Boston Strong


Brewery and Country of Origin: Sam Adams Brewery (Boston Beer Company) of 30 Germania Street, Boston, MA 02130, USA

Date Reviewed: 4-23-13

By now, you've already had the media shove every single detail about the tumultuous week Boston, MA just had. Fun fact, this beer was sampled while our neighborhood was effectively "shut down" by Governor Deval Patrick and the Massachusetts State Police. And if the world learned anything about the City On A Hill in the past week, it's that Boston is a proud and resilient city. The following is a bit if anecdotal run on crap one of our unpaid interns wrote early last week which we think epitomizes the unifying nature of Boston's strength.

"If you're like me or the vast majority of my friends, high school is an era of your life you never forget. Events big and small; friends, close or not. For whatever ridiculous set of reasons, high school for me, was the last real period of your life when you're an impudent "little shit" who's always getting into trouble without any handle on what the word "consequence" meant. High school was also a venue for sports. Teams. And of course, rivalry. Our neighbor Fairport was our rival. Be it at the track, pool, course, field, ice, court, or pitch, we didn't like each other.

But like we've seen yesterday and today, petty differences in geography can suddenly, without warning, become irrelevant. Just under six years ago, tragedy struck that rival high school. Five college bound teenage girls on their way to a graduation party died in a car accident. And like yesterday and today, immense grief, sorrow, and utter shock descended upon the community of Rochester. Unfortunately, evil tries to kick us while we're down.

An emotional memorial service was held for the girls at Fairport's athletic fields. Students from all over the area, including myself and many others from Penfield showed up. So did Monroe County Sheriff's department. But sadly, they were asked to be there. For you see, not everyone who attended the event was there to express their condolences.

Yesterday, wasn't an otherwise ceremonious day marred by humans. This was evil which had long lost touch with themselves, everyone else, and humanity itself. Humans are naturally good. And it could only take others who don't possess the qualities which make up a cognitive being, to react to these heinous events with joy. And perhaps no group of evil is better at this than the Westboro Baptist Church. Penfield students came to counter protest their picket line with messages of love, tolerance, and humanity. Never give up on humanity.

But overall, their goal was achieved. They are a hate group which thrives on attention. They have no physical goals, no violent aspirations. Their mission is to catalyze anger and spread hate in a purely disgusting way: among other things, protesting funerals. They're seen "protesting" at the services for fallen marines, celebrities, and of course, those involved with elevated emotional tragedies, including the one when five young ladies died before their lives really began.

You all know I use the word "hate" way too often. I probably know better than anyone. But in all reality, there are few things I genuinely hate. Still, I do keep a short mental list of those things that, by almost infinite margins, exceed the dislike I have for caterpillars, Apple, Carly Rae Jepsen's music, buses, Occupy Wallstreet, shin splints, cheating, deer, socialism, onions, weak beer, and everything else you constantly hear me ranting about for days (just like this) combined. And with no doubt, one of those few things is the Westboro Baptist Church. They plan on coming to Boston to ruin the funerals of those whose lives were cut short by evil yesterday.

In my two years of living in Boston after graduation, there's one positive thing I've learned about this city that stands high above the rest. This is a strong, tenacious, and proud city. I know many people can't stand the area's sports teams, their accents, or their driving. I share those feelings. But even I'll admit, there are few places in this world which deserve more respect than Beantown. And no matter what messages of evil emanate from the Westboro Baptist Church, Boston won't have any of it. Each and every day, a new bit of me is convinced that I made the perfect decision to move here.

So Massachusetts, as a New York State native, I'll always consider you to be our "rivals" in just about everything. We'll continue to debate about our sports, our education, our far superior driving, our much more relevant economy, and our storied history (you might have us there). But in the end, all that matters is that we're all Americans. We're all loving. And we're all human."

The intern has since been promoted to a temp. He is still unpaid in his position.

Date Sampled: 4-19-13 (3-01-11 original) At: 7 Prescott Place, Allston, MA 02134, USA
Beer Style: Irish Red Ale
Alcohol by Volume: 5.80%
Serving Type: 12 oz Bottle, 14 oz Sam Adams Glass
Rating: 3.24

Look

This red ale pours smoothly with a medium low level of carbonation action, producing a thin, quarter inch foam head with a light retention, a low density, and a weak presence. This beer is filtered and clear with no visible sediment, giving off a fairly bright shine. This beer has a rich dark amber reddish color, and displays no lacing.

Aroma

The Irish Red has an average strength aroma with a malty overall profile. This beer's aroma is predominantly roasted caramel malt with very subtle hoppy notes as trailers as well as a bit of biscuity notes and some general sweetness. The aroma isn't too complex as the roasted caramel notes are very defined.

Feel

This is a medium light bodied brew with a lower than normal weight and a matching viscosity, making this beer relatively easy to drink. There is an average amount of carbonation in this beer, and some dryness at the closing. This beer is fairly smooth throughout. Along with a dry finish is a bit of dullness, as well as some lingering. This beer does not give off any alcohol warming.

Taste

Big, bold roasted caramel malts dominate the flavor profile of this beer, which is mostly sweet and fairly crisp. This malty overtone is accompanied with fairly prominent biscuity and nutty notes without being balanced with more than a small amount of closing hoppy bitterness. The flavor doesn't include any fruity notes or alcoholic tinge. This beer has a very slightly bitter aftertaste.

Our Take

If you think about it, this beer screams Boston. Aside from the fact that just about all of Sam Adams' beer is made in Pennsylvania, they are one of two breweries that are known for being Boston staples (the other being Harpoon). And let's be real, this is an Irish style of beer. Need we say more? As far as the actual beer is concerned, what we have here is a pretty good malty beer which goes well with a wide range of bigger flavored cheeses, most meats, and pasta dishes. This beer is easy to drink and makes for a great go to casual beer. The lack of balancing hops was a bit disappointing, and we were hoping for a more pronounced aroma. But overall, we believe most malty or sweeter beer drinkers should be at least fairly satisfied with this routine springtime seasonal from Boston's biggest independent brewer. We recently came across this bottle in a seasonal sampler pack which includes three other spring releases.