Sam Adams Boston Lager

Samuel Adams Boston Lager

Lagers are fast becoming my default beer as of late. Still like the stouts and hops… but on a daily, i’m trying to see beer. Nothing complicated. Lager. Old School. So i get talked into cheating on Yuengling, and trying a 6-pack of Boston Lager. Samuel Adams Boston Lager. Sam Adams, from Boston, comes out of the Boston Beer company.  Nice website (www.samadams.com). Fresh enough to look current without going out on a limb.  Still looking for a twitter stream to follow. Hard to believe they would be late to the 2.0 communication stream.  Facebook though.

Poured into a Yuengling pint glass. Nice and cold out the fridge.

beeropedia has a really nice description:

Samuel Adams Boston Lager is brewed using two row Pale and Caramel Malt as well as the German Noble hop varieties of Hallertau Mittelfruh and Tettnang Tettnanger. It is brewed using a decoction mash and undergoes a secondary fermentation called Krausening, both of which impart a lingering, complexly sweet finish. Samuel Adams Boston Lager is also dry hopped using the Hallertau Mittelfruh hops for an enhanced hop signature in the aroma and finish. It takes about five weeks to brew. This long conditioning period gives Boston Lager a complexity and smoothness that have become its hallmark.

Appearance

Nice enough. A bright copper that glows nicely under light. A light carbonation streams bubbles up nice. A doughy, slightly dirty, way off white head is fluffy. Mismatched bubble sizes dot the landscape of the head. The head falls eventually. Although to its credit, the head manages to nag on longer than expected. The fall is not graceful. The lacing that remains just from the drop is staggering. Looks untidy.

its just not as dark as i expected. sort of shiny.

Smell

Hard to get at first. Might have been due to the couch loaf i floated. whew! stinky. In any event, I did end up getting quite a nose full. whoops. hand slipped. But the aroma that came through was clear. Slightly bready and a hint of… ghetto car wash citrus Tree. That all too perfect, sleazy orange scent. But a malt undertone peaks through to cut the artificial sweetness.

Taste

Steak. Red meat beef. That’s a meal. Everything else is fluffy, secondary and limited. So too, when it comes to beer – taste is the thing. If I’m grabbing a six pack for the night. Poof. I want it to taste good. For me, lagers give me that flavor without the weight to make it terribly heavy. This beer comes a little underneath my expectations. I’ve been riding a Yuengling kick since visiting them last year. I admit it. So I’m judging this beer against that specific beer. Fair or not. It is what it is… I’ll freely own up to it.

This beer is balanced. No question. It is the first thing that I even realize first. But it seems somehow fake.  Too perfect. Beer after beer tasted exactly the same. Four beers in and it tastes the exact same… that is weird to me. I always seem to want a beer to change as I get through it, its follow up beer. So when the Boston Lager comes across the plate the same way each beer is off putting. Or is it?

Way fuller than the rest of the widely available competitors. Its certainly on the same level as Yuengling here … in that regard.

Mouthfeel

Its light. Crisp enough to be playful. Its fuller than a light beer for sure. It never over stays its welcome long enough to become unrepeatable. The distance is reached with ease. And Kody kitty likes it too.

Drinkability

Not overly filling. Certainly holds true to itself. Beer after beer. The entire measure was six and the distance is equal. Easily done. The drinkability is there without question. Which really brings us back to the beginning of things. Doesn’t it?

Bottomline

This beer keeps to its even keel the entire ride. I guess I expected some imperfections. Consistent taste delivery, beer after beer. All in all it tastes good. In that background kind of way. Nothing loud, but certainly not the type of taste that is lost on you. I can dig that.

B-