BOSTON, Jan. 13, 2012 — The brewers at Samuel Adams have crafted a brand new seasonal beer, Samuel Adams Alpine Spring. This beer has the balanced maltiness and hoppiness of a helles, the strength and smoothness of a bock, and the unfiltered haze of a kellerbier. Although it’s categorized as an unfiltered wheat lager, this one-of-a-kind beer transcends any one style, and the crisp, citrus flavor notes make it a perfect offering for spring.

To create Samuel Adams Alpine Spring, the brewers sourced a German Noble hop variety called Tettnang-Tettnanger, steadily cultivated on vines dating back 100 years in hop gardens at the foothills of the Alps. The beer is brewed using only hops from this region — approximately half a pound per barrel — which gives the beer a bright, orange-citrusy aroma.

Although it’s being released for the first time this month, Samuel Adams Alpine Spring was awarded a pre-release gold medal in the Munich-Helles category at the Beverage Testing Institute’s recent World Beer Championship with an “exceptional” score of 93.

Samuel Adams Alpine Spring will be available nationwide from January to April in six-packs, with a suggested retail price of $7.99.

In just over a week, the Brewers Association will host SAVOR, their annual beer and food pairing event at the National Building Museum in Washington D.C. For those fortunate enough to have already purchased tickets to the incredible sold out two-day event, they will have the privilege to try the collaboration beer from Samuel Adams and Dogfish Head Craft Brewery called SAVOR Flowers. It will only be available to attendees of the event who will each receive a cork and caged 750ml bottle of the special brew to bring home with them and it will be available to sample at the event as well.

Both Sam Adams and Dogfish Head have continuously pushed the envelope of what beer could be and they have steered away what beer should be and I am so excited to have received a bottle of this and I can’t wait to try it. As we know, beer is made from four main ingredients – yeast, hops, barley, and water – and all but one, water, have been messed around with to create new and exciting beers. For SAVOR Flowers, they have decided to change this. Through an age-old distillation process, they created rosewater which would serve as the base liquid of the beer and this in turn inspired them to continue exploring the use of flowers and eventually dried lavender, hibiscus, jasmine and rosebuds would be introduced into the brewing process to create SAVOR Flowers. Also to be used would be a new hop breed simply known as #369 that is known for its intense floral notes which Jim Koch would acquire 30 pounds of from Yakima, Washington.

The beer would then be aged in Barrel One, the same bourbon barrel Jim used to age the premier batch of the first “extreme beer”, Samuel Adams Triple Bock in 1993. According to Sam Adams, Barrel One is the first barrel originally used for spirits which was then used to age beer and for the last 18 years it has been filled with Samuel Adams Triple Bock.

According to Jim Koch of Samuel Adams, “Sam and I had a great time gathering these ingredients, and I am excited to collaborate with such an innovative brewer on this beer for SAVOR. Sam’s originality and imagination are endless – he came up with the creative idea of distilling rosewater for this brew. We share the same intense passion for pushing the conventional definition of what beer can be and we put that same passion into our beers.”

Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head continues, “Jim is the godfather of craft beer, and he’s got unbelievable ideas about what beer can be, along with the knowledge and palate to make those crazy beer dreams come true. I am with him on his philosophy and thrilled to be working together on this groundbreaking brew. We share a commitment to elevating beer to its proper infinite height, as both a beverage and a pairing for food.”

Ladies, stumped on what to get your man for Valentine’s Day? Sam Adams and FromYouFlowers.com have teamed up to create the ultimate beer themed basket that will make things simple on your end and will be sure to please him. Sadly, there is no beer in the basket but there is enough of other awesome things to keep him busy. Exclusively available through FromYouFlowers.com, the Samuel Adams “Hoppy Valentines” basket includes:

· 2- Samuel Adams Perfect Pint Glasses
· 2- Samuel Adams Key Chain / Bottle Openers
· 6 oz. Bavarian Noble Hops Flower Buds in a Collectible Glass Hexagon Jar
· Green & Black Maya Gold Organic Dark Chocolate
· 8 oz. Glacier Ridge Smoked Gouda
· 8 oz. Columbus Salame, Butcher Wrap
· 1.5 oz. Jack Allen Sour Dough Rounds
· 2.0 oz. Jack Allen California Pistachios
· 1.8 oz. Jack Allen Chocolate Dipped Truffle Cookies
· 1.5 oz. J&A Fruit & Nut Mix
· Stainless Steel Cheese Knife
· Blue Presentation Tray 17 x 11.5 x 2.5

Retailing for $46, the Samuel Adams “Hoppy Valentines” basket can be purchased on the FromYouFlowers.com website.

