Feedback for Samuel Adams (Fall Variety Pack)...

Unfortunately the labeling doesn’t bode well for my Boston Ale...perhaps it’s just that they have not been restocked yet, but the cases of BA at my beer store still use the old labeling scheme, rather than the new one that was updated with the bottle labels.

 

As I already posted above in post #92:

"And so under the direction of Miller, Jefferson became "a brewer for family use.".

Cheers!

 

Yes, I take the reference to mean he was brewing for family consumption rather than buying casks of ale for domestic use. For how large a family I don't know, or whether any of the hundreds of slaves were included, but there were a lot of people residing at Monticello. I also view the letter as part of Jefferson's ongoing efforts to wean the American people off whisky by turning them to beer and wine instead, a cause for which he was quite ardent.

I don't think there is any difference between Jefferson referring to himself as a brewer or my calling him a producer. I wasn't being disparaging to him, rather pointing out Jefferson didn't engage in the physical act of brewing, instead delegating that task to his people.

 

Yes, and as you didn't already post:

"...having had the benefit of instruction to one of my people by an English brewer of the first order."

One can be a head Brewer without doing any of the physical labor.

 

Which is consistent with what he says in the letter.

Suggesting that you and @JackHorzempa are each correct but from a different perspective. Jefferson did become a brewer but someone else, after proper instruction by that English brewer, did all the physical labor.

Which is also consistent with a few of the breweries I've toured. i.e., the Brewer is the one in charge and other folks do all or most of the hard labor under her/his direction.

 

Man, he looks like Marley's ghost.

 

I agree with you completely! They don't understand their own market or history for a category that they basically invented. Seasonal variety packs aren't the same as a standard variety pack, and honestly, I'd personally fire the brand manager for making that error.

 

Sure, that's what I was saying, as would be consistent with other Colonial plantations of the time. George Washington was both a brewer and a distiller by definition though he delegated the actual work to others.

 

Except they probably get paid.

 

You hit the nail on the head here. 76 isn't bad. It's ok. Would I buy it over most other beers? No, I find it to be an inferior product in the beer market and in BBC's own portfolio. When that beer is placed in seasonal packs in lieu of other quality options they've put in mix packs, well, that sucks.

 

I guess it depends how you look at it. I personally think its a well made beer and far from inferior.

I've seen it designated as "Lager - American Light" as well as "American Lager" depending on what database you use. I'm no beer style expert but I don't think either of those designations really fits correctly, neither by taste nor by the fact that they use both ale and lager yeasts and brewing techniques (according to their description). I find it to taste more like what I've found other breweries label as a table beer but is basically a lighter saison. I think if SA was marketing towards the BA crowd they'd probably designate it a table beer or something similar. Since the average consumer has no idea what a saison or a table beer is they've stuck more towards branding more of a lighter lager. At least that's my personal take on the beer.

They dumb down the beer marketing to make it more appealing but I think it does the beer an injustice as well as a connotation from the BA crowd that its an inferior beer. For a lower ABV beer I think its pretty good. I don't go out of my way to drink it but I'd probably choose it over most of the other SA beers. It still doesn't belong in a fall sampler pack though.

 

Boston Beer is now calling it a Lager. They even call it out as being a lager in their new commercials for it.

 

All of which had me wondering if they reformulated the recipe to be a full and true lager, or if this is only a marketing trick because ale has come to mean something like IPA in the minds of American macro-drinkers. It’s an interesting shift from a “revolution in brewing” they once touted it to be.

 

It wasn't that long ago when the SA mixed packs consisted of Boston Lager and 5 unique/seasonal beers. Now they're mostly just a flagship pack with 2 unique beers. Seems odd considering beer consumer preferences have shifted toward what's new and exciting.

 

I really miss Black Lager, Noble Pils and Alpine Spring. SA helped immensely on my craft beer journey but I do feel as if they brewed way too many similar/mediocre beers and that is what helped lead things to where they are now with the seasonal packs.

 

Yeah but....

Samuel Adams is fully capable of brewing quality beers of other styles. While I am generally speaking not a big fan of Pumpkin Beers this sort of beer is well suited for a fall variety pack. Last year they included a Spruce beer which was well brewed IMO. And they also included the Black Lager in last years pack and that beer is very good IMO.

By overall point is that Sam Adams is capable of producing quality beers that are appropriate for a Fall seasonal pack but this year (for business reasons?) they just decided to create more of a 'generic' variety pack and still label it as Fall Variety Pack. I am personally disappointed in this change.

Cheers!

 

Made an account to come here and comment on how bad this mix pack is. The last few have been trending to the worse, ever since they switched to 4-typed instead of 6. Sam Adams is one of the few beer companies who consistently provide great new beers in their variety packs. No pumpkin? No reds? A freaking sour beer and the 76 (which is a good beer but belongs in the summer). I really hope you guys read the feedback and go back to what made you great. You don’t even need to come up with any new recipes if that is not profitable, just cycle through the many great beers you’ve made already. Truly will keep Sam afloat but once that trend dies down, they will need to start offering great beer again.

 

Don't forget Angry Orchard, Twisted Tea, Dogfish Head...

 

Sam Adams knows how to brew great beer. They need to concentrate on that.