Samuel Adams Boston Lager

Samuel Adams BL

I’ve been going in a pattern, one week an Australian beer, the week after an international one. I decided to break this habit as I was craving a beer that I rarely drink but do think of from time to time.

            

            Believe it or not but I ventured out of the BWS bottle shops to find this one as they don’t seem to stock it at all.

            

            I like to think that I know a lot about America but in reality I probably don’t. Most of what I would claim to know would be from watching American sitcoms and cartoons for most of my life. Shows such as Two and a Half Men and the Simpsons have given me the impression that alcohol consumption is a common thing over there, but then I wonder (aside from whiskey) what it is they are drinking. I know that Homer Simpson drinks Duff – which you can buy here (in Australia) and I hope to do a write up of one day. I hear a lot of references to Budweiser which boasts is the King of Beers on its cans and stubbies, I have drunk Budweiser many times before, I will admit that it is beer but not a good quality one due to its ingredients such as rice to make it cheaper. Even in Japan you could find Budweiser in many convenience stores which shows its level of influence.

A very colourful label

            

            The beer I want to talk about though is considered to be of much better quality and in fact helped lead the American beer revolution. Samuel Adams Boston Lager at first sight is brightly coloured with the blue, white and red of the USA, the logo is of someone in pre-modern clothing, almost like The Patriot movie starring Mel Gibson. 

            Its taste hits you and wants you to drink more and more. When I visit a hard rock Café or a foreigner bar and wanted to drink something of quality I would almost always choose a Samuel Adams.

            

            While I was researching more about this beer I visited the official website and was surprised to find that the brewery only started in 1984 – which makes it only a few years older than me…

Mel Gibson, an "Australian" Patriot

          

This beer is in fact a craft beer, and as I stated above helped to lead the beer revolution, which the brewery likes to creatively compare to the American Revolution (I apologise in advance to friends from the UK). I can picture Mel Gibson's' character slaughtering a heap of British soldiers then with a Samuel Adams in hand flicking the cap off with his tomahawk and lifting his head back to pour it down his throat. Samuel Adams was an actual American Revolutionary Patriot who fought for American Independence and was one of the Founding Fathers of the USA.

            According to beer-universe.com this beer is rated highly, referring to its use of German Noble aroma hops, which are hand selected by the owner. Noble hops cost around twenty times more than normal hops. It is also listed in the (BWS) Beer Bible (2007) as one of America’s best beers.

It pours well by the looks of it

            The tasting notes from the Noble hops include a range of floral, piney and citrus, while the barley (known as two row barley) gives a full and smooth body as well as a wide spectrum of malt flavour, ranging from slightly sweet to caramel to slightly roasted.

          Even though it is highly ranked it is unfortunately hard to locate outside of the USA, most bottle shops around my area know of it but don’t stock it. I found it at a Liquor Stax in Launceston so I recommend to try them first if you know of one nearby.

Ribs at Hard Rock Cafe Tokyo

            This brings back fond memories at the Hard Rock Café where a giant plate of BBQ ribs is staring back at me, I take a swig from my cold Samuel Adams stubby before picking up the fork and steak knife, ready to devour the massive meal.

            

            Cheers!

This is a Samuel Adams parody by the comedian Dave Chappelle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ji1-BqaLaE

I want one of those glasses!