Bottle Conditioned

Last night, we attended a Sam Adams tasting and voting event here in Nashville.  Pretty cool stuff.  I was all prepped to do some live blogging from the event, but I don’t have my new phone, nor the blog set up for it yet…coming soon tho, live blogging!

Overall, the event was a bunch of fun.  I was duly impressed with the rep from Sam Adams, and his ability to explain beer correctly to the audience.  Too often, people leading beer tastings (many time someone who just works at the distributor) don’t know anything about beer.  This guy knew his stuff.

We were able to sample the Boston Lager, Sam Adams Light, Honey Porter, Octoberfest (sic), and Brown Ale.  The Boston Lager was served to us in the new Sam Adams glass (albeit, only about 1/3 full, so the true wonder of the glass was stifled).  We’ve tried the new glass before, and I’ve got to say - we’re pretty impressed.  Awhile back (about a year ago), we did a tasting comparing the Sam Adams glass with a standard pint glass.  The Sam Adams glass was much better, especially in the aroma department.  We were able to keep the glasses that we used during the event, so it’s nice to have a couple on board now at the house.

The other beers were as expected, and were typical for Sam Adams.  However, the cool part was when we were able to vote on the next seasonal.

Two beers are up for the spot:  an Irish Red and a Dunkelweizen.  I was enamoured with the idea of Sam doing a Dunkelweizen, so I was probably biased toward that particular beer, but nonetheless, we gave both an equal shake.

Both beers looked beautiful.  Aroma on both was fairly weak, with the Dunkel having a slightly better presence in this area with notes of banana, phenols, and light spiciness.  The body on both of the beers was average, with the Dunkel again coming out slightly ahead. 

Taste was where the rubber met the road.  The Irish Red tasted thin with very little malt depth and complexity and that signature Sam Adams bittering profile.  I thought the hop choice was a bit strange.  The Dunkel had a better profile, with the same notes as the nose plus a nice fruity background and a lingering fruity finish.

Overall, the Dunkel was clearly the winner.  That said, however, the Irish Red is currently winning the contest, which is unfortunate.  The group in attendance last night overwhelmingly chose the Dunkel, however, we seem to be at odds with the rest of the country. 

We’ll see which wins.  Natually, I hope the Dunkel does, but whatever.  Still, it’s a pretty cool way to get the consumers involved, and not a bad marketing plan either.  No doubt, there will be quite a bit of this seasonal bought when it finally turns up in stores.

The night was fun.  We met some cool folks, drank some good beer, and had a great time.  I won a Sam Adams hat, while Mollie was able to snag a set of 4 acyrllic pint glasses (not sure why they’re plastic, but they’re good for the pool or something of that sort).  If this contest happens to swing through your city, make sure to check it out.

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