Sam Adams Rebel Raw Double IPA

While I'm not suggesting they have done it with Rebel Raw, one of these days a big brewery with decent distribution is going to get pretty damn close to what all the small amazing NE brewers are doing with IPA.

We the consumer will reap the reward.

 

Hope so. It would be great if the rest of the country could get a good, easy to get taste of that NE hop magic without driving a thousand miles (or more) to Vermont.

 

^^^Exactly my thoughts. I will go along for the ride with any large brewery that plans to attempt such a thing. I can't wait to see one of them achieve such a thing.

 

Agree on both counts. Rebel Rouser is very good, much better than I expected.

 

I was impressed by Rebel Rouser. I mean for the price and availability it's pretty top notch. I'll definitely try this one.

 

I see a lot of breweries nowadays putting KEEP COLD or KEEP REFRIGERATED text on their packaging especially IPA packaging for obvious reasons, but as far as I've seen, actually trying to get places to do that is a monumental pain in the ass. I haven't been a big fan of SA's IPA attempts thus far, but if anything, the biggest American brewing company doing this might actually be the one to drill this into distributors' heads and make some headway in the fight for freshness.

...but I seriously doubt it.

 

I tried RR 2x and wasn't that impressed with the taste. It states 8.4%abv but I highly question that considering how I feel after a 6'er of something = or close to the same abv.

 

Hmm, I suppose it's possible the ABV isn't accurate. Don't know how often things like that happen but it could explain why a 6-er of a DIPA is less than $10

 

I'll try it - I liked their Rebel Rouser...

 

Not a fan of Rebel but Rouser was a solid DIPA.. will have to try this when it comes out.

 

Wasn't Jim Koch quoted a couple of years ago about how he didn't like the super-hopped beer revolution that he had no plans to follow suit?

 

A lot of folks want it to be bad (or will say it is bad) to bash BBC--shame on them.

Some folks like me want it to be good.

Everything doesn't need to be life changing to be good.

 

Yep. It's either make super hoppy beers, start a barrel program or start making sours. And of course they take the easier and cheaper way out.

 

Most stores don't have a crazy amount of cold space to play with and when push comes to shove if it's between not being carried and being kept warm, the latter is going to win for all of these breweries.

They can hope their beer is being handled correctly, but let's be honest...the chances of them being able to monitor where there beer is on a weekly basis like RR or Alchemist is next to impossible.

 

I don't like their hoppy offerings to date, it's not his thing. He thinks it's a cheap and easy beer to market, and doesn't show case the brewing skills. From a guy who throws out 1000 different beers and all but a few suck. They have the resources to nail it, but I'm guessing they don't , but you still need to try it.

 

This looks pretty good. I thought Rouser was a very tasty DIPA and I seemed to like the regular Rebel more than most people. Best case scenario this is a cheap readily available stand in for Heady Topper. That's probably a little too much to ask, but I said best case scenario.

 

The wording/tone of the label is akin to Arrogant Bastard Ale IMO...almost a "you're not worthy" sentiment...which is weird coming from a guy who dissed hoppy IPA's pretty hard a few years back.

 

That's what I assumed as well, but if that's the case it's odd they chose to highlight "bitterness" on the label since thats more than a few years out of date in terms of IPA trends. Strange.

 

I always wonder how Rebel Rouser would hold up in a blind shelf beer DIPA tasting. I always figure it would surprise, but not bust through any of the real good shelf DIPAs. Like most Sam Adams releases I will pick this up because it will probably be a great price point when compared to its competitors and that seems to be more and more of a driving factor these days.

 

Will give it a shot. The price will be reasonable and it will be plenty fresh.