New Sam Adams Style for 2008

[Droog]

I went up to Boston this weekend and went back to the Sam Adams Brewery for a little sampling. They had a tasting/vote stand to pick a new addition to the 2008 Brewmaster's Collection.
The choices are Irish Red Ale and a Dunkelweizen.

The Irish Red had a really nice nose, was well balanced, mildly spiced, and had a nice caramel finish.

The Dunkelweizen had a mild nose, and was also well balanced, but lacked body, and had too dry a finish for my taste. I prefer Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier Dunkel.

If anyone is interested in finding a tasting event local to them, you can check out

http://www.samueladams.com/promotions/beerloverschoice2007/main_page.asp

[steveh]

RealBeer talks about it a little here too, for added info:
http://www.realbeer.com/blog/?p=625

S.

[n0rmann]

I've had a couple of bottles sent to me -- although I prefer dunkelweizens over Irish reds, I actually liked the Irish Red better.

[Droog]

Originally posted by n0rmann
I've had a couple of bottles sent to me -- although I prefer dunkelweizens over Irish reds, I actually liked the Irish Red better.

I agree with you 100%

How did you get bottles sent to you?

[n0rmann]

I write for a newspaper, so they sent them trying to drum up some press.

[Droog]

Cool.. BTW I go every year to Boston with my chick, it's my second favorite city.. Beantown Pub, Hub Pub, Kennedy's, Purple Shamrock.. all favs of mine.

[n0rmann]

Cool. What's your favorite city.

[HarkJohnny]

Originally posted by n0rmann
I write for a newspaper, so they sent them trying to drum up some press.

lucky SOB that he is :D

[Droog]

Originally posted by n0rmann
Cool. What's your favorite city.

NYC, but I'm biased since it's where I was born and raised.

[n0rmann]

The best time of the year is when the new seasonals come out, everyday I leave to go the police department to get crime and punishment stories and I come back and have a box of beer on my desk.

The only negative is I had so many boxes of beer throughout my house I had to buy a dedicated beer fridge this weekend. It's already full.

[Droog]

Originally posted by n0rmann
The only negative is I had so many boxes of beer throughout my house I had to buy a dedicated beer fridge this weekend. It's already full.

Not seeing a problem there.. ha ha

Yeah I got all excited because most bars up there had Octoberfest (which is a fav of mine), and I thought I caught it before it hit NY/NJ.. but when I got home, the stores here were already stocked with it.

[Mill Rat]

I tried both a little over a month ago at the North Aurora Beer Fest. I was terribly underwhelmed by the dunkelweizen. Did they brew it with their lager yeast? It lacked most of the flavor profile I expect in a weizen It was more like a mild brown with Deutsch instead of English hops. The Irish red was truer to style and opened up a bit after it warmed up a bit after the trip through the jockey box iceberg. By style alone I would have expected to prefer the dunkelweizen, but it was so far from what a dunkelweizen should be that I liked the red better.

[fretlessman71]

The GF and I got to try these at an Old Chicago recently... and we both picked the Dunkel. Even tried to con them out of a few bottles since it was a poorly attended event. ;)

[skahtboi]

Originally posted by Droog
Not seeing a problem there.. ha ha

Yeah I got all excited because most bars up there had Octoberfest (which is a fav of mine), and I thought I caught it before it hit NY/NJ.. but when I got home, the stores here were already stocked with it.

Not wanting to hijack the thread, but did you get your name from the Anthony Burgess novel/Stanley Kubrick movie?

[jjpm74]

I got to try both recently and really liked the Irish red. Truly an underappreciated style and a great autumn brew, IMO.