0L's & Beer Forum

[Richie Tenenbaum]

I still don't understand what a beer's happiness factor is. I'm meh on Sam Adams until I remember that they make Imperial Pilsner which is absolutely amazing. Still pretty meh on the rest of their beers I've had though.

[sunshinefairy]

That was a fun survey...now I want a beer and I still have an hour left at work.

Sam Adams is good solid alternative to budlight, miller light, etc. that is usually available at restaurants and such.

I'm a microbrew kinda gal though - love those local breweries.

[Faesha]

I'll just come out and say it--Sam Adam's Light is the best light beer out there, hands down. There, I said it.

Summer one is really good as well.

[eru2]

Cherry Wheat. Nom nom nom. lol

I do love Leinenkugal beer too though. Sunset Wheat tastes like Fruity Pebbles and Berry Weiss is just delicious. lol

[sunshinefairy]

I'll just come out and say it--Sam Adam's Light is the best light beer out there, hands down. There, I said it.

Summer one is really good as well.

Sam Adam's Light is great for light beers.

BUT Yuengling is the best. I recently stashed a 6 packed across the country carefully packed in my suitcase. It is so sad to be without Yuengling now that the 6 pack is gone =(

Stone brewery beers are next. Arrogant Bastard, yummm.

[ASUTimmyD]

Aged Dogfish Head 120 minute IPA = greatest beer ever

[joeshmo39]

Yeah the whole Sam Adams lineup is good and I like it, very solid. I like the Boston Lager and Ale, the winter lager, the summer ale, and several seasonals. The Cranberry lambic really sticks out as poor. I also really like the Fezziwig Ale. That said, I'm a pretty big beer drinker and its an acquired taste so I appreciate most of the lineup.

I haven't had to barrel series, chocolate bock, or this new Imperial series yet, I may soon though. I heard good things on beeradvocate.

[ccs224]

What the hell is "Happiness" and how am I supposed to rate it compared to price and availability?

[trkmantis2]

'Happiness' is an intangible quality of beer, the way it makes you feel to choose it. I fought my team on using that term but lost.

[ccs224]

Happiness is what I get after I drink the beer; it's not what's going to make me buy it.

Honestly, I had know idea how to rank that, and put it last. There are beers I like for specific reasons (such as their production values (organic, local, small scale, etc), or their cred (I'll sometimes drink Rainier in Seattle to show that I know what's up, even though it's shit), etc), but my god I've never looked through a deli's beer section and thought, "which of these contains the most happiness."

[waxloaf]

you need a real first class...

edit: not a fan of Sam's imperials, the high alcohol content makes it sweet like a malt liquor, reminds me of freshman year in a bad way.

[OneSixtySix]

The opinions expressed by the TLS community regarding Sam Adams has sincerely affected what stock I put in TLS advice in general.

Seriously though...Sam Adams below/on par with Blue Moon?

Sam Adams is a damn fine brewery, and their flagship boston lager is my go to choice if ever at a bar/package store and unable to find another beer of choice. My friend handed me a glass of Noble Pils before I knew what brew it was, and I thought I had been handed some sort of micro craft brew. Winter Lager and Oktoberfest are perennial favorites as I head into the colder new england months, and the Cream Stout and Black Lager are year round favorites. Brick Red seems to be winding down and is only available in Boston, but is such a solid beer.

There are a few weak links, Coastal wheat is a joke and the Scotch Ale isnt worth the bottle it is packaged in and the Boston Ale is pretty mediocre.

Regardless, there are few breweries which have such a presence while maintaining a craft flavor and approach to brewing.

In the end its all personal preference, I am just suprised by the amount of negative/lukewarm responses.

[nol607]

Best of the standard-priced Sams is definitely Brown Ale

[waxloaf]

The opinions expressed by the TLS community regarding Sam Adams has sincerely affected what stock I put in TLS advice in general.

Seriously though...Sam Adams below/on par with Blue Moon?

Sam Adams is a damn fine brewery, and their flagship boston lager is my go to choice if ever at a bar/package store and unable to find another beer of choice. My friend handed me a glass of Noble Pils before I knew what brew it was, and I thought I had been handed some sort of micro craft brew. Winter Lager and Oktoberfest are perennial favorites as I head into the colder new england months, and the Cream Stout and Black Lager are year round favorites. Brick Red seems to be winding down and is only available in Boston, but is such a solid beer.

There are a few weak links, Coastal wheat is a joke and the Scotch Ale isnt worth the bottle it is packaged in and the Boston Ale is pretty mediocre.

Regardless, there are few breweries which have such a presence while maintaining a craft flavor and approach to brewing.

In the end its all personal preference, I am just suprised by the amount of negative/lukewarm responses.

I agree 100%, except for the previously mentioned dislike for imperials. Especially about Blue Moon, might as well be called Coors Light White Ale. Anyone who really enjoys Blue Moon needs to try the Sam spring seasonal, it wins hands down a white v. white battle.

[jcl2]

Sam Adams is ok, but none of their beers that I have tried are anything special. It is better than the other big domestic breweries, but where I live we have so many great regional breweries whose beer is much better and isn't much more expensive (Deschutes, Widmer, etc) so I really never buy Sam Adams. The Sam Adams advertising campaign where they talk about using only European hops also pisses me off. The best hops in the world, and actually most of the hops in the world, are grown in Washington State, so it is kind of ridicules that Sam Adams imports theirs.

[Panther7]

Cherry Wheat. Nom nom nom. lol

I do love Leinenkugal beer too though. Sunset Wheat tastes like Fruity Pebbles and Berry Weiss is just delicious. lol

yes, berry weiss is awesome, lol. You can forget you're drinking beer really quickly with that stuff.

[waxloaf]

jcl, you are so lucky to live in Oregon, best beers in the world

[Panther7]

jcl, you are so lucky to live in Oregon, best beers in the world

*COUGH*

[jcl2]

jcl, you are so lucky to live in Oregon, best beers in the world

I live in Washington actually, but the beer is pretty good in the PNW generally. There are good microbrews most places, but there are a whole lot of them here, and there are some great mid-sized regional breweries like the ones I mentioned, which are pretty rare elsewhere from what I can tell.

[waxloaf]

The two you mentioned are probably my favorite two breweries, I have tried and tried to get my beer distributor to get them here in NJ but no dice, They never ship east of the Mississippi and rarely east of the Rockies it seems. I make sure to pick up a case whenever I go west though.

[GentlemanJim]

Bell's is probably my overall favorite brewery. Kalamazoo, MI.