7. Samuel Adams Boston Lager

As you can tell I drink a lot of Sam Adams. Their beer tends to have plenty of flavor and is well balanced. Boston Lager certainly fits that description and is one my favorite Sam Adams brews. 

Pros: Full flavored, easy to drink and goes well with most meals. 

Cons: . 

Alcohol Content: 4.9 ABV

Calories: 175
IBU (Bitterness): 30

Rating: 

Brewers Website: Samuel Adams

Brewers Description:Complex and balanced with a beautiful hop aroma.

Samuel Adams Boston Lager® is an excellent example of the fundamentals of a great beer, offering a full, rich flavor that is both balanced and complex.  that unique flavor is the result of a perfect combination of our signature hand selected ingredients and a traditional four vessel brewing process.

Samuel Adams Boston Lager uses only the finest ingredients including two-row malted barley and Bavarian Noble hops.  The sole use of two-row barley not only imparts a full, smooth body but also gives the beer a wide spectrum of malt flavor ranging from slightly sweet to roasted.
We also take great pride in the Noble hops we use.  They’re hand selected by Jim Koch and our brewers from the world’s oldest hop growing areas.  Although they are among the most expensive hops, their unmistakable aroma and taste is essential to Samuel Adams Boston Lager.  The Noble hop varieties of Hallertau Mittelfrueh and Tettnang Tettnanger add a wide range of floral, piney and citrus notes, which are present from the aroma, through the taste, and all the way to the lingering smooth finish.  

6. Sebago Brewing Hefeweizen

I was a bit disappointed in this beer as I am a big fan of Hefeweizen. I was expecting a 4 star beer and got something less. Has a bit of an aftertaste and Sebago Brewing's website lists this as an unfiltered beer however it does not have the cloudy look that Hefeweizen usually does. It is easy to drink and certainly a quality beer but I was hoping for more.
Pros: Easy to drink, light and flavorful
Cons: A bit of an after taste
Alcohol Content: 4.2 ABV
Calories: ???
IBU (Bitterness): 4.75

Rating:  - better than average
Brewers Website: Sebago Brewing
Brewers Description: Our Hefeweizen is a cloudy (seemed very clear to me), light straw in color with a fruity aroma, light body, with a thick white head and clean finish. Our Hefeweizen is a golden unfiltered wheat beer with it’s origins from Bavaria. We ferment it with a traditional German yeast strain which produces a unique spicy fruitiness and wonderful carbonation.  Malted red wheat gives it a light crisp body and dense white head.  Please sit back and enjoy our summertime seasonal beer!

5. Samuel Adams East West Kölsch

This was a surprise as I was not expecting a light refreshing beer. With a German name I expected a dark hearty beer. The beer is smooth, easy to drink and would go well with almost any meal.Pros: Very easy to drink, light and refreshing
Cons: Not a lot of flavor
Alcohol Content: 5.01 ABV

Calories: 147
IBU (Bitterness): Unknown
Rating:  - better than average
Brewers Website: Samuel Adams
Brewers Description: Light and fragrant, Samuel Adams® East West Kölsch has a floral and herbal character that balances the refreshing German Kölsch style. A classic Kölsch is less bitter than a pilsner with a slightly fruity and sweet biscuit note. For our version we wanted to create a bright fresh flavor by using Alsatian Strisselspalt hops for a subtle lemon and grassy hop note. We added another layer of flavor by aging the beer on a bed of Jasmine Sambac, a fragrant night blooming flower from Southeast Asia. The jasmine creates a delicate floral aroma and flavor for a wonderfully complex and refreshing brew.

4. Samuel Adams Latitude 48 IPA

I am not a big fan of IPAs and that will show with my rating of them as I move through the different brewers. The extra hops give the beer an extra bite that I really do not care for. If you are a fan of IPAs I am sure this is a quality beer.

Pros: Great color and aroma. 

Cons: Bitterness makes it hard to drink 

Alcohol Content: 6.0 ABV

Calories: 209
IBU (Bitterness): 60

My Rating: 

Brewers Website: Samuel Adams

Brewers Description: Samuel Adams® Latitude 48 IPA is a unique IPA brewed with a select blend of hops from top German, English, and American growing regions all located close to the 48^th latitude within the “hop belt” of the Northern Hemisphere.  The combination of hops in this beer creates a distinctive but not overpowering hop character.  The beer is dry hopped with Ahtanum, Simcoe®*, and East Kent Goldings hops for a powerful citrus and earthy aroma.  The hop character is balanced by a slight sweetness and full body from the malt blend.

