Beer Briefs – 10 Things You Might Not Know About Samuel Adams Beer
Beer Briefs – 10 Things You Might Not Know About Samuel Adams Beer
(Courtesy Boston Beer)
If you think you know a beer, think again. Because Samuel Adams has a lot of things going on that even the most informed beer-lovers don’t have a clue about.
And here are ten things that might surprise you about Sam Adams and the Boston Beer Company…
Samuel Adams beer launched in a kitchen.
Jim Koch, the founder of Boston Beer Company, brewed the very first batch of Samuel Adams Boston Lager in his own kitchen in 1984 using a family recipe passed down from his great-great-grandfather.
The beer brand’s name has political roots
The beer was named after Samuel Adams, the American revolutionary and statesman who was also a maltster—meaning he worked with barley for brewing.
Koch saw himself as a “revolutionary” taking on the big brewing interests, similar to how Samuel Adams challenged the British Empire.
Boston Lager wasn’t an instant hit.
In the early days, Koch personally carried his beer in a briefcase, selling it door-to-door to bars and restaurants in Boston. This grassroots approach not only built the brand’s early base but also fostered the kind of personal relationships between brewers and vendors that would become a hallmark of the craft beer movement.
But just six weeks after its debut, Boston Lager won “Best Beer in America” at the 1985 Great American Beer Festival, a major breakthrough moment for craft beer at the time.
Samuel Adams helped kickstart the US craft beer boom
In the mid-1980s, there were fewer than 100 craft breweries in America. Today there are over 9,000, and Sam Adams’ success is often credited with proving small brewers could compete nationally. Also Samuel Adams Boston lager the first craft lager to receive a nationwide distribution comparable to mass-market lagers like Budweiser.
They were early innovators in homebrewing support.
Samuel Adams has long supported homebrewers with its “LongShot” competition. The program was specifically designed to help homebrewers transition into the professional world.. Winning homebrew recipes were professionally brewed by Samuel Adams and distributed nationally in a special LongShot variety pack and winners received scholarships and educational opportunities, such as online courses at the Siebel Institute of Technology.
Sam Adams is more than just lagers.
While Boston Lager remains the flagship, the brand has produced everything from seasonal favorites like Winter Lager and OctoberFest to experimental releases, barrel-aged beers, and even extreme brews like Utopias.
And speaking of Utopias—it’s stronger than wine.
Utopias, released every two years in limited quantities, can reach up to 28% ABV, making it one of the strongest (and priciest) beers in the world. With a price tag of $240 per bottle, it’s so strong it’s banned in some states.
Samuel Adams helped revolutionize beer packaging.
Sam Adams was among the first craft breweries to adopt the now-common practice of using brown glass bottles to protect beer from light, ensuring better flavor stability. But just as with most craft brewers today, they now lean heavily into canning.
They’ve partnered with brewers worldwide over the years
Just as with Sierra Nevada, Samuel Adams has teamed up with small brewers across the globe for collaborations, including international beer projects that highlight different brewing traditions.
Boston Beer is still independent
Despite its size and success, and the fact that they are a publicly traded company, Boston Beer Company remains independently owned in the eyes of the Brewers Association Jim Koch has long been vocal about protecting independence in the face of Big Beer acquisitions and he’s done his best to keep things that way.
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