Samuel Adams Spring 2020 Variety Pack

This is exactly what I was trying to state but I did it far less succinctly.

 

You're probably correct. But, I was just being hopeful.

 

My ideal SA spring six pack is five 94 triple bocks and an old fezziwig.

 

Why don't they just brew great beer. Noble Pils is one of the great beers brewed in this country. Alpine Spring is not far behind. While we are at it, bring back Honey Porter.

 

Man, I saw this pack in our stores the other day as well. After what was a decent Winter pack for them outside of Sam 76 (i bought 4 after refusing to purchase any seasonal packs for almost a year), we are back to receiving the same garbage they started putting out last Spring: Boston lager, Sam 76, their seasonal, and an uninspired pack specific beer.

I will miss the Winter packs, but will go back to mainly not purchasing beer from them until they do better. The strange thing is their sales data surely reflects these seasonal samplers are not a success? The reason some places didn't get Winter packs is because they couldn't move the epically bad Fall pack. I've never seen that occur before. Meanwhile, with the Winter pack showing signs of actual effort, they flew off the shelves and guys at my local stores did mention they had sold particularly well.

 

If you read my follow-up, you will see that I did give them credit for their past. I loved them 10 to 20 years ago, and I still think Boston Lager is a really good beer. But it is all past tense now, as most of their good stuff from the past is gone or buried in very infrequent variety packs. Most of their new stuff and attempts at being relevant are nowhere near the competition. And the seasonal variety packs they make now are borderline terrible vs their heyday.

I would love for Sam Adams to be as good relatively speaking as they were in the early 2000s, but I don't see it happening.

And the comment about 15%abv does not reflect my feelings at all. I respect brewers that can nail a 5% German Pilsner more than one who follows all the current fads.

 

Does anyone else feel that even Sam’s seasonals are also decreasing in quality? The Winter Lager felt muted, and Cold Snap seemed to be thinner this year too.

 

The Spring Pack has always been my least favorite of the year.

 

Sounds like we agree for the most part. I was reacting to your comment about SA being a pass on the whole. It sounded like you were dismissive of them in their entirety. My apologies for not reading more carefully.

 

I thought that the Winter Lager was pretty solid. For the most part, the Winter Pack has always been my favorite. I never thought much of the Spring Pack and I generally only touch it if Noble Pils is in it.

 

Never been a fan of the Sam Adams Spring mix pack and it never sells very well around here. The Winter Packs are more popular and move quicker, but I only buy it for Old Fezziwig. Although truth be told, I still enjoy the Boston Lager. Winter Lager has also been a favorite of mine, though some years are better than others.

 

Sam Adams is making a big mistake by pushing two year-rounds in these mixers. I have no problem with Boston Lager in the Winter mix, as its a great beer and well-suited for cooler weather...bit Sam 76 is a boring brew that BBC just cannot seem to stop pushing.

Anyone have any stats on 76 sales? I can't imagine its selling well

Spring should have a bock (gold or dark)

 

That's probably why it's in all of the variety packs, they're trying to dump excess stock

 

I just drank an Oktoberfest yesterday. No Spring Mix packs for me yet.

 

Im usually not too harsh on Sam Adams but Mountain Berry is terrible. They dont even tell you what the style is on the label. That seemed odd to me. It reminds me of a Berliner Weisse if I were to guess.

 

When I first got into craft beer 10 years ago, Saranac was in pretty much every store. Now its virtually gone.

 

Yeah, before craft hit it big the stores around here carried every variety Saranac put out. It was the gateway beer to exotic styles like porter and stout