Frosty Goodness

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  Frosty 12:01 pm on October 31, 2009 Permalink | Reply  

  Sam Adams Octoberfest Lager. But not in Texas. 

  As this is the last day I will let myself drink something with October in the title, I figured this was an appropriate time to review the latest entry in the Sam Adams seasonal lineup. I’ve always been a little wary of Sam and his “micro” brew. I figure that any brewery with a distribution that large has to tame down the flavor to make it appeal to a mass audience. Which is true, but I think in this case it may actually be to Sammie’s benefit. Often, “Octoberfest” labeled beer has a funny tang to it that’s just hard to get into. But this time around, Sam Adams has tamed the flavor down enough to make it great easy drinking beer. As long as you don’t mind only drinking it 2 months out of the year.

  Oh, and apparently in Texas, this is “Ale”, not “Lager” … cause Texas is weird.

  

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    SwillJockey 1:55 pm on November 2, 2009 Permalink

    I wasn’t sure if this brew was review worthy, as it’s mega brewery swill. Albeit, somewhat tasty swill, mega-swill nonetheless.

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  Frosty 9:23 pm on June 10, 2009 Permalink | Reply  

  Speed Post: New Belgium La Folie & Sam Adams Double Bock. 

  I called it New Belgium’s “last stand”, and it appears the Alamo survives another day. It’s labeled as Sour Brown Ale, and holy cow is it. Pucker up buttercup. But in truth, damn tasty. Having had a few “Oak aged” beers now, I can tell what flavor that is, and New Belgium does it excellently.
  

  Sam Adams on the other hand, takes a beer type I generally enjoy, Bock. And turns into something more like BBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCCCCCKKKKKK!!! Like punch you in the face with malt Bock. This stuff was terrible and totally undrinkable. Tastebud attack!!
  

   
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  skylark 5:55 pm on August 19, 2007 Permalink | Reply  

  Traveling Man: Blue Moon, Palmetto, Ice House IPA (not the one you’re thinking of) 

  My backlog of beer reviews is growing due to “work” and “family” stuff (I know, I know… I need to get my priorities straight). I’ve been trying lots of new brews as I’ve traveled around for my job. I had a Belgian Wheat from Blue Moon ($1 at Tsunami in Charleston, SC) with an orange wedge garnish that was cheap if not pleasing. I also had a Palmetto Pale Ale in while at Slightly North of Broad (or S.N.O.B.) as it is known) which wasn’t bad but may have been good because of the insanely good shrimp & grits I was having. While in Virginia, I went to the Icehouse Bar & Grill in Herndon. I had their New York Strip & Crab Cakes special with their own Ice House IPA. It wasn’t bad, not up to NW standards but it was good to see those East Coast boys trying.

  A lot of people (especially those from the East Coast) get offended when you say something like, “The East Coast doesn’t know what real beer is.” They bring up something about Sam Adams “inventing” micro-brewing. Whatever. I’ll give you Sam Adams but that is pretty much the only contribution worth mentioning. They may have started it, but we Northwesters have taken it to the next level. Thats right, and I’ll kick the crap out of anyone who says otherwise.

  Anywhoo, my last trip to NYC led me to believe that the other coast was completely devoid of good beer. I’ve heard that DC has some good beers too. Who knows, maybe 20 years from now some East Coast dude will be hatin’ on Northwest beer like its old news.

   
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  SwillJockey 3:43 pm on August 3, 2007 Permalink | Reply  

  An important lesson regarding beer temp and Cherry Wheat Beer 

  We had another one of those impromptu bbq’s at work today. Fortune, or possibly misfortune, was smiling upon me as I noticed another Sam Adams Cherry Wheat was in the beer bin. I arrived to the bbq early, so the beer hadn’t had long to steep in the ice.

  Now I see where some other people people got wildly different experiences from the Cherry Wheat than I did after my first taste of it. My first taste of the stuff was when it was VERY cold and it tasted wonderful. Today, it was just slightly cold and tasted of “cough syrup cherry flavoring”.

  I was disappointed that the mere change in temp could affect this beer so drastically. I finished the beer, but the experience knocked a few points off of my previous rating.

  I am thankful I wasn’t able to find this stuff sold by the case and didn’t end up saddled with lots of warmish beer flavored cough syrup.

  Moral of the story: drink this shtuff cold or don’t drink it at all!

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    Frosty 11:44 pm on August 3, 2007 Permalink

    Ack! I wonder if the semi-warmness had an effect on the taste of the OBF beer too. Thanks for the update, looks like I’ll be spending my hard earned dollar on the Schlitz Malt Liqour instead.

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    Smyguy 11:05 am on September 17, 2009 Permalink

    I enjoyed reading your post and I’m sorry you had a bad experience with the Cherry Wheat at your BBQ. However, I would like to make a clarifying statement about temperature in relationship to beer. As you may have experienced already after drinking Miller Lite, Bud, MGD, Coors or any other of those macrobrewery “crap” beers there is no flavor. Look at how they market it and dispense it…”frost brewed” and chilled for your enjoyment. While this campaign might fool the general public and someone who knows nothing about beer it does not fool me. Have you ever been poured a glass of beer in a frosted mug or glass. Refuse it! The cold temperature inhibits the taste and flavor of the beer. In addition, frost brewing beer and storing it at 32 degrees greatly effects the flavor profile of the beer. So if you like bland, watery, cold beer by all means drink it cold. On the other hand, you can develop a taste for new flavors and complexity if you allow a beer to warm up a little as you drink. I love Cherry Wheat and it is not because of the “cough syrup” cherry flavor. It is becaues if the bready wheat notes that make up the backbone for the beer. I usually pour a cold beer, have a few sips and then gradually sip away while it gets warm. You’ll be suprised at how a beer changes in character as you let it sit out. In the end the last sip of mine is a nice medley of flavor from all parts and ingredience of the beer.

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    SwillJockey 11:52 am on September 17, 2009 Permalink

    Yes, you’re right about the temp vs. flavor equation, but nothing can overcome the cough-syrupyness of this stuff when it warms up, even if a decent malt or hop profile manages to sneak its way in a higher temps.

    I can’t get to the front-bone if the back-bone doesn’t taste good to me. There’s too much good beer out there to drink something twice that you don’t like.

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  SwillJockey 9:29 am on July 25, 2007 Permalink | Reply  

  Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat 

  **edit – I’m sorry to say that I’ve had to lower my ranking on this beer to a three.   See above for the reasons for this beer’s fall from grace.

  The company I work for had a BBQ on site last week. As usual with company bbq functions, they coughed up some beer for us. Yippeee!!! When digging through the bucket o’ goodness, I found some Sam Adams Cherry Wheat. Figuring that it would taste OK, I popped one open and took a swig.

  THIS STUFF IS UNBELIEVABLY YUMMY!! It’s not overly fruity but it definitely tastes of cherry. It’s a mild wheat bear that’s incredibly well balanced and not too sweet. These guys know their way around a beer!

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    SwillJockey 7:05 am on July 27, 2007 Permalink

    Sigh….this stuff isn’t available by itself. There are only two bottles of it in Sam Adam’s summer beer variety pack/ =(