Samuel Adams - Winter Lager

Tonight's review is my brother Kenny's second guest review on our site!  His first review was of Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter; a favorite of many beer drinkers in the Midwest.  Since then, Kenny has ventured out of his way to try new beers and expand his craft beer knowledge and expertise.  Tonight, he reviews one of his winter favorites - Sam Adams Winter Lager.  Enjoy!

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Seasons’ greetings TWOBC!

I’m honored to have been invited back for an encore post, especially due to the fact that I’m relaxing here after work enjoying one of my all-time favorite brews.

Call me crazy, but I love the winter. During every snow of the season I’m overcome by a feeling of joyous nostalgia while memories of sledding and snow-fort building in zero-visibility resurface. As I grew older, I found many more hidden gems of the season; paid company holidays, an excuse to own a truck, women in fur… to name a few. However, at the ripe age of 24, the distribution of seasonal lagers and ales hold strong as my #1 favorite thing about winter (tied with women in fur ;-)).

A beautiful pour of a Samuel Adams Winter Lager. Mmmmm, Winter…

Jim Koch is often credited with pioneering the craft beer movement. I find this belief hard to argue with because his Winter Lager did just that for my personal craft beer movement. Before this beer, my liquor store runs consisted of thirty-cent cans of whatever-gets-me-buzzed and the occasional bottle of Ron Diaz. Embarrassing, I know, please continue to read my post.

Coincidently, it was my brother Steve (you may have heard of him) who noticed my novice selections and introduced me to my first flavorful beer, Sam Adams Winter Lager. From that day on I’ve had the privilege of experiencing how much the occasional craft beer can add to one’s quality of life.

Upon taking my first sip, the room instantly warmed 10 degrees and Santa’s sleigh streaked across the sky. This beer screams winter. A subtle sweetness, a hint of cinnamon, and a rich texture are all included in this premium lager. It finishes with a tiny bite and an enjoyable lingering of every individual flavor on the palate.

That being said, I’m obviously a little bias towards this beer. Therefore, if this has interested you in the slightest, I strongly recommend you give it a try! It’s a brew that can be enjoyed by anybody, not limited to micro-brew fiends like ourselves. Lucky for you, due to the size of the Samuel Adams brewery this beer is widely available. You shouldn’t have a problem picking up a 6-pack at your local beer store, keeping in mind this is a seasonal brew.

Until next time,

Cheers!

Sam Adams - Octoberfest

If you have been following The World of BeerCraft recently, you should be aware of my affinity for Autumn-time  brews.  In my opinion (IMO for you young people and hackers out there), Autumn is arguably the best season of the year for beer.  You have Oktoberfests, Porters, Pumpkin spiced and Stout styles all awakening from their long reverse-hibernation through the Spring and Summer.  The joy of drinking these styles in the cool Autumn months next to a fire or during a football game cannot be beat.

Tonight's Oktoberfest brewery of choice is Sam Adams.  If there is one brewery that put craft beer on the map across the country it was Sam Adams.  Now I don't need a bunch of hate mail from you West Coast folks out there telling me that Sierra Nevada is better - They are a fantastic brewery in their own right.  But Sam Adams Boston Lager took the craft beer industry by storm and was widely adopted by beer drinkers who had only previously known of "The Big Three".  They have made their presence well known within the world of craft beer and have continually supported not only beer innovation, but new craft breweries and homebrewers alike.

Sam Adams Oktoberfest is a classic version of the Marzen style.  The color is a beautiful clear amber hue topped off with a thin off-white foam.  The aromas are distinctly bready with plenty of sweet malt supported by a subtle rustic or herbal hop.  Everything you find in the aroma comes through to the flavors.  Smooth malty sweetness, toasted bread with hints of hop bitterness to balance the sweetness.  You wont find any signs of alcohol in this marzen brew.

Overall - This is a very basic, yet delicious offering from Sam Adams.  They took no creative liberty on this style and for that we should be grateful.  The Oktoberfest/Marzen style can be easily bastardized since the recipe is so basic.  Yet, if left as is, you will find yourself with a delicious beer.  I generally tend to think all Sam Adams beers have that 'Sam Adams' flavor to them.  However, with their Octoberfest offering I'm having trouble finding that signature flavor.  This brew is true to the style.  Now all I need is a giant pretzel and some lederhosen!

Sam Adams - Infinium

Samuel Adams likes to say they started the craft beer revolution here in the states in 1984.  Their Boston Lager is the epitome of what non-craft beer drinkers would typically define as "craft beer".  Sam Adams embraces the value that beer should be full of flavor and brewed with the best ingredients available.  They use the slogan "stretching the definition of beer" to venture out in search of new beer recipes and styles that haven't been produced by other craft breweries before.  Today's beer review defines that slogan.

Infinium is a collaborative beer brewed with the Weihenstephan brewery in Germany, the oldest brewery in the world.  Founded in 1040 by monks, this "Vatican City of brewing" is widely considered to be the pinnacle of brewing knowledge.  The goal of this beer was to make something that has never been brewed before while also staying within the confines of the reinheitsgebot, the German purity law of 1516 saying a beer can only contain four ingredients: barley, hops, water and yeast.  After two years of collaboration a champaign styled beer emerged from these two well known breweries.  Brewed with noble German hops, American barley and water, fermented with American ale yeast and bottle conditioned with Belgian style yeast, Infinium is a beer that has a great story to tell.  I'm looking forward to this treat.

This champagne-minded brew pours with a light head of carbonation which eventually collapses and laces the side of your glass.  The color is a pale gold and crystal clear with lots of bubbles rising throughout the glass.  My first smell reminds me of champaign but not overly fruity.  Noble hops are prominent in the nose and a mild malt aroma backs up the floral characteristics.  Sipping this one is not what I expected, but thats not a bad thing.  Very smooth with lots of carbonation tickling your tongue.  Mild fruits compliment the subtle malt flavors that you may find in an american blonde ale.  As it warms the fruity esters become more prominent. The ABV is 10.3% but barely noticeable.  The alcohol helps dry out the finish in tandem with the heavy carbonation.

Overall 5.25/6.  This is an extremely well crafted beer.  You need to be a fan of champaign in order to fully enjoy this though.  It is a very delicate, light, mildly hoppy and easily drinkable bottle that will go down quickly if you are not careful.  Infinium is a treat to enjoy.  Buy a bottle of this instead of a $20 bottle of champaign this holiday season.  It will be a nice change of pace and give you the opportunity to taste something truly unique.