full review:
http://www.epinions.com/fddk-review-5CF0-DD78F69-39E0D4CD-prod5
Samuel Adams Boston Cream Ale
No, not a pie in a glass, but a smooth and light ale with a creamy head and a high drinkability.
Samuel Adams Cask Ale
This one was a real winner, a cask conditioned English bitter with a wonderful fruitiness, light carbonation, and pleasant bitter finish. As is proper for the style, the last few pints I had from the cask at the Mews were different than the first few, since the beer matures as it ages. This beer was very well received by discerning beer enthusiasts.
Samuel Adams Maibock
This is the most recent Sam Adams specialty I’ve spotted. I enjoyed a few pints at the Great Lost Bear in Portland recently, and I must say this brew was one of the best examples of the style I’ve ever tasted. Maibock is a light-colored German style usually offered in spring that has a slightly higher alcohol content than traditional bock. It is a rarely produced style among American microbrewers. Boston Beer’s interpretation pours to alight orange-golden color with very light head formation and a sweet, malty nose. The palate is rich and chewy, candyish, malty-sweet and rich. The finish is warm with alcohol and has a subtle hop bite. I loved this beer, and I would be in beer heaven to see it in six-packs the next time I walk into my local liquor store.
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