Boston Brewing Co.

Year Round Offerings:

Boston Lager

The most famous of the SA line is this beer. Characterized by the rare noble hops used in the brewing process (Hallertau Mittelfreuh) this is a fine lager with a light golden to copper color and decent head retention.

Boston Stock Ale

This particular beer is very similar to the Boston Lager, but is brewed with Kent Goldings and Fuggles hops which impart a slightly spicier taste, which also could be an addition of the ale yeast.

Cherry Wheat

Previously a summertime special, Cherry Wheat is now a year-round offering for BBC. This beer is based on an American wheat style, and has an intense cherry nose. The beer itself is dark amber in color, with a hint of redness. Clean taste with cherry predominance, but not overpowering. Overall, a fine summer quenching beer.

Cream Stout

BBC's stout is an ale with little head, and a nose dominated by chocolate malt. The taste is rich, but not in the sense of a Guiness type richness of mouthfeel, instead this beer has a more roasty flavor, again with heavy chocolate malt flavors. The lack of that mouthfeel and a wider spectrum of malty flavors so associated with traditional stouts is a detraction, but I still enjoyed the beer.

Golden Pilsner

Sam Adam's attempt at a Pilsner style falls sadly short of the goal. Thin, and somewhat sweet, this beer also lacks the hop intensity of the classic Pilsner (Pilsner Urquell, for instance). The label claims Saaz and Spalt hops are employed, but they might as well have saved the money.

IPA

No info.

Pale Ale

American Pale Ale entry into the lineup. Haven't sampled it.

Triple Bock (brewed in yearly vintages, BBC has occasionally threatened to stop brewing it.)

Bottled in small 8 oz cobalt blue bottles (like the one to the right), this is one of the most unusual beers I've ever tasted. Almost a pound of malt is used to achieve each bottle worth of beer, as well as a variety of hop and fruit flavor additions. The beer was also racked into wooden casks. The result is what is reputed to be the most expensive and highest gravity beer ever brewed. Almost completely still, the beer is very thick and is very fruity with a floral but fruit laden nose. Naturally, there is no head retention as there is no head, so dont expect a lovely lace pattern left in your glass. Overall, the experience is almost port-like. I would suggest everyone seek out a bottle just to experience this very unique brew.

Seasonal Offerings

Double Bock (late Winter)

One of the best of the seasonal BBC brews, this dark copper colored beer is extremely malty, with a decidedly alcoholic finish.

Spring Ale (Spring)

Apparently a light lager in the Coors vein. Review to come.

Summer Ale(Summer)

This beer seems to have replaced the "Summer Wheat" brewed the last few years. Described on the label as "an American Wheat" this clear, light golden beer with a white lacy head has a wheat dominated nose, wheaty start with a light citrus overtone in the finish, and a hint of butter (likely diacetyl, I think they used a Witte yeast strain). Overall the beer is reminiscent of Pete's Wicked Summer Brew, but with better overall mouthfeel and taste. Definitely a beer to carry around on the old lawnmower.

Octoberfest (early Fall)

This dark amber beer has a malty, almost fruity nose, and a pale brown head with little retention. The taste is malty and almost sweet, with an almost undetectable hop character. Saaz and Hallertau Mittelfreuh are employed, though. Overall a decent attempt at the classic German style.

Winter Lager (early Winter)

An amber colored lager (which was formerly called "Winter Lager") this beer is quite good. Pleasantly hoppy with a malty finish and a somewhat spicy/herbal character, this is a very well balanced seasonal beer in the tradition of Anchor's and Sierra Nevada's Christmas brews.

Brewed Once

Millennium

Brewed to commemorate 2000, this little beer cost about $200/bottle. Only 3000 were produced, each signed and numbered by big Jim himself and lovingly encased in some sort of velvet-lined box. BBC tasting notes described it thusly: "a rich though very drinkable amber essence with mouth-filling flavors of malt and oak, overtones of vanilla, butterscotch and pear, with a hint of cinnamon."

Passed from the scene:

Longshot

Based on winning recipes from an annual homebrew competition sponsored by the BBC, three beers have so far been released:

American Pale Ale

A hoppy, but not too hoppy rendition of the style, this clear, amber ale also has a touch of woodiness, and is generally well balanced. Unlike many APAs the predominant hop is not Cascade, but rather a combination of several hop flavors dominate.

Black Lager

This deep brown to black beer is still transluscent, but looks like a very thin Porter. The taste, on the other hand, is quite different from a Porter. I would rate this beer as being closest in style to a Schwarzbier, but it employs English malts rather than only aromatic Munich malts. An interesting beer, it's quite malty with a dominance of Chocolate malt, and a touch of Black Patent creeping through.

Hazelnut Brown Ale

The best smelling beer I've ever encountered, I think. This deep brown but clear beer smells like a cup of coffee spiked with Hazelnuts. The taste however is completely dominated by hazelnuts. Nothing else is detectible to my overwhelmed palate. While interesting, this beer could use a bit more balance.

Boston Lightship

The light beer offering from BBC, I've never tried it.

Cranberry Lambic (late Fall)

I finally had the chance to try this beer,so it may now be available nationwide. Not a true Lambic, in that it does not utilize the appropriate brettamyces infection which characterizes the style with its inherent sourness. Reddish gold and clear in color and turbidity, the beer is not terribly fruity, but the cranberries are tasteable. The beer is also dosed with maple, which is perhaps the most obvious flavor in the beer's profile. I heard somewhere that in response to complaints of 'mislableing' Jim Koch plans to alter the recipe to use the microbes and bring the beer into style.

Dark Wheat (late Spring)

I don't think this one is brewed anymore, but when it was, it was brewed with the real German witte yeast, and had the expected banana and clove taste of the traditional dunkel weizens. While not quite as full bodied as those beers, the Dark Wheat is still a quality beer.

Honey Porter

This is one of my favorite BBC products. While the porter itself is slightly under bodied, the addition of the honey makes for a very nice overall package. Slightly sweet, but not cloyingly so, the portery chocolate maltyness mixes quite well with the honey overtones. Much like the stout, this beer isn't really in style in the strictest sense, but is quite enjoyable.

Old Fezziwig Ale (Winter)

Martyn Arnold (martyn@synthegration.com) reports: It was a delicious deep red brown brew with a rich maltiness, a pleasant hop character, and hints of cinnamon, ginger and orange. I have to say it's the best holiday brew I've tasted yet. Try it!

Scotch Ale

Introduced in the Spring of 1995, I assume that this beer is a part of the regular production, and not a seasonal offering. Deep amber in color the beer has a clean taste with a hint of "woodiness" that always distinguishes Scotch Ales. Not as woody as many other Scotch ales I've had, which I consider to be a plus, as the peat flavor can be quite overpowering to the rest of the beer. Not particularly hoppy, the beer is well balanced and enjoyable.

White Ale (Winter/Spring Jan-Mar)

Belgian style wheat beer with spices and bitter orange peel. I found this example to be a moderately wheaty and very spicy beer with less orange in the taste than other beers of the style (Hoegarden and Celis, for instance). Overall, it's pleasant enough, but not as good as Celis.

Here's the Sam Adams Homepage

Samuel Adams Brewhouse