Beer Review: Sam Adams Boston Ale

Boston Beer Company Samuel Adams Boston Ale

Time for another Boston brew review. This time its the ale cousin of the classic Boston lager. Eventually I will get all 21 Sam Adams beers reviewed. The ale pours a dark copper color with a very robust head. Lacing forms a solid cylinder around the glass. Very cool appearance. Aroma is very hoppy. Its rare when I can actually smell some serious hopping and it bodes well.

Flavor is really nice. This is very much a pale ale, I would say in the American style. The malt is fairly noticeable with some biscuity lightly toasted flavors. The hop bitterness is very strong in this one. It hits you up front and then comes around again in the aftertaste. A little bit of grapefruity hop flavor present too.

This is a nice balanced American pale ale. Really goes down very easy. The only characteristic I would change about this beer is to include a little less bitterness and more hoppy flavor. The small amount of citrusy notes are really nice and I would like to see this flavor strengthened. Still, this is very smooth and would make a great session ale. This is very similar to the Boston lager. This brew just happens to be slightly more hoppy than its lager relative. If you need a very noticeable (but balanced) hop presence in your beer you would do well to choose this.

Final Score: 82% (A Hoppy American Pale Ale. Fairly Average but Very Drinkable)