Samuel Adams Winter Lager

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

on tap at The Village Tavern, Alpharetta, GA on 2/17/08. a nice deep amber color. virtually no aroma to speak of... very pleasant caramel, nutty and malty flavors. solid body, equal distribution over the palate, full finish... a great standard seasonal offering from a great standard brewery when nothing else is available.

12 oz, bb Apr 08. Clear, darkish copper with a medium-sized head that sticks and frosts the glass. Aroma is earthy butterscotch, caramel apple, and slight grilled corn. Flavor is even more of the same plus a little toasted nut and cocoa, and a nice sourish and earthy-dry twang on the end. Almost seems like a hint of peated malt in there somewhere. Medium body is smooth and slightly oily, with a small tingly and dry finish. Nice, widely available fall-winter session ale and probably the best seasonal I’ve had from Sam. Really tastes more like a high-quality ESB, but who cares.

Dec. 2006 - Beer pours a chestnut brown, smallish head, no lacing. Aroma was caramel and bready malts. An odd beer, my take doesn’t seem to reflect other reviews. There seemed to be a lot of presence of english style malts and hops in this one. It sort of seemed like a sort of english ale, certainly not lager tasting. Odd. Anyway, this was enjoyable and one of many solid, if not spectacular SA offerings.

Bottle. Pours an amber colour with a beige head. I mostly get maltiness on the nose - some winter spices, dried fruits and toffee. The flavour profilebegins with some sweetness. Malty, and a bit roasted, with notes of winter spices, toffee, hard bread and dried fruits. Very thin on the mid-palate. Has a nice finish with some bitterness.

Not a bad brew, I like the color and it’s flavor isn’t too heavy like so many other winter styles. The berry sweetness that is so strong in others is mild. Not an all day drinker, but good for a couple at the ski lodge!

...this is NOT a weizenbock. Any beer than uses the name "weizen" must use one of the approved "wheat" yeasts (i.e. hefeweizen, weinstephan, et al.), which this beer does not... it uses a house lager yeast. This brew is, in no way, representative of a weizenbock. For an actual weizenbock try things like Harpoon’s weizenbock, or Plank dunkler weizenbock... or any tradional German beer of the style. That said, it’s not a bad beer, it’s probably the best beer I’ve tasted from Sam Adam’s. The only spice that is apparent to me is ginger. All in all, this beer is really more reminiscent of an Oktoberfest... If you like this brew, do yourself a favor and get a 6 pack of a traditonal German Oktoberfest, or even a good American representation of one, like Brooklyn’s Oktoberfest... it’s better money spent in my opinion.

A nice dark beer. A bit too sweet for my tastes, some hops evident but too few for regular consumption. A well crafted beer. Sam Adams is not well represented in Oregon. Have only found 3 types here.

another great style of beer from sams,very light hints of ciinnamon and ginger in this smooth brownish,warm the soul winter lager one of my favorites fro sams