Samuel Adams
From Beeripedia the Beer Wiki
Samuel Adams is a series of America's finest microbrew beers, which are brewed by the Boston Beer Company.
History
For the first 35 years of his life, Jim Koch's family history and his future career lay in the attic of his parent's house. Jim's father, a fifth generation brewer, stored the family beer archives upstairs in an old trunk. But Charles Koch had left the beer business when the market for classic, full-flavored beers had all but disappeared.
So, Jim left for college believing that for the first time in 150 years the eldest Koch son would turn his back on beer. After college and graduate school, Jim began a promising career in management consulting. He followed that path for several years, but he always kept an eye on the beer business. In 1984, his instincts told him it was time to make his move; people were starting to crave something different in their beer.
In 1984, the American beer landscape was vastly different from what it is today. Products from Anheuser-Busch and Miller were ubiquitous. Coors was still a regional brand. The "better beer" category did not exist beyond a handful of imports like Heineken and Beck's. There were virtually no widely distributed "microbrews" of "craft beers".
While Charles thought his son's plan was crazy, he picked out his favorite family recipe, one that Jim's great-great grandfather, Louis Koch, had made at his brewery in St. Louis, Missouri in the 1870s. The following spring, Jim Koch filled his old consulting briefcase with bottles from his sample brew and started going door to door asking Boston bars and restaurants to serve the beer that he named Samuel Adams Boston Lager. He chose that name because Samuel Adams was a Boston firebrand, a revolutionary thinker who fought for independence. Most important, Samuel Adams, too, was a brewer who had inherited a brewing tradition and a brewery from his father.
In April 1985, when Samuel Adams Boston Lager made its debut in about 25 bars and restaurants in Boston, the company had no office, no computers, and no distributors. Jim Koch and his partner, Rhonda Kallman, were the only employees. They spent most of their time going door-to-door (or bar-to-bar) on sales calls. By the end of the year, sales of Samuel Adams beer had reached 500 barrels, and distribution had expanded to include Massachusetts, Connecticut, and a place where great beer is revered, West Germany. It was beginning to look as if Jim's instincts were right. If you offered people a better-tasting beer, they would choose it.
While it didn't have the trappings of a company that was about to change an industry, the Boston Beer Company had two key things in its favor: a beer that was clearly better than anything on the market, and an incredible passion for that beer. Drinkers quickly learned about Samuel Adams and shared that passion. Sales were brisk, and by 1988, the Company had built a small brewery in Boston and was selling 36,000 barrels a year. Samuel Adams beer was available on both coasts.
The expansion wasn't just geographic, however. The Boston Beer Company began introducing new beer styles -- like Boston Ale, Cream Stout and Double Bock, as well as a line of seasonal beers. The success and rapid growth of Samuel Adams soon became an inspiration and a catalyst to other small brewers, and the microbrew revolution took hold. By 1995, there were hundreds of small, local and regional breweries and brewpubs sprouting up all over the country. It was a great time to be a beer lover in America. Samuel Adams continued to lead the pack, setting standards both for growth and for quality.
Never satisfied just to make their own version of existing beer styles, in the early-'90s, the brewers at Samuel Adams began stretching the limits of the known beer universe, first with Samuel Adams Triple Bock, then Millennium and most recently Samuel Adams Utopias. These mysterious "extreme beers" stretch the very definition of beer -- in richness, complexity, strength and taste.
The Boston Beer Company now employees more than 250 people. We own breweries in Boston and Cincinnati and our family of beers includes 17 different beer styles. The beers, which are available in all 50 states and more than 20 foreign countries, have won more than 650 awards and competitions around the globe, more than any beer in history.
Some entrepreneurs look to the heavens for inspiration. For Jim Koch the journey began just over his head.
Samuel Adams has a variety of the best beer on Planet Earth, and quite possible the Universe.
Beer Styles
Samuel Adams Boston Lager -- Complex and balanced, with a beautiful hop aroma.
Samuel Adams Light -- Great tasting yet drinkable, with a clean smooth finish.
Samuel Adams Seasonal Beers
Samuel Adams White Ale -- Spicy yet smooth. Brewed with 10 exotic spices.
Samuel Adams Double Bock -- Intense and warming, a meal in a bottle.
Samuel Adams Summer Ale -- Bright and citrusy, brewed with mysterious grains of paradise.
Samuel Adams Octoberfest -- Hearty and smooth, brewed with select Moravian malt.
Samuel Adams Winter Lager -- Bold and rich, with a touch of holiday spice.
Samuel Adams Old Fezziwig Ale -- Spicy and bold, a big Christmas cookie of a beer.
Samuel Adams Cranberry Lambic -- Tart and sweet, with complex fruit and vanilla notes.
Samuel Adams Holiday Porter -- A traditional, British style. Robust and full bodied.
Samuel Adams Brewmaster's Collection
Samuel Adams Boston Ale -- A smooth, refined version of a classic ale.
Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat -- Ale brewed with Cherries. Crisp and fruity with a hint of honey.
Samuel Adams Cream Stout -- The Cappuccino of beers. Roasty, smooth and sweet.
Samuel Adams Hefeweizen -- Unfiltered wheat ale, fruity, bright, with a crisp flavor of wheat.
Samuel Adams Pale Ale -- Toasty and crisp, an excellent beer for any occasion.
Samuel Adams Scotch Ale -- Smoky, malty, full bodied, brewed with traditional British ale hops.
Samuel Adams Black Lager -- Our Brewers' interpretation of a traditional German Schwarzbier.
Samuel Adams Brown Ale -- Dark in color yet medium-bodied. Rich and smooth. A study in flavor, body, and style.
Samuel Adams Extreme Beers
Samuel Adams Utopias -- Sweet fire, with rich malt and wood complexity.
Samuel Adams Chocolate Bock -- Smooth, rich, and dark, with the robust flavor and creamy texture of chocolate.
Samuel Adams Millennium -- Warm and sweet with a rich malt and wood complexity.
Samuel Adams Triple Bock -- Smooth and very complex, like an unusual port wine.
Samuel Adams Imperial Pilsner -- A hop lover's dream come true.
