I can see the logic of this. The Boston Brewing company made it's name as an upstart. Now AB, Miller, and Coors are all bought by foreign conglomerates, lo and behold, it is the larges American brewer. There are people out there who will pick Harpoon over Sam just for that reason. It's time to remind them that Sam Adams is still a craft beer, not an industrial.
Wikipedia says Sam, though that source is not always reliable. And I have no idea how they measure this -- gross sales, volume sold, net profit -- all might give different results.
Sam Adams is brewed in the same kind of industrial process as any other big brewer. They don't even do their own brewing - they pay someone else to follow their recipe and brew their product. There's nothing "crafty" about them.
Perfectly good product - for an industrial brewer.
They develop recipes on-site. They don't have the bottling facilities or storage to do production there. You never see trucks leaving the plant loaded with retail product. Sam Adams is like Apple Computer - they design product, and then have someone else manufacture it.
For a while, all of the beer other than Utopias that was brewed at their JP location have been consumed inside the location by tour groups. They recently added the Barrel Room Collection, which is also brewed on site, but is again viewed as a premium item. Additionally, now the Boston Brick Red is brewed there, which is only available at bars in Boston. This is based on what I remember from my tour in January.
They're big enough to have their own brewing plants, for example in Cincinnati, so they're not just a brand company contracting out production (such as, say, PBR or Narraganset).
Comments
I can see the logic of this.
I can see the logic of this. The Boston Brewing company made it's name as an upstart. Now AB, Miller, and Coors are all bought by foreign conglomerates, lo and behold, it is the larges American brewer. There are people out there who will pick Harpoon over Sam just for that reason. It's time to remind them that Sam Adams is still a craft beer, not an industrial.
Largest American brewer?
I bet Pabst is still larger than Sam.
Other than hipsters, who else
Other than hipsters, who else honestly can say they prefer Pabst?
Wikipedia says Sam, though
Wikipedia says Sam, though that source is not always reliable. And I have no idea how they measure this -- gross sales, volume sold, net profit -- all might give different results.
Sam Adams is brewed in the
Sam Adams is brewed in the same kind of industrial process as any other big brewer. They don't even do their own brewing - they pay someone else to follow their recipe and brew their product. There's nothing "crafty" about them.
Perfectly good product - for an industrial brewer.
Sam does some brewing in Jamaica Plain
When I took the tour years ago, they told me that they make specialty and seasonal beers on-site. That's probably still true today.
They develop recipes on-site.
They develop recipes on-site. They don't have the bottling facilities or storage to do production there. You never see trucks leaving the plant loaded with retail product. Sam Adams is like Apple Computer - they design product, and then have someone else manufacture it.
For a while, all of the beer
For a while, all of the beer other than Utopias that was brewed at their JP location have been consumed inside the location by tour groups. They recently added the Barrel Room Collection, which is also brewed on site, but is again viewed as a premium item. Additionally, now the Boston Brick Red is brewed there, which is only available at bars in Boston. This is based on what I remember from my tour in January.
They're big enough to have
They're big enough to have their own brewing plants, for example in Cincinnati, so they're not just a brand company contracting out production (such as, say, PBR or Narraganset).
Forget beer, what Boston
Forget beer, what Boston needs is a big local cider company. As much as I love Strongbow and Magners, I want something good that's cheaper.
Trader Joe's
cider is pretty good, and cheap.
Which local Trader Joe's store sells it?
Not the two closest to me -- Fresh Pond and Arlington Heights, which don't have liquor licenses.
Coolidge Corner
Which is the one closest to us.
Woodchuck?
What about Woodchuck? I like it pretty well, and it's regional if not strictly local.
West County
West County out in western MA makes excellent cider.