Sam Adams Old Fizziwig

Fezziwig on tap!? I didn't even know they kegged that beer.

 

To be fair, it was a BYOB, and I brought it to share. I just happened to take the Old Fezziwigs.

 

It depends what you mean by "always". For many years the Winter pack had Old Fezziwig, Holiday Porter, Winter Lager and Boston Lager. They don't even make the Holiday Porter any more, though it was pretty popular with the BA crowd. At some point, the Chocolate Bock was made as a one off and was in large format bottles. Eventually they repeated that experiment, then began brewing it and putting it in 12 oz bottles and releasing it more broadly. I don't remember when they started brewing the Honey Porter.

I do miss the Holiday Porter, but I mostly just wish Old Fezziwig came in 6-packs.

 

Their refusal to do that has always puzzled me. I doubt it would hurt the sales of the variety packs and think it would be a strong seller as a holiday beer.

 

Guy who comes into the store I work at gave me one out of the sample pack. Honestly not really impressed. Definitely not worth working through a whole sample pack. Same thing with Blue Moon Sampler. Wouldn't want to get the whole thing just to try the Cinnamon Horchata.

 

Schlafly Christmas Ale is a spice bomb. Love it.

 

I think the reason Sam Adams seems so obstinate about making their best beers more easily available has less to do with whether the general market would enjoy it and more to do with label appeal to people who haven't tried it. People go out looking to try pumpkin beers in the fall. Or in general, beers that naturally fall in a simple category. People wouldn't buy old fezewig unless they've tried it already.

 

If it was more widely available then its scores would suffer, and people would complain about having to choke it down in order to get to the Chocolate Bock.

 

I do not recall ever seeing it sold by the case but I do not doubt your statement.

How long ago was that and was that only in a limited area (such as Mass. or New England, etc.)?

 

Obviously, BBC/SA is doing fine without our suggestions but, in general, I’d like to see them tone down the number of varieties they offer and stick to their best beers.

For example, my dream Winter mix case would be:
8 Winter Lagers, 8 Fezzies and 8 Chocolate Bocks.

Bring back the Holiday Porter and I can handle 6-6-6-6.

Most of SA’s seasonal cases can be similarly reduced to the three-four good beers they offer for that season.

 

I bought a SA holiday case last weekend to get the four Fezziwigs and four Chocolate Bocks. Both are fantastic, the rest of the case is crap. Luckily, I was able to justify the purchase once as many family members this holiday will be happy to finish the rest off (and my girl will drink some, too).

That being said, SA failed miserably this year IMO. Shame....they could do so much better.

 

I remember watching that live when I was 10 years old.

 

I love the Boston. I just meant you'd have to buy other beers to get OF. I realized after I posted it would probably come across wrong but was too lazy to correct.

 

I bought it at least by the six pack and I'm pretty sure by the case (what the difference - I can buy 4 sixers right?) in the late 90's. I have no idea what the availability was nation wide because BA wasn't a thing yet and I only drank in New England at that age

 

My point was that they used to sell it one way, but they don't anymore. That suggests it is more profitable the way they sell it now, so the statement that they "should" sell it by the case is factually incorrect.

Also the fact that they significantly reduced the availability suggests that it might not be as popular as you think it is. My memory of old fezziwig is that it was super popular when it came out. Everyone was drinking it and you couldn't avoid it. I don't like it, but it took me a few sixers to decide I don't like it, because it's hard for a 21 yo kid to not like something that is popular with his friends. Then after a couple of years everyone got over it and it faded away and I was glad that nobody was sticking one in my hand at christmas time. Since SA is very successful, I'm assuming that they noticed the popularity fade and reduced production and availability. Just my 2 cents. I could be way off

 

Had one last night for the first time in a long time and i liked it, again.