Boston Beer Company (Sam Adams)
Sam Adams Old Fezziwig Ale
Winter Ale - 5.9% ABV Pete This is a very good beer that warms the soul. It is somewhat similar in taste to their winter lager, but a little lighter. At 5.9% alcohol, it packs a pretty decent punch, but you wouldn't know it by drinking it. Rob I remember having Sam Adams’ Old Fezziwig Ale for the first time on a snow day in college. Before a semester starts you are given the option of receiving announcements from the school via text message or phone call. Without any foresight—and out of sheer carelessness—I signed up for the phone call. At 5 in the morning I was awakened to the impinging rings of my cell phone and to the robotic voice of the pre-recorded message: James Madison University will be shut down today due to weather conditions. I was up. The text message would have been more calming but this was neither here nor there. Appointments, classes, to-do’s, assignments, potential unwanted stop-and-chats were eliminated at once. I didn’t have to see anybody I didn’t want to see and I didn’t have to do anything I didn’t want to do. It was a snow day, maybe the final thing keeping us latched onto childhood, the snow day in full form—classes missed, icicles forming, the sound of snow falling and plowers plowing, a pause in the ongoing slush of time. It was time to drink. We began by creating mock-chairs out of the snow—we must have gotten around a foot—and we sat back drinking Country Club Malt Liquor out in the cold like idiots; we drank the Country Club Malt Liquor because that was what we had in the fridge—such a godawful beer it’s completely worth drinking. Luckily we had the Samuel Adams Winter Variety pack as well. And when our asses froze in place we trekked back inside to that wintry warmth, that Dickensian conviviality of being inside around holiday season, the outdoors weather-beaten and pitch white beyond the glass of our human barriers. Sam Adams wants you to drink Old Fezziwig in a setting as such, with your ugly sweater on and a fireplace ablaze. The name itself comes from a Dickens novella for god’s sake. Pouring the beer out into a pint glass shows a deep amber hue with a thick beige head; the body is nearly dark brown but with that hint of dark candy apple red. The smell is confusing and I couldn’t crack it; cinnamon is in there, somewhere, milling about. This is for certain; but there are other mysterious notes present. The taste is expected from this specialty grain—cinnamon, caramel, ginger. The chocolate malt emerges in the follow through during a moment of reflection. The citrusy orange note is lost on me, however. It is, essentially, a gingerbread cookie in a bottle the way Sea Dog’s blueberry wheat is a blueberry muffin in a bottle. It comes off sweeter than expected and can use a greater hop presence. It’s unique in that it’s not trying to be stoutish and it’s not trying to be hoppish; it’s somewhere in the middle doing, what I figure, a specialty grain is supposed to do. Not an ideal choice and certainly not a go-to brew, it’s meant for certain wintry moments. It’s meant for the snow day and nostalgic musings. It is to be paired with cookies, warm sweaters, and the melodic hum of holiday season. Ratings: Rob- 4 Shyoh's Pete - 5 Shyoh's |
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Sam Adams Otter & Rye
Rye Beer - 4.5% ABV Pete A little hoppy, a little spicy, and finishes earthy. Ratings: Pete - 3 Shyoh's |
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Same Adams Our Other Hazy IPA
New England IPA - 6.1% ABV Pete Spicy and floral with a load of carbonation that keeps you coming back for more quickly. Very good. Ratings: Pete - 5 Shyoh's |
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Sam Adams Pale Ale
Pale Ale - 5.25% ABV Pete This wasn't my favorite. I have a high expectation for any Sam Adams beer and this didn't didn't reach it. It isn't bad, but there are so many other kinds of Sam Adams that you can go ahead and skip this one. Ratings: Pete - 3 Shyoh's |
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Sam Adams Porch Rocker
Shandy - 4.5% ABV Pete This is a very good one. I was expecting more of a lemonade flavor, but this leans more toward the beer side. That makes this more of a beer drinker's shandy, which is an oxymoron, but just deal with it. Ratings: Pete - 5 Shyoh's |
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Sam Adams Rebel IPA
IPA - 6.5% ABV Pete This is a pretty average IPA. Nothing to write home about, but certainly nothing bad about it. Ratings: Pete - 4 Shyoh's |
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Sam Adams Rebel Grapefruit IPA
IPA - 6.3% ABV Pete This was my 4th beer of the night, so by no means was I out of it, but somehow I didn't even notice that I drank this. Literally drank the whole thing without even thinking about what it tasted like, and I drank it fast. I'm guessing that means it had a nice balance and wasn't too bitter, but it also means it doesn't have a ton of flavor. Ratings: Pete - 4 Shyoh's |
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Sam Adams Rebel Rider IPA
IPA - 4.5% ABV Pete This is a solid session IPA. There's nothing wrong with it, but nothing to write home about either. Ratings: Pete - 4 Shyoh's |
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Sam Adams Rebel Rouser
Imperial IPA - 8.4% ABV Pete I was pleasantly surprised at how good this was. It is hoppy, but not too bitter. It smells amazing, and went perfectly with that big hunk o' steak in the pic. Ratings: Pete - 5 Shyoh's |
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Sam Adams Sam '76
Light Lager - 4.7% ABV Pete Don't let the style fool you. This is a mix of lager and ale, and it has a good amount of citrusy hoppy flavor to go along with some impressive drinkability (maybe too easy to drink for me that day, but what can you do). Ratings: Pete - 5 Shyoh's |
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Sam Adams Slice of Citrus
IPA - 6.5% ABV Pete This beer was specially brewed for a beer & sweets festival in Boston to be paired with a black pepper and grapefruit donut. I was pleasantly surprised by how good this was, as usually these special beers are bad. This one was good, definitely taste citrus, maybe even a hint of lime. Ratings: Pete - 4 Shyoh's |
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Sam Adams Smokey Sour Peach
Smoked Sour - 11.2% ABV Pete The name/style doesn't really do this justice. This tastes like a good scotch without the alcohol burn. If you like that, get it. If you're expecting a sour beer, you'll be disappointed. I love scotch. Scotchy scotch scotch. Ratings: Pete - 6 Shyoh's |
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Sam Adams Stony Brook
Imperial Stout - 8.5% ABV Pete Roasty and fairly heavy on the vanilla, with some warming spices mixed in. It's like a stout mixed with a winter beer. Pretty good, but doesn't blow you away. Ratings: Pete - 4 Shyoh's |
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Sam Adams Summer Ale
Wheat Beer - 5.3% ABV Pete This is a very good summer beer. It is light and refreshing, with hints of lemon. A great beer to drink outside on a hot day. Ratings: Pete - 5 Shyoh's |
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Sam Adams Tasman Red
Red IPA - 6.5% ABV Pete This is a decent beer. It has the malty sweetness of a red going down and the hop bitterness of an IPA in the finish, as it should, but neither of those flavors really blew me away. Ratings: Pete - 4 Shyoh's |
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Sam Adams The Future is FemAle
Saison - 6.3% ABV Pete Love this style. It's a combination of a saison and a hazy IPA. Spicy and citrusy. Ratings: Pete - 5 Shyoh's |
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