Sam Adams Brewery Tour

I moved to Boston in 1986, just a couple of years after Jim Koch started the Boston Beer Company, the birthplace of the legendary Sam Adams Lager.  A few years later, the brewery began offering free tours and beer samples.   As a young man fresh out of college, with a low paying job, and very little extra money for going out, I can’t believe I never did the brewery tour.

I finally did it.  Or I should say, we did it – my wife, her cousin and I took the last tour of the day, and it was packed full of tourists.  Judging from the out of town baseball caps, the Midwestern and British accents about, and the folks leaving the brewery with bags full of stuff from the gift shop, there were few locals in the house.

The tour guide showed us the boiler room, passed around samples of hops and barley and directed us to the tasting room where we were given a free Sam Adams glass to sample Boston Lager, Summer Ale and Cherry Wheat.  The cold beers served in pitchers tasted fresh.  I’d had them all in bottles before and prefer the Lager to most of the other Sam Adams offerings but do especially like the

seasonal  Octoberfest.  I don’t care much for wheat beers in general but I found the wheat based Summer Ale more refreshing than before, perhaps due in part to the sample being free and fresh on a sultry summer evening.  I also don’t like fruit in my beer as a general rule, but those clean Michigan cherries used in Cherry Wheat tasted surprisingly good, leaving me wanting another glass or two.

Though locals, we did have a guest from out of the country and used her as an excuse to visit the gift shop where we proceeded to buy a pack of Sam Adams playing cards and  2 glasses designed to enhance the experience of sipping Sam Adams Lager.

Mr. Koch, brewer, scholar and patriot – I salute you!