Boston Lager Remastered

According to the bottle label it's a Calagione-conspiracy.

If it's actually NY only, I'd assume that they are considering it the test market and aren't going into this lightly.

 

Which is wise from a business perspective.

I suppose we will collectively learn whether New Yorkers like (or dislike) this remastered beer if the rest of us get the buy this new beer.

Cheers!

 

Well I haven’t heard this story...

 

New Yorks refined palette.

Duh.

I'll let you know.

 

I actually did do a spot check in the store last night and it hasn't made it to NJ yet.

 

But you do make it over to NYC for work, right?

Maybe you could pick up a bottle (or six-pack) there?

I would very much like to hear your thoughts on this beer.

Cheers!

 

That's a good point. I'll take a look next week.

 

Is the beer out yet? I cannot find the ratings neither here nor untappd

 

As noted in posts above, it is apparently only in test market in New York state (unknown if all BBC distributors in the state got the beer, if it totally replaced or is an addition to their standard SABL inventory, etc). I imagine a lot of reviewers, even those who are aware of the tweaked recipe, might simply put their notes under Samuel Adams Boston Lager.

 

I did buy Sam Adams in cans of 6 a month back so only thing I wonder why the Sam Adams in Canada is lower in ABV then one in U.S. at 5%.

 

Doesn't the LCBO do actual alcohol testing of the beers they import and carry? (IIRC there was a bit of a scandal years ago when a high alcohol Dogfish Beer was tested well below the claimed ABV).

In the US, for beer, it is voluntary to print the ABV on the label, self-reported (with some random testing) and, when labeled, has a legal tolerance of ±0.3% - so US-marketed SABL, which once was labeled 4.9% and is now 5.0% could, in theory and all likelihood is, the same beer as that exported to and sold in Canada at 4.8%.

 

Is this a case of ABV vs. ABW?

 

Nope > LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario) Samuel Adams Boston Lager

Back around the US Repeal era, the difference was greater than the ABW/ABV situation, when Canada was using proof spirits for beer and the US labeling laws were mostly ABW.

 

There's that ol' "strong ale" myth perpetuation again!

@marquis -- leave it alone, it's all in jest, really.

 

Well they say Canadian beer is like moonshine...

 

"They?" You mean all the kids I went to high school with who were convinced that Canadian stuff was twice as strong as American beer?

 

We must have went to the same High School!!

 

C'mon - all you had to do was read the brewers' own ads. 3.89% vs "more than" 10%?:

Well, I wouldn't call it a "myth" exactly - since in North America at that time it was at least a brewing industry convention (if not exactly a "tradition"?) for most ales to be higher in alcohol than the standard lager beers, especially in the case of breweries that brewed both. Could there be ales with less alcohol than lager beers - yeah, but it sure wasn't common... well, not until bottom-fermented malt liquors became popular (tho' few if any ever were labeled as lagers).

In the US, post-Repeal it was even written into the very early national regulations from the Federal Alcohol Administration (and eventually changed at the request of the brewers):

Most US-brewed lager beers at the time tended to be at or under 5% abv.

Same for some state alcohol laws - Texas' excise tax law maybe the longest lived.

Of course, in today's market, it does seem laughable to see a beer over 5% considered "high" in alcohol. It's still surprising to read through Jackson's first Pocket Guide [1981] and see Ballantine India Pale Ale and Old English 800 noted as the strongest beers brewed in the US, both at 7.5% abv. < Isn't that what designated drives drink these days?

 

Fwiw, I picked some up in NY and am having my first one now. I like it very much- it's drier and the hops are brighter with more pop to them. And it very much brings the older 90s version to mind (at the time Michael Jackson described the beer as being vaguely pilsner-ish, and you can see why if you get this remastered version).

Now let's make it a regular thing .