Samuel Adams White Ale
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(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
Loading ...Boston Beer Company’s Samuel Adams seemed an appropriate “welcome home” after a week in Texas.
Samuel Adams White Ale is a seasonal brew that has been in the back of my refrigerator for some time now. I almost drank it weeks ago, but several helpful folks on Twitter recommended I drink the Imperial White instead — which I didn’t have in my arsenal at that time.
With the unusual restrictions of this beer-a-day challenge, the only way I can compare two beers is to drink them on back-to-back days. So I bought a bottle of the Imperial White and waited for a weekend when I could do just that.
I poured the White Ale into one of my curvy Sam Adams glasses, and the pour was fun to watch. It started out as a fairly clear straw gold color, but at the end yeast and sediment from the bottom of the bottle poured out and darkened the beer, cascading and swirling like a mini-tornado. Before long, the sediment evened out and left behind thousands of tiny suspended particles.
The aroma was spicy and warm, quite malty and bready with hints of orange zest and coriander. The glass was topped with a fizzy white head that went away fairly quickly — perhaps becauses I started drinking it right away.
With white ales, I’ve come to expect a strong citrus taste. But that high, sweet aroma was largely absent in the Sam White. In its place can be found lots of warm spices — think winter ales — and a tangy sweetness that included hints of vanilla, licorice, and plum. The aftertaste is bready yeast dominated by a tea-like spice.
According to the label:
After the robust beers of winter, Samuel Adams White Ale is the perfect brew to welcome the arrival of spring. This unfiltered wheat ale is a spiced up version of a classic Belgian white ale. An intricate blend of ten spices gives you the taste and aroma of spring in every glass.
Many Belgian whites will feature a strong, candy sugar profile — and that is missing from this white. But as an American take on a Belgian White, this is an interesting beer.
I’m still left less than stunned — other than the cloudy appearance, I wouldn’t have thought to call this a White. The spices lend a “low”, mellow flavor where I would have preferred something that popped more. Even the ABV rating is mellow, coming in at 5.4%.
Not bad, but not something I’m likely to crave again. This was more of a curiosity beer. Next up is the White Ales’s bigger brother, the Imperial White.
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