Samuel Adams Winter Lager

Another seasonal beer to finish before the Spring starts, another winter seasonal from Samuel Adams.  It's hard to walk in to tasting a beer like this without the sour memory of the last couple of beers I've had by them, but I did my best to put that behind me as I opened Samuel Adams Winter Lager.  The description on the label called out ground ginger, cinnamon, and orange peel infused into their lager, so one can assume this is their attempt at a spiced beer.

Samuel Adams Winter Lager poured into the glass with little head to speak of, with a medium amounts of carbonation trails passing through the cherry wood colored lager.  The nose smelled like generic light malt extract  with some hop spice to it, but I was surprised that none of the aforementioned infused spices came through.

When drank, Samuel Adams Winter Lager offered a very mild, lemon flavored front that sat in the palette and didn't do anywhere.  There were hints of roasted malts, some earthy flavors to indistinct to put my finger on that may have been the spices, and a somewhat slow, dull linger.

I'm surprised the brewers at Samuel Adams exercised as much restraint as they did with this lager, especially considering my experience with their other seasonals.  There is an undefinable earthiness to it that makes it apropos to the season, but as a whole it doesn't stand up to most of the winter varietals I've had and never transcends being average.  That's more than I can say for my past experiences with them!

Samuel Adams Holiday Porter

The final Samuel Adams beer from the holiday pack is nigh... will Samuel Adams Holiday Porter hit a higher note than their previous offerings?

Samuel Adams Holiday Porter showed little carbonation through it's it's black-with-red-highlights body and a lumpy, latte-like foam.  The nose was predominately composed of caramel, chocolate, and malt balls.

Samuel Adams Holiday Porter hit the tongue like a sweet vanilla malt, with milk chocolate and touched of coffee bean coming through as the beer mellowed on my tongue.  There was an "IPA" like citrus rind in the close of the beer that was out of place, but it wasn't a deal breaker.

I'm glad to say this last Samuel Adams I tasted was actually a pretty good beer.  It lacked the density or complexity I expect from a porter and leaned a bit too much on the sweet side for my tastes, but it got most of  the porter formula right and would be a good introductory porter for someone who hasn't tried a dark beer.

Samuel Adams Imperial Double Bock

Samuel Adams Double Bock, part of the Imperial Series offered by Samuel Adams (Boston Brewing Co) on a limited basis, poured a chill-hazed acorn hue into the glass with little but fairly violent carbonation and no observable head.  The nose carried forward huge, off-sweet malt with an underlying yeast funk that bordered on stewed tomato.  


Samuel Adams Imperial Double Bock opened slightly sweet with a strong undertone of fermented apples and pears that swelled into an incredibly thick, creamy sugar middle.  The almost 10% alcohol thankfully never made an appearance, but the rich, sweet Double Bock ended on a burly, too-decadent finish.  


Samuel Adams Imperial Series Double Bock is certainly a bigger, bolder offering than anything else in the standard Sam Adams line-up, but it is much too sweet and heavy (a half a pound of malt in each bottle?!?) to make me go back for a second.  

Samuel Adams Summer Ale

Samuel Adams Summer Ale, Samuel Adams’ take on the American wheat ale style with an infusion of lemon peel and grains of paradise, poured a clear straw color into the glass, with medium carbonation feeding its small white head.  The nose quickly did away with any possibility the added spices would be subtle, led heavily by lemon, wheat, and grains of paradise.

Samuel Adams Summer Ale opened appropriately bright and citrusy, the carbonation quickly pulling back to lemon and hints of tropical fruit.  The wheat, while lacking in body, came through in the middle and mellowed out the lemon, but was a bit grainy in character.  The fade was a blur of the competing fruit and yeast.

Samuel Adams Summer Ale hit the goal of being light and drinkable, but there was something slightly artificial about the entire drinking experience.  

Samuel Adams Boston Lager

Dipping once again into the paltry selection of beers to be found in Anaheim... a Samuel Adams classic.

