Admittedly, over the last decade, I have not been a fan of many of the Sam Adams beers. Boston Lager was always reliable, Oktoberfest was very good and you had a few seasonal beers here and there that were worthy of seeking out. For me one of those was always Old Fezziwig. I would buy the 12pk of Seasonal Beer even when it included the insufferable Cranberry Lambic, which usually went down the slop sink to save space in the garage because and because I couldn't even give it away. It's been a few years and possibly a few label changes, but I finally caught up with my favorite Sam Adams Seasonal, Old Fezziwig. I've, unsuccessfully hunted down the stand alone 6pk versions the last few year because I've been cheaply unwilling to pay $20+ for the other shit they package into the sampler, and this years espresso Martini interpretation was a remembrance why I shouldn't let the wife buy beer. I have posted on a few FB Fezziwig fan pages and I'm glad I'm not senile yet, but apparently the recipe has changed. To me Fezziwig was a malty English style Ale ro Mayne even a Winter warmer. This new version is an overly spiced abomination. Nothing like had remember or enjoyed. I have been a craft beer fan for over 30yrs and one of my favorite Old School UK imports was the original Newcastle Brown ale. To me back than, it was delicious. Fezziwig has become the Lagunitas version of Newcastle to me. A sad shell of its former self. At least Newcastle has Heineken to blame. My cousin from Boston better get back to what made people want his beer. Happy Holidays.
Strangely, when I had it last year out of the holiday mixed pack, I thought it wasn't spiced enough. Everything is personal preference
Okay now back to leaning on not buying that mixed 12. To me they have gone down the toilet, at least what I can get here. Everything seems to be in a certain abv range. Just seems to be soul less production beer. Not the Sammy I remember from their hay days
10-20 years ago I really used to enjoy the Sam holiday/mixed packs. It feels like the quality has really gone down hill. Just for fun I checked my stats, I’ve rated 37 beers from them. Scrolling through there are many more I remember trying but apparently didn’t rate. Oh well, lost to the sands of time…..I don’t believe in retroactively rating. Gotta be done in the moment.
A year ago my sister purchased the mixed 12-pack and she wasn't a fan of the Old Fezziwig. She offered a bottle to me. Just like @VodkaPong87 posted above, that beer was too lightly spiced for my palate. I will not be buying the 2025 version of Old Fezziwg. I was a fan of Old Fezziwig in the past. Cheers!
Finished my six pack and then got three single cans since I wanted to try both bottles and cans. Tastes good to me. Loved last year's, this one isn't quite as good, but I still enjoy it.
One of my favorite homebrew recipes was inspired by Old Fezziwig, just bigger. Basically, imagine a Belgian Dubbel, replace all the malts with the English equivalent. Hops variety doesn't matter that much. Still use the syrup. Zest of 2 oranges, 1TBSP pie spice added at the end of boil. Use your favorite English yeast with higher attenuation and flocculation.
Interesting. Curiously, have you ever added the zest at around 180F when cooling or "dry zest"? Also used to add spices to the mash. I felt that adding them then contributed a more incorporated (read: less harsh) spice character even though you had to add more to the mash than you would to the boil.
My flame-out additions always occurred after I put the immersion chiller in, so I assume that the temp would be around 180. Surface area of the chiller heated up enough to sanitize, and definitely dropped the temp of the wort enough. I go by the 165 is enough to kill everything philosophy. I never geeked out on the numbers so much, trusted the system, etc. Using spices for the whole boil seems like it would be a waste to me. You just get the bitterness and a hint of the aromatics. Using them in the mash is just tossing money away, but if it works for you, keep doing it.
Welcome to my world. They reformulated Winter Lager a few years ago, too. They took it in roughly the same direction. I don't want to shit on Sam Adams all the time, but I swear they've done nothing but make me irritable for the last 5 years.
