Beer Man: Lagers shine in Samuel Adams variety pack
Beer Man is a weekly profile of beers from across the country and around the world.
This week: Samuel Adams Coffee Black Lager
Boston Beer Co., Boston
Samuel Adams releases seasonal or specialty 12-packs throughout the year. Its spring American Craft Lagers Variety Pack is an enticing collection of old favorites and new additions that are all lagers.
New to this spring lager edition are Coffee Black Lager, Kellerbier and Smoked Lager.
The Coffee Black Lager, at 4.9% ABV, is unusual without venturing into freakish territory. While the base beer didn’t remind me of a German schwarzbier, or black lager, that is not a detriment. It had the chocolate and caramel notes, but was not as malty, and drank and finished dry with minimal sweetness.
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The coffee base was impressive — it uses Sumatran and Indian Monsoon Malabar coffees. These provided excellent roasty coffee notes without the intense bitterness usually found in coffee-infused beers.
The coffee had a fresh, mellow but vibrant flavor and the beer had a slight tartness that blended well with the mild acidity of the coffee.
The Kellerbier, at 5% ABV, needed a bit of warming in the glass for its aromas of fresh grain and hops to show up. The hops were a mix of citrus, herbal and floral notes.
It was a quite dry beer and less sweet compared to typical German lagers. It also finished dry with a lingering oak taste without the vanilla notes that oak can produce.
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The Smoked Lager, at 5% ABV, like the coffee beer, used subtlety to its advantage. Instead of an in-your-face assault of bacon- or ham-like smoke, the use of it here came across delicately in the aroma, along with fresh grain.
The smoke was immediately apparent in the flavor, but so were roasted malts, chocolate and caramel. The smoke came across more like a subtle wood smoke. The beer’s color was a crystal-clear dark copper.
One thing I noticed about these three beers is that they all had very dry characters. It would have been nice for a bit more individualism in this area, but the variety pack also includes a regular Samuel Adams Boston Lager, Fresh as Helles and Noble Pils, none being as dry.
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The latter three have been reviewed favorably in the past. Overall, this is another fine variety pack from Samuel Adams.
Samuel Adams has wide distribution in the U.S.; its Beer Finder link is here.
Many beers are available only regionally. Check the brewer's website, which often contains information on product availability by mail. Contact Todd Haefer at beerman@postcrescent.com. To read previous Beer Man columns, click here.