3. Sam Adams Summer Ale

One of my favorite beers, I look forward to its release each year. Wheat beer is smooth, easy to drink and very refreshing. I usually include a lemon slice with my Summer Ale and as with most wheat beer it is best enjoyed out of a glass not directly from the bottle. 

Pros: Refreshing, easy to drink 

Cons: Too easy to drink :) hard to stop at just 1 or 2. 

Alcohol Content: 5.3 ABV

Calories: 162

IBU (Bitterness): 10

Rating:  - Highest rating I will give to a bottled beer.

Brewers Website: Samuel Adams

Brewers Description: Bright and citrusy, brewed with Grains of Paradise.

Samuel Adams® Summer Ale is an American wheat ale. This summer seasonal uses malted wheat, lemon peel and Grains of Paradise, a rare pepper from Africa first used as a brewing spice in the 13th century, to create a crisp taste, spicy flavor and medium body. The ale fermentation imparts a background tropical fruit note reminiscent of mangos and peaches.  All of these flavors come together to create a thirst quenching, clean finishing beer perfect for those warm summer days.

Drinking Made Easy

Found this show over the weekend. Very entertaining - kind of the drinking version of Man v. Food. The hosts travel around the country visiting bars and breweries, trying local brews and drinks. If you have HDNET setup the DVR to record.

Drinking Made Easy Website

2. Sam Adams Light

This is my everyday beer. Light refreshing, full flavor and low calorie make for a good combination. Goes great with dinner, after a long day of work or anytime. 

Pros: Low calorie, easy to drink more than one.

Cons: Being a light beer it does give up a bit of flavor. 

Alcohol Content: 4.07 ABV

Calories: 119

IBU (Bitterness): 10
Rating: 
Brewers Website: Samuel Adams

Brewers Description: Great tasting with a clean, smooth finish. Sam Adams Light® is not just a lighter version of our Samuel Adams Boston Lager® but rather the culmination of over two years of tireless research and brewing trials that proved to be worth the wait.  Brewed using only the finest two-row malt and Bavarian Noble hops it has a smooth, complex, roasted malt character that is superbly balanced with the subtle fruity notes of the Noble hops. Sam Adams Light has a crisp and smooth finish without any lingering bitterness, leaving you yearning for that next sip.

1. Belfast Bay Lobster Ale

My first beer happens to be a Maine original more because I had one in the fridge than anything else. I purchased this at Harvest Hills Farm which has a surprisingly good selection of local beer and very good pizza. Nothing special about this beer but if you enjoy red ales you should give this one a try. 
Pros: Good taste, nice dark red color and great aroma.
Cons: a little more carbonation than I like in my beer
Alcohol Content: 5.0 % ABV

Calories: ???
IBU (Bitterness): ???
Rating:  - better than average
Brewers Website: Belfast Bay Brewing
Brewers Description: Lobster Ale is a dark copper "Red" ale with medium hop bitterness, flavor and aroma. It offers the drinker subtle levels of fruity-ester flavor and low caramel character. Slight yeast haze and chill haze give this ale a clear foamy rich head. Belfast Bay Brewing Co. is near the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia where just about every brewery makes a red ale, unlike the United States where red ales are not well known. When my wife suggested that a brewery from Maine should make a beer called Lobster Ale, a red ale seemed to be the perfect brew. Unlike our highly hopped neighbors beers, we decided to brew Lobster Ale to be very "user friendly." We cut down on the hops and added slight amounts of black and dark crystal to the brew. The result is a medium hopped, medium flavored, very drinkable red ale.

My beer blog

Well this is something that I have been thinking about doing for some time and after seeing this blog yesterday I decided to give it a shot. I love beer, trying new varieties and styles and sharing my opinion. This blog will allow me to document my opinion of each and force me to try many different varieties of my favorite beverage.

You will not see any reviews of the mega breweries as I am a quality over quantity type of beer drinker. Since I have a beer almost everyday this blog will be updated on a regular basis. Each post will have as much detail as possible taken from the bottle and/or brewers website.

If you stumble across this blog I hope you take the time to leave a comment.