Samuel Adams Winter Classics 2016

The rationale is simple to me. There's clearly (well, anecdotally speaking on Beer Advocate) many people who love these two beers. If they make one, or both, in a six pack format they may lose sales on the mix pack.

Many love Fezziwig and will justify the mix pack purchase just to have those two.

Although the Porter seems to be the slightly less popular of the two (and the more unique beer in my opinion), it might make sense to leave Fezziwig stranded in the mix pack, and then sell the Porter in six packs.

 

"Perhaps...I shall not be one of them..."

Ha, yeah I don't know if I will either.

What I do when I don't like the Holiday Pack they've put together in a particular year, is I buy it, bring it to a party, and then canniblize the Fezziwigs and let everyone else have the other beers.

 

I agree, and I feel the same way about Holiday Porter's label. I am honestly not the biggest fan of either beer, but something about having those beers in the fridge made me feel festive.

 

I picked up a 12 pack and noticed it's pretty heavy on the ginger this year (three of the beers contain it) but no problem for me, as I like ginger. The Ginger Beer was pretty good and I have always been a fan of Winter Lager. Looking forward to trying the Hopflake, as white IPAs and I usually get along.

 

Solid pack and worth a purchase, I enjoyed the Hopflake, Old Fezziwig is as good as I remember and the Chocolate Bock seems better to me this year than in year's past, as it is less fake chocolate tasting and has just the right amount.

 

I liked the Sparkling Ale last year. Never liked any Ginger beers so not sure I'd like this one.

I'll probably pass on this sampler. Unless there are slim pickings on store shelves for other options.

 

I was looking at this today and will be snagging a pack soon. For the price and the mix of beers I think its pretty good overall. I don't drink a lot of SA beer so this is a nice change up for me, looking forward to sampling it as the holidays approach.
Cheers.

 

Man, replace that IPA with holiday porter or black and brew and I'd easily buy a few. As it is, I keep trying to weigh whether it's worth buying. So far I've decided no.

 

Couldn't agree any more, that Fezziwig and we're my favorites in the pack.

 

I always pick up the seasonal packs from SA and SN. Just decent beer to have around, if you know what I mean.

 

I would love to see the old Double Bock recipe make a comeback (before it was bumped up to 9.5% abv)

 

Gotta say that I'm really let down by the art they've picked for the labels this year. I really loved how last years Holiday Porter and Fezziwig labels looked. Really cool artwork on those. Cracking those open made me fill with holiday cheer. Even though the others in last years pack had the standard sort of "Sam Adams layout" labels, I still prefer those to these really generic labels now. Not only that, but I miss how they'd include notes of what you'd taste or smell in the beer, they even got rid of that. Now it looks like they did a rush job with some clip art. Bah humbug.

 

Went through at least one of each beer over the holidays and thought the Chocolate Bock was the only one I wouldn't want to have again. Tastes artificial.
Ginger beer was surprisingly nice after some spicy food.
Really enjoyed the Winter lager, first time having it. If its around in 6pks I'll pick up more.
And even the Hopflake IPA was good too. Didn't expect much from a SA IPA.
And I always appreciate a Boston Lager!

 

I'm bummed that they're not coming out with Merry Maker this year. Though I'm not a fan of gingerbread cookies or ginger in general, this is one of my favorite beers, and certainly my favorite holiday beer. They probably felt they covered the ginger beer angle in the Winter Classics pack. Maybe Merry Maker will return next year....

 

Hmmm wasnt a fan of Merry Maker/Merry Mischief but its kind of a shock to me to not see it this year as it was a winter tradition.

 

Just finished up my 12 pack and the word I would use is "Underwhelming". Everything was just average to me, nothing blew me away. I would love to see future packs with a few fuller bodied beers or something, these just seemed middle of the road. Also, the labels, I felt as if they were made by a kid next door off a computer printer, pretty sad with those, wow.
Anyway, onward to the next seasonal treats.

 

Haven't bought any SA since the label change. Not sure if I will. I know they still make a good product but I don't understand the decision. The lack of Holiday Porter was enough of a slap in the face but the over-simplification of the labels makes the product look pretty lame in my opinion.

 

No Holiday Porter, no Black 'n' Brew, no Honey Porter, no Double Bock, no Maple, no point in buying. Hard pass for me.

 

The ginger beer is not good
I was curious

 

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I haven't tried it yet, but I imagine if ginger beer ain't your thing, you won't like it. I probably won't like it, but at least it's only 2.

just got the mix pack...mostly for Old Fezziwig. However I enjoy Boston Lager and Winter Lager so I wasn't buying JUST for old Fezziwig. It was my first time having it and I loved it. Release a 6 pack, Boston Beer!!!!!