Sam Adams Rebel Raw Double IPA

My prediction is this beer has better ratings than one would expect for a Sam Adams beer.

It's an aggressively hopped double IPA in a can, that is guaranteed to be at worst, 35 days old. It's also ignorant to think Sam Adams flat out has no idea how to brew beer. I believe it's also ignorant to think that every time they brew a beer, it's for YOU, the niche market Beeradvocate beer geek.

But this time around, it appears Jim Koch has brewed this one for you, the beer geek. And I think it will be better than you expect.

 

What the hell does expensively made mean? Like they're using more expensive hops, malt and equipment to create a mediocre IPA in Rebel? If so, then their Brewers are the least skilled in the market.

 

I wish it had a lower ABV. That 8% seems to be right for me on DIPAs. That way I can have multiples if needed, plus they tend to be less sweet and heavy. Hopefully, they can keep the beer from being too sweet. If they can demand the beer be stored cold and pulled after 35 days that's is a huge!

 

Since I do have a soft spot for BBC I will give this a try if it hits our area.

 

Article HERE about this beer and story via interview with Jim Koch. Comments posted to story as well.

 

Just get into my glass already! Hoping for a good price.

Rebel is meh but Rebel Rouser is unexpectedly tasty.

 

I've tried Hoppy Red. The malt is thick with quality ingredients that you can feel and taste. The hops are from the southern hemisphere, and used to the maximum extent. I doubt many beers cost more to brew. Also it is not good. Res ipsa loquitor.

 

10%? I would be surprised if it was even .1%

 

I quite enjoyed the Hoppy Red.....

 

agreed. in a majority of markets the supermarket or local bar is where most craft beer is sold.

 

I was being conservative. 0.0001% of the overall beer market.

 

I did too. It was piney and delicious. A pleasant surprise for sure. It reminded me of New Belgium's retired Red Hoptober which was, to me, one of the best non-Lips of Faith beers they've produced.

 

They're test marketing it? Damn. I may never see this on shelves.

 

They did the same thing with rebel rouser. It'll probably see wider distro sooner or later.

+1. As a general rule I ignore most beers that I have to put an excessive amount of time/effort into getting.

 

I hope so. I'm guessing I'll end up seeing the Sam Adams nitro cans on shelves before this.

 

Do not judge before ye drink. It's not like SA doesn't have the brewing talent, facilities, Distro network, and financial resources to make a killer beer. All they need to do is to do it, you never know. If they tippy toe well it will just be an ok beer, if they're serious, well that could be another story.

 

That's been the problem all along imo. They could've prolly been brewing some amazing IPAs for ages now if they weren't being so cautious/slow about it. They've been dipping their toes in the water while everyone else has been swimming for over a decade.

 

Two things here:

1) Define "amazing IPA".

What brewer of Sam Adam's size even has a shot at producing a top IPA. All the top hoppy beers are mostly sold fresh from the brewery themselves, and/or are small operations.

Sierra Nevada's double IPA, Hoptimum has a rating of 4.11, which doesn't even come close to scratching the top 100 for double IPAs. And their Northern Hemisphere Harvest IPA is a 4.17, and is #100 on the American IPA list. Celebration is 4.15. Are you going to suggest Sierra Nevada is also being slow and cautious?

The only brewery that is even remotely close (and still not close) to Sam Adams size that has a somewhat high rated IPA, is Stone with Enjoy By. Which is, shocker, a beer meant to be consumed within six weeks of bottling.

2) And as I said before, I don't believe Sam Adams has been brewing IPAs for the Beeradvocate audience. They're brewing IPAs that will sell the most volume. Remember, this is a company that owns Angry Orchard, and makes a boat load of cash off of Twisted Tea. Here's the IRI list of top selling IPAs (a bit old, but it's the best I could find) from mid-2014....notice who's number three...and even Lagunitas' top selling hop forward beer is their regular IPA, not Sucks...

1. SIERRA NEVADA TORPEDO
2. LAGUNITAS INDIA PALE ALE
3. SAMUEL ADAMS REBEL IPA
4. NEW BELGIUM RANGER IPA
5. REDHOOK LONG HAMMER
6. STONE INDIA PALE ALE
7. HARPOON INDIA PALE ALE
8. BELLS TWO HEARTED ALE
9. DOGFISH HEAD 60 MIN IPA

 

Rider is a typical crappy session
Rebel is decent
Rouser is very good
Raw I am going is even better

Born in MA and Sam is part of my beer drinking career. I always give nee products from them a chance.

 

4 pages of thread still no rumor or leak about release.