Boston Lager Remastered

If the remastered recipe is released of New York I'll try it on one condition;
Stop running those damned ”cousin from Boston” commercials!

 

You still listen to broadcast radio?
(Yeah, guess I do too! )

 

During my time (1977-81) American brands of beer & hard liquor were sold tax/duty free through the PX system, as were popular German brands. Sales were rationed monthly, IIRC it worked out to two cases of beer and 3L of liquor per month.

Budweiser was surprisingly popular among Germans as a “light beer” and sold for about twice our cost on the black market (only brand in demand), Jack Daniels & Jim Beam were at least triple; or so I was told

 

Next beer run I’m tempted to buy a 6 of BL, maybe if I put it in the freezer for a bit I can stifle a bit of the too sweet part. It’s been years.

 

Well, I also said when I can find Boston Lager under a month old (kinda arbitrary I know, basically I mean as fresh as you can find it).

If you see some super fresh in your area give it a shot. I’d be curious what you think.

I guess my implication is that due to the litany of beers on the shelves today maybe Boston Lager doesn’t turn over as much as it used years ago.

 

"Easier drinking" ALWAYS means worse- or no- taste!
Maybe Koch would be better off renouncing his love of Drumpf. That's why I stopped buying any of his beers.
For those customers who hate America, lowering the price from its insane level would be smarter.

 

Where’s it dated?

 

It has a weird notching system on the label, but it's not difficult to translate.

 

Ok thanks I’ll check it out.

 

I'll have to keep an eye out, just out of curiosity. Most of my latest experience with it is from seasonal packs, so I'm assuming not very old. But if I do see something super fresh I'll give it a go.

 

The notches correspond to the month you're supposed to drink it by - about 5 months after packaging. There is also a Day of the Year (aka Julian) packaging date stamped (pretty sure - haven't bought any SA in long time) somewhere on the glass of the bottle near the shoulder and I'd guess on the case's base but more easily found on the 12 packs (below) and cases.

So... below:
Bottled in mid-Dec (354), Freshest before May
Bottled at the end of Feb (054), Freshest before July.

The letter after the DoY (in the above examples "A") is the brewery
A=Allentown, PA
B=Boston
C=Cincinnati.
"A" was either replaced by or replaced "P" for Pennsylvania. Again, a long time... What about their contract-breweries? Don't know for sure.

Pretty sure I confirmed this with someone at BBC's toll free number. If it's not correct or outdated, someone else should give 'em a call.

 

Shows how long it's been since I've bought a Sam Adams -- never seen the full-on date on the label.

 

I try buying good beer, don't care about craft definitions. Perhaps their beers were good before, like most of the Goose Island's widely distributed varieties before they moved production out of Chicago. They still brew good beers in Chicago, Bourbon County being the most widely distributed.

That said, I wish I came across a good Sam Adams beer. I would give them another chance, but for the five I've had, the Session IPA was the only good beer I'd consider buying again. I scored three of the five below 3.0 (again slightly - my rating in bold).

Samuel Adams Rebel Rider Session IPA IPA - American 4.5 618 3.47 3.59
Samuel Adams Boston Lager Lager - Vienna 5 9,722 3.76 3.09
Samuel Adams Octoberfest Lager - Märzen / Oktoberfest 5.3 8,002 3.68 2.97
Samuel Adams Summer Ale Wheat Beer - American Pale 5.3 5,819 3.35 2.92
Samuel Adams Cold Snap Wheat Beer - Witbier 5.3 2,465 3.45 2.73

Perhaps it's just me, but I'm not sure if they give consumer a reason to select their product, beyond perhaps nostalgia. Are there any other varieties widely distributed worth trying?

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35/

 

Palates differ, of course.

But of the "large brewery" attempts at NEIPAs, I rate the SA NEIPA as the best of the lot. Better (and it is not close, to my taste) than the SN Hazy Little Thing.

Also, I liked Chocolate Bock and Old Fezziwig.

But, then, I also liked Boston Lager. I rate it much higher than you do. (That's the only BBC beer I've tried out of your list.)

 

The following do not meet the criterion of "widely" but the Sam Adams beers that I would buy if they were readily available to me would be Black Lager, Cream Stout and Old Fezziwig.

A couple of years ago I was visiting my sister in Texas and she bought a Sam Adams variety pack for our visit & drinking enjoyment. Black Lager was part of that variety pack and she had zero interest in drinking that beer (she is afraid of the dark ) and I very gladly drank all of those beers (three bottles).

Boston Beer Company has the ability to brew high quality craft beer styles but it seems like these beers do not sell well for them so they choose to either not brew them at all or only make them periodically available (e.g., seasonal variety packs).

Maybe the 'challenge' here is that Boston Beer Company is an 'in between' brewery? The avid beer geeks absolutely refuse to purchase their beers and the more casual craft beer drinkers (the folks that LOVE Octoberfest) are not looking to purchase more advanced beer styles (e.g., Black Lager).

Cheers!

 

As many have pointed out the current one is just too sweet. I have the occasional one when I am at a bar and that is the only craft offering. But it is usually only one and I will move on to a coors banquet. I think if it had a drier finish it might come across as more drinkable, but hell that is just my preference. This is a good session beer for me because after the first one it isn't something I want to pick up and drink that quick.

 

It's not on the bottle label but IIRC the DoY packaging date is stamped in ink on the glass itself near the bottle's shoulder (again, not sure of the cans). Those images are from 12 pack boxes and pretty sure the cases have a similar code.

 

Yeah, this too needs some clarification.
Yeungling is most definitely not America's oldest brewery. That would be Canada's Molson Brewery, founded in 1786. And yes, though most American's think that word is reserved solely for citizens of the United States of America, Canada is of course an American country. No different than France and Germany being European. Canadians are American too.

This will blow the doors off of most folks who never have any reason to think anything at all of Canada save Rush, Justin Bieber and ice hockey (being close to the border here in Upstate we think of Canada at least every third month. Gordon Lightfoot. Poutine and Oscar Peterson too.)
Cheers

 

You must be a fellow pedant.

You know, of course, that the term "America" in this context refers to the United States of America, not the continent of North America.

Speaking of which, how many nations are located in North America?

 

When I used to buy SA mixed packs, I always enjoyed the BL more than the 6 packs i bought. Fresher, they sure tasted like it.