Will Sam Adams ever bring back their small batch or imperial series ?

I miss Honey Porter.

 

I remember liking third Voyage and their Red IPA

 

As always... Imperial Hallertau Pilsner.... This beer needs to be brought back

 

One of the biggest transgressions BBC/Sam Adams made was reformulating their excellent Double Bock seasonal into a 9% monstrosity, throwing it into 4 packs and rebranding it into the “Imperial Series”. The beer never recovered nor did my appreciation for Sam Adams. That stupid decision, along with:

• The killing of Noble Pils
• The killing of Alpine Spring
• The temporary killing of Holiday Porter
• Only releasing the Latitute 48 Deconstructed 12 pack twice (not a big Lat 48 fan but the single hops were excellent)
• Their awful brand redesign. I miss the image of a proud Samuel Adams lifting a tankard on every label

I could go on and on about Imperial Pilsner (or lackthereof), their slow neutering of Winter Lager & Octoberfest among other issues but those are minor compared to the points above (for me personally). I don’t support them anymore, which sucks as a Massachusetts native. I was always a big fan and they are the reason I got into craft to begin with. They’ve become completely tone deaf as a company and have lost a fan because of it.

 

I liked Vixen and the nice art work on those bombers

 

Sure hope to see the return of Merry Maker. I'm not a fan of gingerbread cookies, but Merry Maker Gingerbread Stout was outstanding. I hear it comes out on tap, but probably not outside New England.

 

I never tried it, but the Cinder Bock sounds interesting. Was it like Schlenkerla Fastenbier?

 

Cinder bock has been a "want" of mine for years. I've given up hope of ever seeing it.

 

Man those are nostalgic, these brews are what got me into craft beer. I hope they come back someday.

 

I voted don't care, but would love for the original Double Bock to return in six packs. I also wish for the return of Hallertaul Imperial Pilsner. That beer was truly sublime and groudbreaking when it came out. Would love to have it again. Unfortunately, Sam Adams will most likely never be innovative or cutting-edge again.

 

I voted don't care. Not because I wouldn't be interested to see them return, in fact I can all but guarantee I would try them if they did. But because I don't particularly mind one way or the other.

 

These were easily my favorite of the series. The gingerbread stout was really good. I think stouts and porters really play well with spices (pumpkin stouts come to mind). Cinder Bock was also solid; a nice blend of sweet malt and smoked. I didn’t realize til years later that it was, unintentionally or not, sort of a throwback to Heavyweight Cinderbock (https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/393/2199/) which was one of the classic “microbrews” from the 90s-2000s (never had the original but I hear from folks like @dennis3951 that Heavyweight made some great stuff before they shut down).

IIRC, Cinder bock wasn’t nearly as smoky as Schlenkerla fastenbier. It had a much sweeter malt base and just a bit of smoke. Wouldn’t have minded if they went with bit more smoked malt but hey it was years ago maybe I’m not recalling correctly.

There is no reason that they couldn’t put Cinder Bock (or better yet Double Bock) into 12oz bottles for a fall or winter mixed 12 back but again, like I said, Boston Beer Co/Samuel Adams is completely tone deaf and doesn’t really care about their long time customers. No way they bring those beers back. They think another “Rebel Haze Craze something IPA” just what they need. I think it they focused on the more traditional/accessible Euro styles I think they would be a lot more successful but hey, I’m just some dummy who drinks tasty beer, what do I know?

EDIT: also worth pointing out, in my 12 years here on BA I’ve seen lots of folks from Stone, Sierra Nevada, Sixpoint, Victory, etc. interact/promote here on BA, but not once have I seen anyone from Sam Adams/BBC. And they wonder why they can’t sell beer like they used to.

 

I just had the Cinder Bock the other day, got it from Keg n' Bottle in Goleta, CA.
Definitely had an extreme development of flavors to my great liking! Nice sweet alcohol booziness that reminded me of one of Avery's barrel series beers or Samichlaus.

 

I had it side by side with Schlenkerla's Urbock and it was closer to that one or their Doppelbock than the Fastenbier. The Fastenbier from what I remember had a more hop-forward bite whereas SA's Cinder Bock had more chewy bready maltiness, caramel, and a thicker mouthfeel akin to Schlenkerla's bocks.

 

I have two words: Black Lager.

Cheers!

 

I recall the Wee Heavy being very good. They were all solid. 4 packs I believe??

 

Wow. I agree almost 100% here. Specifically on your thoughts on the Double Bock, Noble Pils, and Alpine Spring. Unlike a lot of people I actually think they make good beer. Unfortunately they discontinue a lot of their best products.

 

I know it's not part of that series, buy if they brought back Noble Pils as a year-round, standalone release, I'd buy it by the case!!!