It’s 2011. To many, it’s just another year. For those really into beer, it’s the year Sam Adams
Utopias is released. Released every odd year since 2003, Utopias is the world’s strongest naturally fermented beer. “But what about the beaver that had the 110 proof bottle of beer in it??” First of all, it was either a squirrel or a stoat, depending on which of the eleven bottles produced you saw. Second, that was achieved through ice distillation, which essentially is freezing alcohol to where the water freezes and separates and the alcohol left behind is a more concentrated product than what was started with, which they do repeatedly until they get the desired strength. Sam Adams, however, manages to achieve a staggering 27% alcohol by volume beer all at the hands of yeasts that are typically reserved for wine and champagne, along with ale yeast.

Utopias itself is brewed using traditional methods and is a blend of several malts and three variety of Noble hops; Spalt Spalter, Hallertau Mittelfrueh, and Tettnang Tettnanger — and it is then blended and aged in a variety of different barrels. Sam Adams uses some fairly obscure barrels, some of which have been filled holding liquids for as long as 18 years before being blended into the final product. This year’s batch was finished in sherry casks from Spain and Madeira and port casks from Portugal, all of which gives it tremendous depth and flavor. Continue Reading »

Sadly I’m a day late to this party as I spent the majority of yesterday traveling, but the Brewers Association released some big news yesterday when they announced changes they made to the Brewers Association designation of “small” in its definition of a “craft brewer.” Also changed were the Brewers Associations bylaws to reflect the change and within the context of the Brewers Association.

This was a big discussion topic on Twitter, Facebook and other online beer communities and there seemed to be mixed feelings all across the board as this helps one brewery in particular, The Boston Beer Company, most commonly known as Sam Adams. The largest American-owned brewery in the United States, Sam Adams is soon to eclipse the 2 million barrel mark and because of this, the qualifying barrelage has been raised to 6 million barrels instead of 2 million, essentially keeping Sam Adams a craft brewery by definition. Continue Reading »

There are lots of great beer event listing sites out on the “interwebz” such as Beer Advocate, Rate Beer, and Craftbeer.com. These sites have a user posted database of calendars chock full of beer events. For the average beer drinker, however, these schedules can be a little daunting- this Saturday alone held over twenty events combined!

This weekly posting will serve as your quick reference guide to the hottest beer events for this upcoming week- featuring craft beer and food pairing dinners, festivals, and events that will host representatives from the involved brewery.

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Monday, August 16, 2010

Washington DC: Birch and Barley “Beer and Cheese Seminar”

Location:Birch and Barley

Time: 7pm

Description: “Beginning at 7 PM, Beer Director Greg Engert will host a seminar on perhaps the finest of all food and beverage pairings. Join us for a tasting of 5 artisanal cheeses, expertly selected and prepared by Pastry Chef Tiffany MacIsaac, along with 5 hand-crafted rare brews! Discover what Sommeliers have known for years…that Beer and Cheese truly define the notion of an Unparalleled Pairing.”

Cost: $35 plus tax/gratuity

Contact: Please call Birch & Barley to reserve your seat: 202-567-2576

Continue Reading »

The brewers at Samuel Adams have teamed up with artisanal meat purveyor Jake Dickson to create what they hail as the perfect beef counterpart to the Sam Adams Boston Lager — the Samuel Adams Boston Lager Cut. This is the first time in history that a brewer and specialty meat purveyor have teamed up to design an original cut of beef. Continue Reading »

In a recent article [20 Worst Drinks in America 2010], Men’s Health made the outlandish claim that “Americans have developed a severe drinking problem.” And by drinking problem, they are not referring to alcohol abuse. Oh no. Men’s Health is lashing out on beverages across the entire spectrum — from waters, to sodas, to beers. The argument is that Americans consume a damaging amount of “empty calories” from what Men’s Health considers to be unhealthy beverages. Continue Reading »