REVIEW 80: SAMUEL ADAMS WINTER LAGER

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  USA

BREWERY:  The Boston Beer Company

STYLE:  Bock

ABV:  5.6%

PURCHASE:  Draught (60-oz. pitcher), $10.00

SERVING:  Said pitcher, poured into chilled pint glass. Just a standard pour produced an initial head that took up almost half the glass; a slower pour didn't get much less. Good head retention.

APPEARANCE:  Very dark amber color, bordering upon auburn. Great fluffy tan-beige head. Decent lacing.

BOUQUET:  Roasty aroma full of toasted malt barley. Rounded out by a fair proportion of hops, orange zest, and hints of various spices; namely allspice, cloves, pepper, and a touch of cinnamon. On the whole, a somewhat piney aroma, but in a highly inviting way.

PALATE:  Medium to slightly heavy body with carbonation that remains subdued unless you foolishly allow it to fester. Smooth overall mouthfeel that gets better as it warms a bit. Lightly hoppy, but the main attraction here--at least early on--is the roasty malt that sets in immediately and never relinquishes. Finish sees a bit of yeast, but more an onset of orange zest and spice notes. At least two of the following seem to be present in the aftertaste: Pepper, clove, allspice, cinnamon, maybe even coriander. 

MUSINGS AND METAPHORS:  I may be in the minority here, but this is the best of the Sam Seasonals, easily besting the just-okay Summer Ale and the good-but-not-great Octoberfest and Cold Snap. Although it doesn't quite match the flagship Boston Lager.

Fits the season very well, with its slightly piney aroma. 




GRADE:  B+

REVIEW 79: DOS EQUIS SPECIAL LAGER

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  Mexico

BREWERY:  Cerveceria Cuauhtèmoc Moctezuma, S.A. de C.V.

STYLE:  Adjunct Lager

ABV:  4.3%

PURCHASE:  Draught (18-oz.), $5.59

SERVING:  Weizen glass, sans lime. From the tap, initial head stayed within the typical 3/4" to one-inch range. Pitiful retention.

APPEARANCE:  Adjunct straw color with white head. Transparent. Some bubbles. No lacing. Next.

BOUQUET:  Mostly generic grain. A slight touch floral. Know what I smell? Adjuncts!

PALATE:  The usual body and carbonation for an adjunct lager. Nothing out of the ordinary here. Slightly grainy and yeasty--emphasis on "slightly"--with essentially no hop presence whatsoever. Aftertaste seems split between yeast and seltzer. Has the mouthfeel of a light beer; this isn't surprising, considering it has a light beer's ABV, too. 

MUSINGS AND METAPHORS:  Bleh. Every country has its Budweiser. This is Mexico's . . . I guess.

Or more like Bud Light. It has a light beer's look, feel, and lack of real beer character. In fact, I bet you could pull a Folger's-style switch with this beer and that one at a frat party or Nascar event and barely anybody would tell the difference. This may be brewed in Mexico, but there is nothing distinctly Mexican about it.

Surely the "Most Interesting Man in the World" drinks a better beer than this.




GRADE:  D