Boston Lager Remastered

If they improved their technique, it could result in a better beer. I was professional chef for 20 years, I know improvements in techniques often had better results.

 

Well, when it comes to beer appreciation the aspect of "better" is subjective.

I enjoyed the Remastered Boston Lager I consumed.

Based upon the comment that Bill (@billandsuz) posted: "I bought a six pack. Fittingly from Sam the Beer Man in Binghamton. Not buying again." it would seem that he is not a fan of Remastered Boston Lager.

I would encourage folks who are able to obtain this new version to buy some and decided for themselves. Who knows, you might think it is a "better beer".

Cheers!

 

What's really being remastered here is their marketing plan.

 

I drink Boston Lager pretty regularly, and I noticed that the two most recent 6 packs I bought were much lighter in color and had much more hop presence than I’m used to with this beer. The beer tastes phenomenal either way, but I was just wondering if anybody else has noticed this. I know they were test marketing a “remastered” version in New York. Have they just started packaging the “remastered” version nationally without advertising it?

 

There's been no word on results of the BBC "experiment" in NY.

Would they change to the new formulation without fanfare? I personally doubt it, but who knows?

I had BL on tap, which prompted a six-pack purchase, a few weeks ago and I thought it was right in line with the beer I remember over the years.

 

I had this beer when the remastered version came out, not a fan. Tastes lighter and not as robust as the original version. It really does seem to be a “dumbed down” version of the original, sort of a cheap tasting imitation.

 

Thanks for the tasting notes.

 

Well, I had it when it first came out and it WAS robust, especially the hop profile. It was hoppier than their Boston Ale/Stock Ale ever was, imho.

 

Has the remastered version been rolled out to states other than NY? I buy Boston Lager from the wholesale club in 28 packs and I've yet to see the remastered version. I assume that's because the 28 pack is for national wholesale club distribution. The pack I got today has the old label and an enjoy by date of 03/22.

 

I think we're still awaiting results from the test marketing.

Or not. If no one in NY could tell the difference, we may never see a recipe change.

Or they just may not tell us.

 

I'm guessing you mean you had Boston Lager when it was first introduced in the 80s, not the test-market, reformulated BL from 2021.

 

Ja.

 

Perhaps BBC should have just done a blind taste test between the 2 beers at their brewery and use unbiased input from consumers to decide which beer they prefer more.

 

Coke!

 

Boston Beer's marketing people might not considered people who took the time to visit the brewery as "unbiased".

 

Or the Schlitz live taste test that "proved" Schlitz was great.

We all know how much that helped Schlitz.

 

So what data are they collecting from the State of NY on the new formulation? Volume beer sales data? Surveys? Not sure what exactly they are trying to accomplish or their process with a 1 state test market.

 

What language is that dude in the stripped shirt speaking? Is there an English version of this commercial somewhere?

Well, that was the reformulated Schlitz, for ex-AB VP and master brewer, Frank Sellinger (who also brewed for Esslinger, Wagner and Hudephol) and who became the head of Schlitz for that brewery's final half decade or so. Don't think I ever had it , maybe the Schlitz Dark and I did have his Erlanger "Ho-hum". It was probably as inoffensive as Bud, MIch and MHL of the era, which is why their ad agency and the brewery was OK with that live taste test. They'd already done it and knew the results would be around half.

Fortune mag. reported a slight bump in sales, but not enough to save the company, which had other problems, too.

Well, yeah, the company had excess capacity - by the mid-70s their 8 breweries were rated at 32M bbl/yr and their annual barrelage was about half that by the end of the decade. That was still the case even after closing their small Hawaii (Primo) brewery and selling AB their relatively new Baldwinsville NY brewery but the Milwaukee closing was an easy one to pick, their largest (6.5M bbl) but old and inefficient and, oh, Milwaukee Local 9 of the United Brewery Workers was on strike there, after Schlitz management offered "only half" of what the Local had gained with new contracts with Pabst and Miller.

Likely closing the brewery was part of management's plan, since they were already in talks with Pabst* and Heileman* to sell and it was a more attractive purchase without the Milwaukee brewery for both those Wisconsin-based brewers.

* The DoJ knocked down both deals, thus the Stroh purchase.

 

Oh why bother with what people want when you have a marketing department.

 

I'm pretty sure their marketing department is completely focused on Twisted Tea and Truly these days.

They probably have one guy dedicated to marketing their beer, and he just sits in a chair drinking and spinning a "Wheel O' Beer Styles" to determine what they brew.