Samuel Adams Winter Lager

Brewed By: Samuel Adams
Brewed In: Boston, MA/Cincinnati, OH
ABV: 5.8%
Type: Bock

What They Say: The first thing one notices in a Samuel Adams Winter Lager is its color: the deep brown of winter. Then comes the magical aroma which promises something special on the tongue. The warm aroma of cinnamon and ginger which blends with the roasty sweetness of the malted barley and hint of citrus from the orange peel. And after that first sip the promise is fulfilled. On the palate Samuel Adams Winter Lager is rich and full bodied, robust and warming, a wonderful way to enjoy the cold evenings that come with this season.

Website: Same as it ever was. I do still hate the double-confirmation screen, which remains silly. I also hate how sometimes their Flash app just stops loading and never continues. They should really catch whatever exception is happening there. I shouldn’t have to refresh the page manually. Loading bars are bad practice, people.

Why I Picked It: I couldn’t tell you. It was ages ago the first time I had it. In this case, it’s because I finally wanted to get it a proper score, compare it to the recently rated Blue Point Winter Ale, and, now that it’s 2010, kick off the Samuel Adams Winter Classics 2009 Series.

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Presentation (5): If you’ve seen Sam’s presentation, you’ve seen it. The Winter Lager’s label is a different blue than the Boston Lager… but not my much. The Sam Adams branding is pretty recognizable, though. 3

Originality (5): Much like many of these seasonal brews, Sam Adams was my first. According to their website, Winter Lager was first brewed in 1989… so until someone can show me a Winter Lager brewed before then, there’s no way Sam can fairly not be retroactively given full points for originality. 5

Body (10): They say brown, I say red, but I’m kind of color-blind. It’s a nice reddish-brown with a decent head and a nice lace. A perfect amount of carbonation and just a touch thicker than their regular Boston Lager. It’s just on the border of being too heavy without ever quite getting there and I think it’s because there’s a lot of big flavor stuffed in to a lighter body. The only complaint I’ve ever had of this beer is the same one I have with a lot of Sam’s early recipes: the beers all have an extreme dryness that makes it very hard to make an evening out of it without breaking it up with water or lighter brews. 8

Taste (10): I like citrus hints in my beer, I like malts, and I like spices. Winter Lager has all of the above. The taste rests on your tongue with a hint of cinnamon and citrus and finishes with malt and ginger. This beer has been around so long that a Christmas without it doesn’t feel like Christmas. 10

Efficiency (10): With a great taste, a very solid ABV, and a the reasonable price offered by the macro-microbrew, Sam’s Winter is one of the best seasonal values for your dollar. The dryness of the beer unfortunately isn’t made up for by the ABV and thus the efficiency rating suffers. 6

Versatility (10): I’ve met very few people who dislike this beer. Some may like one of Sam’s other seasonals more, but this one performs very well in crowds. It’s not a fast drinking beer, nor is it something you can sit down with and just slug all night, but it’s an excellent 3-beer maximum selection and a crowd-pleaser. From personal experience, it’s also makes quite the tasty base for a pork-chop brine. 8

The Snob Sez: This is the grand-daddy of Winter brews. It remains my favorite winter seasonal and, like I said last week, if a brewery wants to enter a crowded winter seasonal market, they need to beat this.

Final Score: 40 (of 50) – Great beer

Related posts:

1. Friday Beer Snob: Samuel Adams Winter Classics 2009 — Old Fezziwig Ale
2. Friday Beer Snob: Samuel Adams Winter Classics 2009 – Cranberry Lambic
3. Friday Beer Snob: Samuel Adams Holiday Pack 2009 — Coastal Wheat
4. Friday Beer Snob: Saranac 12 Beers Of Winter 2009 – Winter Lager
5. Friday Beer Snob: Saranac 12 Beers Of Winter 2009 — Black Lager

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