Of course, the Grains of Paradise are still used.  Grains of Paradise get their name from the Middle Ages when traders claimed that they were directly from Eden and must be collected while they floated downstream.  Naturally, this raised the price.  The Grains of Paradise also add the the perception of lemon (corriander) in the beer. Other qualities they impart are pepper (didn’t get) and cardamom (did get).  Anyway, this beer did accomplish its job of being a refreshing summer ale.

The Pour: Typical of many wheat ales, Sam Adams Summer Ale was light golden and hazy.  There was also a cloudy white and somewhat foamy head.

The Nose: The lemon aromas seem to be more subtle than they used to be.  The Grains of Paradise pushed through with sweetness, as well as touches of wheat.  I also noted that there was a slightly soapy quality on the nose.

The Taste: Once again, the lemon qualities were not overbearing, like they seemed to be before.  As perceived on the nose, there was a nice touch of residual sweetness.  No perceptible hops were in the taste (normally appropriate for a wheat beer), and the soapiness I noted on the nose was gone.  The middle to the end of the taste had a nice grainy quality.  I also caught some of the cardamom associated with the Grains of Paradise.

Overall, this beer is better than I remember it.  I enjoyed the toned down lemon qualities and the touch of grains.  This goes to show: never abandon a beer completely, especially if something has been tweaked.

Mike’s Rating:

Overall Satisfaction: ★★★½☆ 

Among other Wheat beers: ★★★¼☆ 

The Pour-Imperial White had a short, white, and stable head.  Below this nice head sat an orange-gold body. The beer was certainly less “white” than I expected to be, but this was not a deterrent from moving forward with the smelling and tasting.  There was some haze to the beer, which is to be expected given its wheat content.

The Nose-Alcohol was definitely a major facet of this beer, being that it weighed in at 10.3%ABV.  Sweet malts (wheat and other), spices, and citrus were also very noticeable.  The beer had a sort of syrupy and fruity aroma to it.

The Taste-This beer had a fair amount of residual sweetness and a fairly full mouth-feel.  Again, the citrus, spices, and wheat malts came through on this beer.  However, there was a healthy dose of vodka-type alcohol (maybe a citrus vodka) in the taste of the beer.  Some fruits and grain came through on the finish of the beer.

Overall, the beer was pretty big and the most enjoyable of the Imperial Series that Sam Adams made.  I found myself wishing the the Imperial Stout would have been as emphatic as this White Ale was.  A good nightcap beer!  The more I think about this one the more I like it.

Mike’s Rating

Overall Satisfaction: ★★★★☆ 

Among other White Ales: ★★★★½ 

Among other Ales: ★★★¾☆ 

Samuel Adam’s Imperial Stout looked like black oil from a car’s drain-pan.  On top of the body was a very nice brown, creamy, and stable head.

Upon putting my nose to the beer, I was a bit surprised.  I’m usually a little surprised when something from Samuel Adams that is called “Imperial” doesn’t have noticeable hop qualities.  I’m not saying this is bad, just surprising.  (Perhaps these are just my Imperial Stout expectations.)  The Imperial did not disappoint on the other stout qualities.  There was plenty of chocolate, coffee, and deep roasted grain aromas to be taken in. An alcohol aroma was also noticeable.

When I drank this beer, it was very dark and roasty in approach.  Again, the 9.2% alcohol certainly popped through.  The coffee and chocolate tones that I noted in the nose were in abundance.

Overall, the beer was still pretty good, but I found myself a little disappointed.  I guess I was just expecting more.  For me, I like an Imperial Stout with a little acid bite.  Now if you want a smooth-drinking Imperial Stout, then you might really enjoy this beer.  Don’t misunderstand what I’m saying; this beer is still very good, even among Stouts.  But from Samuel Adam’s more extreme beers like Triple Bock and Utopias, I expected more boldness.  You never can tell.

Mike’s Rating:

Overall Satisfaction: ★★★¾☆ 

Among other Imperial Stouts: ★★★½☆ 

Among other Stouts ★★★¼☆ 

So I was excited when I read the news that Sam Adams was soon to be releasing an imperial style series consisting of Imperial White, Imperial Stout, and Double Bock.  My anticipation was eased when I came across the Double Bock at a small beer store here in town.  (this is no small feet…the beer selection is these parts is less than desirable!)  Here is what I thought of the beer…

I poured this brew into a wide goblet.  The deep, yet clear, walnut colored beer eased its way into my glass.  The viscosity of beer gave away the thick malty quality; a half a pound of malts per bottle!  A beautiful almond head lazily hung around the surface of the beer, being continuously fed by the endless stream of surprisingly abundant (per style) carbonation that also expelled pleasant aromas.

The fragrant aroma of sweet roasted malts greet the nose, but do not overwhelm it.  Peppered in is the not so subtle smell of alcohol.  The 9.5% ABV is not hidden in this beer.  Hints of caramel, coffee, candy, honey, and grapes mingle with the aforementioned characteristics.

I served the beer at about fifty degrees:  a good call on my part, as it accommodated the natural velvety texture and opened up the flavors in the beer.  After the slow pour, I expected to feel a thick syrupy liquid.  On the contrary, the carbonation allowed the beer to dance across my tongue.  One might expect to be overwhelmed with sticky sugary sweet malts, but such is not the case.  While the hop presence is not prominent, it equalizes the sugars.  Thus the toasted flavor of the malt hits the tongue with ease.  A pleasant graham cracker flavor with fruity grape, fig, and very subtle pomeganete nuances are quickly drowned out by a more than noticeable alcohol flavor.  The precise characteristic is vodka, which goes hand an hand with the malted barley sweetness and also aids in equalization.  The tongue tingles and relaxes as the alcohol flavor sets in.

