Boston Lager Remastered

Are you talking boiled cabbage or just freshly chopped? I could definitely see the freshly chopped cabbage (though I've never personally framed it to myself that way) aroma in some beers that have that very vegetal (my preferred super vague verbiage) green hops smell

 

That's definitely DMS; it'll get worse with age and oxidation, so mistreated Euro lagers can display its nasty side.

 

I framed that badly above it’s a fresh cabbage smell. When you make ham and cabbage when you cut the cabbage down that’s the smell you get. It’s oderriferous.

 

More of the latter.

Not aimed at you @unlikelyspiderperson , but I'll just say that the flavor I was describing could be viewed as unpleasant to some, but wouldn't be viewed as gross. I considered not mentioning it earlier because I thought it might be detrimental in communicating the broader POV of my post... and I was right. Perhaps we can all drop the cabbage discussion to avoid overshadowing the heart of the matter.

 

Is that in bites between sausage and kraut? I do remember a short spell where Sam Adams was brewed at the Schlitz brewery in Winston-Salem. Cabbage as an adjunct would be pretty cheap.

 

Hmm well you and I have very different perceptions of fresh cabbage. Its not a smell I would want as cologne per se but it's nothing offensive to me.

And @zid I think I understand what youre describing, kind of a green leafyness with a bit of minerality?

 

Thanks for that. The code stamped on the neck doesn't resemble that format, but if I live dangerously and go by the first three numbers of my stamps - the older beer I had was bottled on Sept 28th and the "remastered" one was bottled on Oct 10th.

 

Cabbage talk aside, this sounds like it's exactly what I was hoping for. I'll make a point to get some asap. Thanks!

 

It would be great to get your take.

 

Any amber lager that uses caramel/Munich malts should work for you. I bet a simple Fat Tire from New Belgium would float your boat, they use a combo of malts including Munich, only 22 IBUs, willamette, holdings, nugget hops. Should be available everywhere, not expensive. Yuengling, it’s an AAL, but still if you like Amber lagers this one easily fits too, and it won’t break the bank.

 

I KNEW IT!

 

This is a huge risk for SA, you take perhaps one of the most influential craft beer offerings in history and it’s been incredibly successful and your go to money maker and your experimenting with it? This beer made you a multi millionaire. What if people like the new one better? If it’s a miss it’s only a miss in a test market. Have to admit that it’s not my beer per say, but Koch has some big balls here. I always thought their line was too extensive, too many mediocre beers vs a solid core of great beers. My opinion there. I might have figured out a new name and introduced the change as a completely new beer, and simply not mess with my historic flagship beer.

 

That image in the OP is also the back label of these new bottles. The older back label is the usual marketing ditty for SABL. Adding to what I mentioned earlier about the six pack carrier, it’s also worth noting that of the three distinct labels on the bottle, the front main label is unchanged.

 

Did they drop the Independent Craft emblem from the neck label or just move it to the other side?

 

Other side

 

They don’t seem to be advertising the change much. The “Remastered” branding is so inconspicuous that I doubt a lot of people would even realize they were drinking the new recipe. Maybe they’ll advertise it more if it moves beyond test marketing.

 

Those are both five months from your best by dates, so it’s probably correct. It’s been a bit since I’ve checked, but I’ve likely checked at some point within the last year (if I’m at functions/restaurants I’ll order Sam Adams bottles sometimes).

And I recall the best by date not being on the neck, just those three numbers followed by some other numbers.

Thinking back to when you mentioned the orange character in Sierra Nevada’s Oktoberfest this year?...

 

Well, as I wrote, I thought it was also stamped on the bottle glass near the shoulder*, but haven't checked in - maybe - years. I did confirm that that full code included the Day of the Year packaging date once with BBC Toll Free info rep but, like anything else, it might have changed.
*(Near the base the glass co. - Owens-Illinois usually for BBC - also stamps their code).

As "zid" mentioned, BBC's use of only a Month, and in some places, Year, for their "Enjoy Before" rec does make precise age in days difficult to determine.

Pretty sure I once read a quote by Koch in front of a NBWA group boast about how using a month instead of a specific day gives them more time to pick up out-of-code beer. (Unfortunately, the reporter did not pick up some of the audience chatter that might have gone something like:

Dist. 1 - "Pick up --- what?"
Dist. 2 - "I don't know what he is talkin' about...maybe he's drunk again?"
Dist. 3 - "Date code? I'm married..." )

 

Agreed. The re-issued version is not going to appeal to the newer generation of beer drinkers and it will most likely alienate the people who appreciate the original. I’ll admit, and I’ve stated this a few times on BA, I don’t buy SABL often, but when I have (a fresh) one, I am reminded that, although it’s not my favorite beer, it’s one of the most well crafted, balanced, near perfect flagship beers any brewery has ever brewed. You can’t go messing around with that. Maybe continue making the original and the newer version (perhaps as a seasonal) as well? Put them together in a split 6 pack?

 

MAN! I'm having a hard time reading your posts correctly lately. I have to stop posting right before bed (notice I didn't say I have to stop drinking this time )

At this point might as well throw those two in with '76 in their seasonal packs...