Samuel Adams (beer)

Samuel Adams
Type Lager
Country of origin United States
Introduced 1984
Alcohol by volume 4.9%
Website Official website

Samuel Adams is the flagship brand of the Boston Beer Company. The brand name of "Samuel Adams" (often shortened to Sam Adams) was chosen in honor of Founding Father Samuel Adams, an American revolutionary patriot who authored the Massachusetts Circular Letter and the Boston Pamphlet, co-inspired and later publicized the Boston Tea Party, and who signed the Continental Association, the Declaration of Independence, and the Articles of Confederation, and also a second cousin to president John Adams. Adams inherited his father's brewery on King Street (modern day State Street). Some histories say he was a brewer, while others describe him as a maltster.[1]

Samuel Adams Boston Lager

Following Jim Koch’s great-great grandfather’s recipe, Samuel Adams continued to use traditional brewing processes, including decoction mash (a four vessel process) and krausening (a secondary fermentation). Boston Lager is also dry hopped using the Hallertau Mittelfrueh and Tettnang Tettnanger hops.[2] Samuel Adams is speculated to taste "better" when drank locally in Boston where it is brewed. The reason is because during the brewing process, dust swept up from the Boston city cobblestone streets and is then added to the cask, which gives this lager its own very distinct taste. This batch variant is only distributed to locally, rather than nationwide vendors, for consumption.

Seasonal offerings

In addition to year-round offerings, Samuel Adams also has four seasonal offerings. The spring seasonal beers are Cold Snap, a Witbier and Escape Route, a Kölsch. The spring seasonals are sold from January to March. The Summer offerings are available from April through August and include Summer Ale, a wheat ale and Porch Rocker, a radler. The Autumn seasonal beers are available August through October and are Octoberfest, a Marzen and Pumpkin Batch, a seasion. The Winter/Holiday seasonal beers are available November through December and are, Winter Lager, a Bock and White Christmas an Ale.[3]

Samuel Adams also offers seasonal variety packs which include a mix of year-round and seasonal offerings.[3][4]

Other variants

Samuel Adams Rebel IPA

First brewed in 2014, Samuel Adams Rebel IPA is a West Coast style India Pale Ale. The beer is brewed with five American hops - American Cascade, Simcoe, Chinook, Centennial, and Amarillo.[5] In early 2015, Samuel Adams released Rebel Rouser, a double India Pale Ale, and Rebel Rider, a session India Pale Ale.

Sam Adams Light

Introduced in 2001 Sam Adams Light was the second light beer the company brewed. The company previously sold Boston Lightship which was introduced in 1993.[6]

Samuel Adams Barrel Room Collection

These Belgian style beers are left in large wood barrels to age and pick up some of the flavors of the wood.[7] The beers in this collection are American Kriek, New World, Stony Brook Red, Thirteenth Hour and Tetravis.[8]

Samuel Adams Utopias
A Samuel Adams Utopias beer bottle

The company followed this up in 2002 with Utopias; at 24% abv, it was marketed as the strongest commercial beer in the world (a mark that has since been challenged). The company subsequently released new "vintages" of Utopias annually, increasing the alcoholic content to 27% abv by 2007.

Utopias is made with caramel, Vienna, Moravian and Bavarian smoked malts, and four varieties of noble hops: Hallertauer Mittelfrüh, Tettnanger, Spalter, and Saaz hops. The beer is matured in scotch, cognac and port barrels for the better part of a year. A limited number of bottles are released each year; in 2007, only 12,000 bottles were produced, and in 2009, only 9,000 bottles were released.[9][10] Sold in a ceramic bottle resembling a copper-finished brewing kettle, a single bottle of Utopias cost $100 in 2002, and $150 in 2009.

Because of legal restrictions, Utopias is not offered in the states of Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Vermont, or West Virginia.[11]

References

  1. ↑ Most historical evidence suggests that Adams worked as a maltster and not a brewer; Stanley Baron, Brewed in America: The History of Beer and Ale in the United States (Boston: Little, Brown, 1962), pp. 74–75. However, Ira Stoll in Samuel Adams: A Life (New York: Free Press, 2008; ISBN 978-0-7432-9911-4; ISBN 0-7432-9911-6), p. 275n16, notes that James Koch, founder of the Boston Beer Company, reports having seen a receipt for hops signed by Adams, which indicates that Adams may have done some brewing.
  2. ↑ "Samuel Adams Boston Lager". SamuelAdams.com. November 19, 2014. Retrieved 2014-11-11.
  3. 1 2 "Our Beers, Seasonals". Samuel Adams. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  4. ↑ Jason Notte (May 27, 2015). "7 Craft Beer Variety Packs to Drink Until Labor Day". Market Watch. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  5. ↑ "Samuel Adams Rebel IPA". SamuelAdams.com. November 19, 2014. Retrieved 2014-11-11.
  6. ↑ "Sam Adams Light". SamuelAdams.com. November 19, 2014. Retrieved 2014-11-11.
  7. ↑ "Barrel Room Collection". SamuelAdams.com. November 19, 2014. Retrieved 2014-11-11.
  8. ↑ Nason, Adam (July 20, 2012). "Samuel Adams Barrel Room Collection National Rollout Begins". Beer Pulse. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  9. ↑ "The 48 proof beer". Beer Break Vol. 2, No. 19. Real Beer Media, Inc. 2002-02-14. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
  10. ↑ DellaSala, Steve (2007-01-31). "Sam Adams Utopias - Strongest Beer in the World". Audioholics. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
  11. ↑ "Samuel Adams – America's World Class Beer". Boston Beer Company. Retrieved 2009-02-02.

External links

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