Samuel Adams Boston Lager poured the brown-orange color of black tea in the glass, with a loose head and bubble trails running up all sides.  The nose was lightly floral, with strange undertones of soap ad rubbing alcohol.  I check the bottle to make sure it wasn't detergent residue in the glass causing the smell, and it was the same in the bottle.

On the first sip, Boston Lager had a fruit, sugary taste of sweet bread that was slightly cloying.  There were a surprising number of notes coming through (the aforementioned fruit and sweet bread, floral essences, and some unidentifiable chemical tastes), but there was an underlying sweet-bitter combination reminiscent of artificial sweetener that proved to be the enduring characteristic, leaving a rather unpleasant taste in my mouth.

For "big" micro, this beer managed to avoid the generic blandness of the Samuel Adams White Ale I tasted earlier this month, but brought a whole bunch of funkiness to the table.  How this beer is able to sell in stores for the same price as so many truly great microbrews is a mystery to me, but to those who swear by the Adams... cheers!

On an unrelated note, I had the opportunity to eat at Oggi's Pizza and Brewing Company near Disneyland.  Although not ready to compete with the big boys, Oggi's offered a refreshing variety of beers, including a Light Lager, California Gold Ale, Duck Dive Hefewiezen, McGarvey's Scottish Ale, Sun Set Amber Ale, Paradise Pale Ale, Torrey Pines IPA, Black Magic Stout, and two seasonals... a Pumpkin ale and a Summer Vienna Lager.  Why they appear to have a Fall and Summer selection in the winter I have no idea.  All were good, but most would have been better served not identifying with a particular style, as most tasted nothing like what they purported to be (a super hoppy Lager?).

Samuel Adams Rustic Saison

Samuel Adams Rustic Saison poured a clear golden honey hue with heavy carbonation trails to a thin white head.  The nose was subdued for a saison, with grassy notes, funky rubber, soft banana, and some pepper detectable.

Samuel Adams Rustic Saison opened with a crisp, peppery noble hops start.  A dry but estery middle, a hallmark of Belgian yeast, came through and lingered while a slight bitterness came through in the close.

Samuel Adams Rustic Saison somehow hits all the style notes, but misses the mark for achieving the barnyard funk associated with great saisons.  At the end of the day, it is too weak and too refined to capture the wild funkiness of the Belgian farmhouse style.

Samuel Adams Brewing White Ale

I was tempted to jump to a tried-and-true favorite or another more exotic beer after the let down that was yesterday's beer, but have a handful of beers I'd refer to as "those I'm least excited to try" sitting in queue and decided to give one of those a chance to succeed where the 1664 failed. 

Only familiar with their flagship Boston Lager, I've never been impressed by Samuel Adams and felt they really stretch the definition of "microbrew" to the breaking point when considered the largest microbrewery in the US.  Putting my prejudices aside, I popped open a bottle of Samuel Adams White Ale to accompany some hot wings.

Sam Adams White Ale pours like a hazy green tea with little carbonation and a sticky white head.  The cloudiness, combined with the nose of wheat, coriander, and citrus immediately gave away that it was an unfiltered wheat beer (my philosophy of doing no research before a tasting certainly leads to surprises).

The White Ale drank clean and crisp up front with hints of dry stone fruit (peaches, in particular, stuck out) and faded to a light, slightly sweet finish with the wet wheat aftertaste of a hefeweizen.  Of all the beer varietals, the hefeweizen is one of the few beers I would consider passing over for a soda on a typical day, but this beer (considering the deck was so stacked against it with this taster) wasn't bad, especially accompanying hot wings.

It tasted similar to a beer I tried years ago from Blue Moon Brewing (AKA Coors), but whereas I hated the cloying sweetness and overly accented spices of the Blue Moon this managed to be subtle enough to enhance, not overpower.  The words that kept circling in my mind as I drank it though, were "generic" and "two dimensional".  Nothing offensive, but nothing special.  Concerned my prejudice against "big micro"
was influencing this, I asked a fellow beer drinker who swung by to give it a blind taste.  His response- "Not bad... not great; got any more of that Sierra Nevada Harvest?"