3 New beers from Sam Adams

[MAS_Puros]

Announcing the newest additions to the Samuel Adams family!

We're really excited about these three beers. They represent a long history of aging beer in wood barrels dating back to Samuel Adams Triple Bock. We continuously experiment with new styles and aging in wood, but until now these beers have been limited in their availability to a few beer festivals or the lucky visitors here to our Boston Brewery.

Samuel Adams New World Tripel: Pale gold in color, this ale is big, flavorful and complex. A special Belgian yeast strain adds tropical fruit and spice notes to the crisp dry ale, while Saaz hops add a subtle herbal note. (~10% ABV)

Samuel Adams American Kriek: The intense black cherry character in this beer comes from Balaton cherries, which were discovered in Hungary and are now grown in Michigan. These special cherries are prized for their depth of flavor. The tartness from the cherries is balanced by a rich, malty character with toasted oak notes added from the barrel aging. (~7% ABV)

Samuel Adams Stony Brook Red: This unique brew defies traditional beer style definition. The rich, malty brew combines notes of tart fruit from the yeast with a toasty oak character from the barrel aging. The long dry finish is almost wine-like. This is a beer that is satisfying on its own and also pairs well with many foods such as braised or roasted meats, beef stews and strong salty cheeses. (~9% ABV)

The American Kriek and Stoney Brook Red don't sound too bad ... looks they will only be available in Massachusetts, Denver, Colorado, Maine and New Hampshire for $9.99 per 750ml bottle. If anyone can get these post a review I am very curious.

 

[jfields]

The Stony Brook Red sounds nice. Sucks that the distribution will be so low.

 

[Devil Doc]

I'll be on the look out. Sam Adams is one of the few brewers who can make a high ABV beer with a decent finish. I've been disapointed by many craft brewers whose beers finish flat. Nasty!

Doc.

 

[themoneycollector]

Ooh, that stony brook red sounds good.

 

[Golfanatic]

I will be having these this weekend. I hope Kroger has them otherwise its off to totalwine!

 

[sporkd2]

i wish they'd distribute near me

 

[JHolmes763]

New beers are always fun to try, so I'll be on the lookout, too. Wasn't too impressed with the SA sampler I bought recently, though...

The Red sounds good and the Kriek sounds like my wife might like it.

 

[mu mike]

New beers are always fun to try, so I'll be on the lookout, too. Wasn't too impressed with the SA sampler I bought recently, though...

Was it the winter sampler with the Cranberry Lambic? Blech.

 

[Aventinus]

Have you seen the bottles for these? Pretty cool design:
http://adamncompany.com/news/?p=345

 

[AVB]

Why don't beer makers make beer that tastes like.....well, you know.....F"N BEER!

Cherry flavored beer, Keee-rist it's the Reg Gag of the beer world :angry:

 

[MCS]

New beers are always fun to try, so I'll be on the lookout, too. Wasn't too impressed with the SA sampler I bought recently, though...

Was it the winter sampler with the Cranberry Lambic? Blech.

My girl got me that sampler because I love the Winter Lager, but the Cream one was nasty. I was going to to try the Cranberry one next.

 

[mu mike]

Well, I hope you like it better than I did! LOL It's a little odd tasting.

As for the winter lager, I agree, good stuff.

 

[JHolmes763]

New beers are always fun to try, so I'll be on the lookout, too. Wasn't too impressed with the SA sampler I bought recently, though...

Was it the winter sampler with the Cranberry Lambic? Blech.

No, one with the more regular beers. cherry wheat, brown, red, boston, octoberfest, dunkel-something...

 

[mu mike]

No, one with the more regular beers. cherry wheat, brown, red, boston, octoberfest, dunkel-something...

Yep, I had that one as well. The Octoberfest I really liked!

 

[Irish]

A buddy of mine picked up a bottle of each of these for me while visiting family up in Boston. He said the Stony Brook Red was excellent, the others were just OK. Mine are currently sitting in the fridge, hopefully I can get to them sometime over the weekend. I'll report back once I try them.

