Samuel Adams Winter Lager

Brewed by Boston Beer Company
Style: Weizen Bock
Boston, Massachusetts USA

2/10/08 From the bottle. Aroma is sweet, spicy dark fruit skins forward with lots of sweet caramel and no hop character. Appearance is a clear copper with a well retained off white head. Flavor is sweet malt forward with a light cinnamon note and faint sourness. Bittering is low with no hop flora. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with a medium-low carb feel and sweet, smooth finish. Overall, not bad, but the flavor could really do to be amped up a bit more.

Best By Date June 2008; Sampled February 2008
A vigorous pour yields a frothy, initially two-finger thick, tan colored head. The beer is a clear, rich cherry color, but shows a deeply cranberry stained, brilliantly clear, copper color when held up to the light. The aroma has a nice maltiness to it that is not quite rich (like a bock would be for instance), but it does smell a bit sweet with light toffee notes and it has a nice backdrop of toasty grain notes that accent a biscuit aroma as well as notes of lightly browned, crushed soda crackers. A light herbal hop character is here in the nose as well and there is also a berry aromatic that seems to be from the hop and malt interplay.

Well carbonated the bubble cause this to froth a bit as it hits my tongue. It picks up a sweetness pretty quickly that helps accent a light berry note, hints of sweet plums and even a touch of something like candied tangelo zest. This has a nice, though soft bitterness that mixes with a herbal hop note, both of which linger on a bit in the finish. The sweetness tends to hide a the toasty malt character that was noticed in the nose, but you still get more than suggestions of it at times; caramelized bread crust and biscuit malt flavors are also joined by caramelized malt sugars and a touch of toffee.

I definitely like the mix of berry notes, light herbal hop character, toasty malt and drinkability that this beer provides. It is rich enough for the colder months, but kept quite quaffable so that you could have a couple. This beer definitely hits the spot and I have always enjoyed it when I happen to find it in my glass.

Purchased: <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp? Liquors, Tucson AZ

draught, dark amber lager with raisin and caramel flavor, nice smooth finish

for a winter brew, not very tasty, but still enjoyable. dark, malty, full bodied. would not drink something like this in the summer.

One of my favorites. Spicy, orange and coriander and cinnamon flavors. Great seasonal beer, I wish they had it all year round.

For a large commercial brewer this is very good stuff. Nice tones. Good character. Clean finish. Very quafable. Wish it was available all year.

I usually don’t drink lagers, but this is one of the few I drink that I like. Thought it was weird that Sam Adams put out this lager in the winter, but they do a good job separating it from other lagers and making it fit with most winter beers.

well, when I’m thinking of a winter beer, I’m not thinking "lager", but this is not a bad offering from sam adams.