Samuel Adams Black Lager

I've always thought that Samuel Adams makes some very interesting beers. Ever since I first heard about the Utopias (which weigh in at about 25% ABV), I started to keep my eyes on Sam Adams. One beer I noticed when I was buying my latest 6-pack at Booze Bros. (great selection of beer, BTW) was the Sam Adams Black Lager. Since most lagers I've had are light in color, I was intrigued, so I picked one up.

Samuel Adams Black Lager is a relatively new beer that is part of their Brewmaster's Collection. It is brewed in a less known beer style in the United States, called schwarzbier, or "black beer" in German. Unlike strong stouts and porters, schwarzbiers do not have a strong hoppiness to them despite their dark color. The schwarzbier that has been brewed for the longest period of time is Braunschweiger Mumme, which has been brewed since around 1390. However, in an archaeological dig in the German town of Kulmbach (considered the origin of schwarzbier), an ancient Celtic beer vase from the 8th century BCE containing blackened bread, which was used as an early brewing technique by Celtic and East Germanic tribes to subject beer to the forces of airborne yeast. While schwarzbier was thus proved to have been brewed in Bavaria for at least 2,800 years, Sam Adams' black lager version has only been brewed since 2004, a significantly shorter amount of time. (Samuel Adams World of Beer, then Brewmaster's Collection → Black Lager, Bella Online German Schwarzbier)


Here are the stats:

Samuel Adams Black Lager
BREWERY: Boston Beer Company, Boston, MA, USA
FIRST BREWED: 2004
CALORIES/SERVING: 191 per 12 oz. bottle
BITTERNESS:
ABV: 4.9%
ORIGINAL GRAVITY: 14° Plato (1057.14)
MALTS: Two Row Pale, Munich, Weyermann dehusked Carafa®
HOPS: Spalt Spalter
SERVING TEMPERATURE:
FOODS TO PAIR WITH:
AWARDS:

All information except the bitterness, serving temperature, food pairings, and awards came from the Sam Adams website (Flash-based, so no direct linking). I hope to get more information from the brewery itself.

The beer poured a thick almost-black color into my glass, accompanied by a tannish head. The beer's aroma wasn't too strong, but it smelled of a hint of coffee. Unfortunately, the taste was where the beer just vanished. I tasted the carbonation of the beer, with maybe a faint trace of coffee, but nothing else. The good news is that even though the beer tastes like almost nothing, there's no aftertaste that grows stale on your palette.

This beer seems to have been brewed more for novelty than for anything else, but it tastes better than most of those Central American lagers out there (and looks cooler too). Pick one up at your local supermarket; it's available year-round at stores across the country.

~Prost!

Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat Ale

First of all, I'd like to wish everyone a Happy Independence Day...unless you don't live in the United States of America, in which case just move onto the next sentence.

To celebrate the birth of my country, I decided that I wanted to try a very patriotic beer this time around. However, I was at a loss as to which one. I asked Becky, who instantly gave the answer "Sam Adams." That, as it turns out, was the easy part, seeing as how "Brewer - Patriot" is imprinted on every bottle. The real dilemma was which Sam Adams, as they have 21 different beers in their repertoire, from the staple Boston Lager to the expensive 50-proof Utopias. Being a sucker for those seasonal beers, I eventually honed in on the Cherry Wheat Ale, picking up two bottles at my favorite Reno beer establishment, Booze Brothers.

Introduced in 1995 as a summer seasonal in the Sam Adams Brewmaster's Collection, Cherry Wheat^® (yes, it is a registered trademark) became such a popular brew that it is now served year-round. Sam Adams' website touts it as one of the best selling beers made by the brewery (main beer page, then Brewmaster's Collection → Cherry Wheat). It is brewed with Michigan cherries and a touch of honey in the "centuries old American tradition of brewing beer with native ingredients." The brewery itself, the Boston Beer Company, was started in 1984 by Jim Koch, a sixth-generation brewer who thought that American consumers wanted something better in their beer. From a door-to-door operation, he eventually grew to a company that sells its beer in all 50 states and 20 countries. It also has won 650+ awards for its beer, more than any other brewery in the world, according to the company.



Here are the stats:

Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat Ale
BREWERY: Boston Beer Company, Boston, MA, USA
FIRST BREWED: 1995
CALORIES/SERVING: 180 per 12 oz. bottle
BITTERNESS:
ABV: 5.35%
ORIGINAL GRAVITY: 13° Plato (1052.85)
MALTS: Two Row Pale, Malted Wheat, Munich
HOPS: Tettnang Tettnanger Noble
SERVING TEMPERATURE:
FOODS TO PAIR WITH:
AWARDS: 2004 Australia Gold Medal, 2006 Euro Star Gold Medal, 2006 World Beer Championships Gold Medal, Monde Selection (Brussels, Belgium) Gold Medal

Most of this information came from either the Sam Adams website (Flash-based, so no direct links) or the bottle. Hopefully I'll get more information soon.

The first thing that I noticed about this beer was its distinctive cherry aroma that bubbled up from the beer the instant I poured it into my glass. It was so intense and fresh, it was nothing like any beer I've smelled before. Its color was a reddish-amber that was slightly cloudy but still translucent. The head was a little disappointing, but I probably just poured it wrong. The first taste was very interesting; I could definitely taste the cherries that were brewed inside the beer, and it went down smoothly and without protest from my palette. The finish had a nice cherry taste that transitioned into a wheaty aftertaste that did not linger or offend.

In conclusion, Sam Adams Cherry Wheat would make a fine addition to your Fourth of July picnic or fireworks celebration. Now, go out there and celebrate the birth of your country by blowing a piece of it up.

Cheers!