Samuel Adams Hopscape

What I saw locally had a Drink/Best by date of April. Not exactly too keen on dropping $$$$ on two month old seasonals at this point in time. So just be cautioned.

 

Good point but with an IBU of 25 it doesn't sound like there is much to worry about in regards to a huge hop fade and SA's beers seem to hold up pretty well.

 

It shouldn't be two months old. The beer just came out at the end of December. It's SA's spring seasonal. https://www.porchdrinking.com/artic...ms-spring-beer-2017-fresh-as-helles-hopscape/

 

^Thanks. I was under the impression that their best by dating is dated 6 months prior to brewing. In the past I remember having boston lager that seemed to be dated some 5-6 months ahead of when I was drinking it. I scoured the web but couldnt find any concrete info on their true bottled on date vs best by.

If you're trying to recapture some lost "fans", having clear dates help.

If I'm wrong, I have no issues with buying some up to try it. Many breweries have a 120 day window, which would place this one as being brewed end of December, with a end of April expiration. That may be more in line with what many are thinking when they hear January release.

With breweries doing their own thing, I have been burned by many that use a 6 month system and I miscalculated its age. And sadly I have missed out on some that used a 120 day window (because i thought the beers were older than they were). Call me skeptical

 

Samuel Adams' best-by period seems to vary depending on the beer -- looking at some of the bottles from the winter variety pack I've had lately, the months listed range from March (for the Hopflake White IPA) to May (Ginger Beer, Old Fezziwig, Chocolate Bock, possibly Winter Lager too but I don't have a bottle left to check.) Boston Lager's best-by month was April.

I'm not sure what the bottling date for any of those is, but it does seem like their hoppiest beers also have the shortest best-by period.

 

I tried on the other day. Decent beer. Flavorful yet easy to session. Read reviews.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed it. Nice soft wheat flavor with enough fruity hops to make it faithful to the labeling. Reminded me a bit of New Belgium Hoppy Blonde, which is a good thing. I think I'll get a 12 pack next time.

This is easily my favorite SA spring seasonal since Noble Pils got the axe (Alpine Spring was good too but I don't think it'll ever come back again) and my favorite new SA beer to date (yes, I liked this better than Rebel Raw). This beer almost makes up for the some of the stupid decisions BBC has made over the years such as nixing Holiday Porter, re-formulating Double Bock into a 9% monstrosity, thinking Infinium was a good idea, etc.

Now bring back that old school Double Bock recipe, re-release those Latitude 48 "De-Constructed" 12 packs and I'll be a believer again.

 

BBC's Best before dates are based on a recommended 5 months shelf life period (roughly, since the EB date is a month, not a specific day) - you can double check it since their coding also includes a Julian bottling date, after the EB date.

So, in the examples below from 12 pks (cases are similar) the "Enjoy before" dates are May and July 2011, and the beers were bottled on 354th day of the year (Dec. 20th) and 54th day (Feb. 23rd). The bottles have the same info stamped near the shoulder.



It would be logical that a beer meant to be released in December might be packaged in November.

When in doubt (or if they've changed it) call their toll free number. 1-617-522-9080

 

I had this on tap in CT on Christmas eve. It didn't have a ton of hop flavor or aroma (or that much flavor overall). It was fine, and was the best option on tap where I was. I could see it being a nice hot weather brew. Refreshing.

 

Noble pils is in the spring 12 pack.

 

Yeah I know....2-3 bottles is just not enough though. Would love to see it in dedicated 12 packs again.

 

Hmm, I poked around and found the Julian date on the variety pack box -- day 335, so right at the beginning of December (that's honestly a little surprising -- it means that variety pack was less than a month old when I bought it!)

Checked the individual bottles and they're all around a week before the box's date (numbers ranged from 324 to 328) -- the difference must be bottling date vs. packaging date, I guess. I would've never guessed to look for black print on a brown bottle, though -- near impossible to see on some of them without shining a light through the empty bottle.

Judging by that, it looks like the White IPA had a roughly 4-month best-by period on it, with Boston Lager being out to 5-or-so months and the not-hoppy-at-all beers 6ish months.

 

I was a huge fan of Alpine Spring and there may be some good news: their recent site update moved Alpine Spring from the not currently brewed section to the "Not in Season" section. When you look at the other beers on that list it is full of beers we have seen regularly and/or just recently. With the current unfiltered craze going on and the fact that I saw a lot of fans of AS on their social media asking for it to come back, we may just be seeing it again!

I picked up SA"s spring mixed pack and tried the Hopscape, it is tasty and very accessible, I could see both craft and new to craft drinkers enjoying this one.

 

I had Hopscape on tap on New Year's Eve and I've got to say that it surprised me. It was tasty. I'm constantly disappointed by Boston Beer Company and usually, only get it when it's the best available on draft. We were at an Irish pub, so it was this or Guinness and I didn't feeling like Guinness. It was better than solid for me. I don't know when I'd drink it again though. I should get it in a take home format at some point.

 

From a business perspective this is disappointing. Not only did our distributor run out of Sam Adams Winter Lager on the winter solstice (12/21), they replaced it with a beer that has palm trees on the label. While that could possibly make sense in Florida, here in upstate New York we are still buried in snow and will be for the next 2 months (minimum).

I understand that they want to end seasonal production early and move on to the next one to avoid Winter Lager being on the shelves in April, but many of our customers were upset that they were unable to purchase Winter Lager for Xmas/New Years.

Personally I am not a fan of Hopscape or Cold Snap, but Cold Snap sold very well for us (and according to our distributor sold well across the board) so I'm not sure why they removed it from their seasonal rotation. Although it is still brewed as a one off such as White Christmas and Porch Rocker are during their respective season, it is available in a much shorter window.

I will add that I am fairly excited to try the Sam Adams Helles Lager that should be available in the next month or two.

 

As a retailer, would you say that Boston Beer is the biggest perpetrator of seasonal creep? It seems like everything is a month or two ahead of everyone else. I know that there's a rush to get seasonal beers on shelves, but if the beer doesn't match the season...

 

Yes, BBC seasonals are consistently the first ones on the shelf and the first to run out. I will say though, that part of that falls on the distributor as well. Last year we had SN Celebration until March, so this year our distributor ordered less, and 12 packs were unavailable after our last delivery of 2016 (12/29). We received the spring Golden IPA on our first delivery of 2017, so only ~2 weeks behind Sam Adams.

Now I am not sure if breweries like BBC pressure their distributors to order seasonals early and sell out fast, or if that is a decision they make independently. Because obviously it is better for the distributors to run out of seasonals in a timely manner rather then pushing cases of Celebration out the door at half price in April because Summerfest just hit their docks.

 

Wheat beers have been around for hundreds of years. Now Americans want to add copious amounts of hops to them and it just doesnt work IMO. Leave the classics alone. I did not like this beer that much.

 

Are you talking about the 'Fresh as Helles?' Its already out and a lot better than Hopscape and Coldsnap.