The finish smooth.  Not to sweet, not too bitter.  It is here that one can notices the fresh hop flavor, but only slightly.

This is a fantastic beer, and ranks high on my not yet published “recommended” list.  It is a sipping beer.  Do not buy it to wash down your meat and potatoes…it IS your meat and potatoes.

Nate’s Rating:

Overall Satisfaction: ★★★★½ 

Among other Bock Beers: ★★★★½ 

As some of you may know, Sam Adam’s makes the strongest and most expensive beer in the world.  Utopias comes in at an amazing 26% abv.  It is an astounding achievement to make a beer that strong.  There is no distilling, nothing but grains, and a whole lot of very robust yeast strains in this beer.  Believe me when I say producing a beer of this strength is already a feat. 

Since I sipped on some of this Utopias the other night, I thought I’d offer a review of it.  From the beginning of the pour (1 1/2 to 2 ounces suggested) Utopias does not look like a common beer.  In fact, there is no carbonation, no head, and a thick tracing on the glass.  The beer sits there with a thin clear line of liquid sitting on top of a beautiful whiskey-colored body.  As the prescient color of the beer suggests, it is more like liquor than beer. 

Aroma, aroma, aroma…boy, does this beer have it.  On the nose it is extremely bready and yeasty in quality.  The alcohol is very noticeable on the nose.  There are wonderful grape, caramel (suggestive of Boubon), and nutty qualities on the nose.  The smell is more suggestive of a brandy or port than it is a beer.

Breadiness in the nose is certainly translated into the taste of this brew.  It has a nice thick and full mouth-feel.  The nuttiness in the nose seems to define itself as Macadamia nuts in the taste of the beer.  Muscat grapes (and wine) are apparent in the sweet flavor of the beer, which gives it a taste very similar to various sweet sherries that I’ve had. 

If you get a chance, you have to try this beer.  Properly speaking, it is not very “beer” tasting at all.  However, it is still worth tasting because it shows just how diverse beers can truly be.  By the way, this a great beer to have with a robust cigar.

Samuel Adam’s Chocolate Bock is considered one of their extreme beers, if you look at their website.  They have four “extreme” beers: Chocolate Bock, Millennium, Triple Bock and Utopias (the strongest and most expensive beer in the world).  While the Utopias and company are more extreme, this one is not so much extreme as it is extremely good. 

The pour:  There was a fair amount of carbonation in the brew with fair head retention.  It had a deep brown color with touches of Crimson.  The beer looked almost as smooth in the glass as it did in the bottle.  By the way, the label on the bottle might be the most beautiful on earth.  It’s pewter and almost rococo label speaks to its cocoa beauty inside.  The bottle and look of the beer is truly an achievement in of itself.

The aroma of the beer was floral and simply popped.  Chocolate, roasted grains, and yeast were prevalent. 

The taste of the beer is really the awesome part of the brew.  Since this Chocolate Bock is put on top of cocoa, it has obvious chocolate notes.  There is more of a good deep dark chocolate taste and bitterness than other types of chocolate.  Yet, the beer is extremely smooth and imminently drinkable.  A slight sweetness in the beer is complemented by its ending dryness.  Roastiness, a slight smokiness, and nutty qualities are also in abundance here.  I also caught what I can only describe as the aftertaste of un-buttered popcorn in the brew.  Call me crazy but its there. 

All in all this is a magnificent brew.  Do yourself a favor and try it.

This particular beer takes its inspiration from a traditional German black beer.  The style was all but lost until the collapse of the Berlin Wall.  The isolation of black beer from the Western world was over, so how would it be received?  It appears that it has gained some serious steam and the Boston Beer Company has helped with the phenomenon.  Here is my review on Sam Adams’s version.

The color was obviously Black to very dark Brown in tint.  It had a tan brown head that had a very nice retention.  It looked nice and could be mistaken for a Porter style beer sitting in the glass. 

In terms of the aromas, there was a fair amount going on.  The Lager had some obvious chocolate and coffee notes, along with a malty sweetness.  There were hints of wine and honey/molasses.  In addition, the roasted malts bled through.

When drinking the beer, there were very distinct toasty and toffee/caramel flavors.  It had some of the roasty qualities of coffee without the bitterness, with a slight sweetness.  The molasses hints snuck through at the very end of the brew, while there was also slight dryness.  One surprising thing about this black beer is how clean and smooth it was to drink.

I highly recommend that you try this beer!

In terms of appearance, there was a nice foam white head on this beer.  There was also plenty of head retention and some lacing.  The Pilsner was golden with a tough of Amber, which is not typical of most Pilsners.  Normally Pilsner are very blond and pale.  All in all, the beer looked very nice in the glass.

When taking in the beer’s aromas I noted that the alcohol was obvious.  There was obviously a prevalent (and nice) hop aroma on the nose.  I also noted hints of sweet malt and a powdery (powdered sugar?) touch.  Also notable were the winish qualities of the aroma. 

When I tasted the brew, I found the hop bitterness to be at the forefront.  This was not unbalanced, in that the warmth of the alcohol along with the long grainy and malty finish completed the beer.  In addition to the other qualities I noted, there was a citrus (grapefruit) hint in the beer.  I even caught a very slight sulphurish glimpse of flavor in the beer.  There was a very long and dry finish to the beer.  I found the beer to be refreshing and a nice change of pace to the typically watery Pilsner that many of us have grown to tolerate.

I do want to make a side note about this beer.  Many other hops could have been chosen for this beer; there are many hops that have higher alpha (i.e., bittering/acid) levels than Hallertau hops.  Part of the uniqueness of this beer is its use of Hallertau hops to create the bitterness and unique flavors.  Sure it takes more of these hops to acheive the desired bitterness, but Sam Adams seemed to think that it was worth it.  Maybe you’ll agree.