Samuel Adams (beer)
Flagship brand of Boston Beer Company, named after a Founding Father.
Samuel Adams, often called Sam Adams, is the main brand of the Boston Beer Company. The name comes from the American Founding Father Samuel Adams, who took over his father’s brewery on Boston’s King Street (now State Street) and worked as a brewer or maltster. The company was started by Jim Koch in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he began brewing in his home. Koch comes from a family of brewers in Cincinnati, and the Samuel Adams brand began with a recipe that is now known as Samuel Adams Boston Lager.
The company makes year-round and seasonal beers, as well as a special release called Utopias. First released in 2002, Utopias had an alcohol content of 24% by volume, making it the strongest commercial beer in the world at the time, though that record has since been beaten. New versions came out each year, with the alcohol level rising to 27% by 2007 and then to 28% in 2019. This beer uses caramel, Vienna, Moravian, and Bavarian smoked malts, along with four types of noble hops: Hallertauer Mittelfrüh, Tettnanger, Spalter, and Saaz. It is aged for nearly a year in scotch, cognac, and port barrels. Only a limited number of bottles are released annually—12,000 in 2007 and 9,000 in 2009. The bottle is ceramic and shaped like a copper-finished brewing kettle. Prices have risen over time: $100 in 2002, $150 in 2009, $200 in 2017, and $210 in 2019. Due to legal restrictions, Utopias is not sold in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont, or West Virginia.
Starting with the 2018 season, Samuel Adams became the official beer of the Boston Red Sox, replacing Budweiser. This eight-year deal runs through the 2035 season and includes signage at Fenway Park. The agreement also lets Boston Beer use the Red Sox logo for marketing and run Red Sox-related contests with game tickets. As of 2020, the official beer of the Red Sox is Samuel Adams’s Wicked Fenway IPA (formerly Fenway Faithful IPA), a session IPA with 5.5% ABV. Samuel Adams has also made beers with cans featuring Red Sox players Alex Bregman and Garrett Crochet.
The Boston Brewery opened in 1987 and is where every beer was first made, except for Boston Lager. Two other breweries exist, one in Cincinnati, Ohio, and another in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania.
Quick Facts
- Abv
- 5.0%
- Manufacturer
- Boston Beer Company
- Origin
- United States
- Introduced
- 1984
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Samuel Adams beer is named after US Founding Father Samuel Adams, who inherited his father's brewery on Boston's King Street (modern day State Street) and worked as a brewer or maltster. The Boston Beer Company was founded by Jim Koch in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he started the micro-brewery in his home. Koch comes from a long line of Cincinnati brewers, and the beer was started using a recipe now known as Samuel Adams Boston Lager. The Boston Brewery opened in 1987 and is where every beer was first made, aside from the Boston Lager. Two other breweries are located in Cincinnati, Ohio and Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. In 2020, a prominent Sam Adams Boston taproom opened in Faneuil Hall Plaza, adjacent to Boston City Hall and steps from the downtown Boston statue of Samuel Adams.
Reader's Guide
Samuel Adams has become a notable name in American brewing, both for its flagship Boston Lager and for its experimental releases. In 2002, the company released Utopias, a beer marketed as the strongest commercial beer in the world at 24% ABV, a mark that has since been challenged. Subsequent vintages increased the alcohol content to 27% ABV by 2007 and 28% ABV in 2019. Utopias is made with caramel, Vienna, Moravian and Bavarian smoked malts, and four varieties of noble hops: Hallertauer Mittelfrüh, Tettnanger, Spalter, and Saaz hops. It is matured in scotch, cognac and port barrels for almost a year. Limited bottles are released each year; in 2007 only 12,000 bottles were produced, and in 2009 only 9,000. Sold in a ceramic bottle resembling a copper-finished brewing kettle, a single bottle cost $100 in 2002, $150 in 2009, $200 in 2017, and $210 in 2019. Because of legal restrictions, Utopias is not offered in 15 states. Beginning with the 2018 season, Samuel Adams became the official beer of the Boston Red Sox, replacing Budweiser, in an eight-year deal lasting through the 2035 season. As of 2020, Samuel Adams's Wicked Fenway IPA (formerly Fenway Faithful IPA), a session IPA at 5.5% ABV, is the official beer of the Red Sox. Samuel Adams also created beers featuring cans with the likenesses of Red Sox players Alex Bregman and Garrett Crochet. The brand has gained media attention: its Fezziwig brew won in Massachusetts in a list of 'Best Christmas/Winter Beer in Each State', and the brewery was named the best brewery in Massachusetts according to a Yelp-based Buzzed article. In the 2015 musical Hamilton, the song 'Aaron Burr, Sir' includes the lyric 'two pints of Sam Adams, but I'm workin' on three'.
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