 

[MAS_Puros]

Wow they look like butter churning buckets ... I have my eye on the Red ... mmmm

 

[Irish]

Here's my take on each of the new brews:

Samuel Adams American Kriek

The intense black cherry character in this beer comes from Balaton cherries, which were discovered in Hungary and are now grown in Michigan. These special cherries are prized for their depth of flavor. The tartness from the cherries is balanced by a rich, malty character with toasted oak notes added from the barrel aging. (~7% ABV)

This was the first one I tried over the weekend, and while I typically don't care for Sam Adam's fruitier concoctions (i.e. cherry wheat), this one was nice. The beer was sparkling clear with a bright red/purplish hue. The head was even slightly tinted pink, and very bubbly like that of champagne. The beer gave off a very nice aroma, and the flavor matched nicely - a light, crisp beer with a sweet black cherry overtone. It reminded me of black cherry soda, but much less sugary and more crisp. It tasted very much like a craft brew, as the aftertaste had that twang to it that often accompanies a home brew. Very clean, not a lot of residual lingering flavor. Overall, I liked this beer a lot. Not something I would drink all the time, but nice for a special occasion like an after dinner drink to be shared amongst some friends. It's a little much to drink the whole 750ml by yourself in one sitting, unless you're a huge black cherry fan.

Samuel Adams New World Tripel

Pale gold in color, this ale is big, flavorful and complex. A special Belgian yeast strain adds tropical fruit and spice notes to the crisp dry ale, while Saaz hops add a subtle herbal note. (~10% ABV)

Popped this one open last night after dinner. Again, the beer had a foamy head similar to champagne. This one was fairly clear and pale in color. It had an odd aroma to it, very full and almost earthy. The taste was incredibly strong, lots of what I would describe as holiday spice. The flavor was pungent and overpowering, and the aftertaste had a very heavy alcohol flavor, almost like vodka. Unfortunately, we're not talking grey goose - we're talking Osco. I was hardly able to choke down half a pint of this one, it was just way too over the top with the spice flavor and crappy vodka aftertaste. Two thumbs waaaaaaaaaaaaaay down, not my style at all.

Samuel Adams Stony Brook Red

This unique brew defies traditional beer style definition. The rich, malty brew combines notes of tart fruit from the yeast with a toasty oak character from the barrel aging. The long dry finish is almost wine-like. This is a beer that is satisfying on its own and also pairs well with many foods such as braised or roasted meats, beef stews and strong salty cheeses. (~9% ABV)

I was planning on drinking one of these a night, but the last one was so bad I had to try another to get the taste out of my mouth. This Stony Brook Red proved to be the best of the bunch. This one didn't have quite as foamy a head as the others, and the carbonation was more subdued. It had a very deep dark reddish color, so much so that I couldn't tell how clear the beer was. It was very different from any beer I've had before - it's like a good strong boston ale meeting red wine or shiraz. The description on the bottle was pretty much spot on. The flavor was slightly sweet on first sip, then the sweetness fades to an ale flavor, followed by that dry aftertaste similar to what you'd get with a red wine, but more refreshing. This would make an awesome gift to bring over a for a dinner party in lieu of wine, and would go very well with dinner or as an after dinner drink. The bottle was empty in no time, and the 9% AVB kicked in quite nicely. :laugh: Again, this one was the best of the bunch, and probably the only one I'd deem worthy of the $10 per 750ml bottle price tag.

 

[JHolmes763]

Thanks for the reviews and pictures. I still haven't been able to locate this, but I haven't made it out to Daveco, yet.

You make the Kreik and Red sound very good. Will certainly be willing to try those two. Will probably try the Tripel, too, as everyone's tastes are different... will be a little leery, though.

-John

 

[The Black Cloud]

Still interested in trying these if I can find them. As for the Tripel, forgive my beer naiveity (sp?) or misinformation if I'm wrong, but as the name suggests, a tripel is basically a Belgian style ale with a more intense flavor and ABV. In terms of strength and flavor intensity...Belgian ale -> dubbel -> tripel. Sounds interesting, as I've had a good tripel before (Victory 12th Anny) even though I'm more of a porter/stout man.