Samuel Adams Boston Lager

First Brewed: 1860; in modern times, 1985
Brewery Location: Originally St. Louis, Missouri, United States; in modern times originally Boston, Massachusetts, United States; now largely Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
ABV: 4.75%

History & Availability: Boston Lager was a recipe brewed by founder Jim Koch's great-great-grandfather Louis Koch, who developed the beer in 1860. Prohibition put an end to that nonsense however, and it wasn't until 1985 when craft breweries were just getting started in America that Boston Beer Company was founded and their first beer, Samuel Adams Boston Lager, hit the market again. Boston Beer Co. has remained the largest craft brewery in the United States since the '80s and as such they distribute to 50 states and 20 countries, so chances are you will have no trouble finding any of their beers.

Appearance: Boston Lager is a medium-to-light maple-colored beer with a decent-sized off-white head. Lots of carbonation in this one, so the head retention is superb. Clarity is pretty good but there's a little bit of haziness from the carbonation.

Smell: Smell those hops, for sure. Hints of sticky sweet like honey or caramel are coming through as well. I'm not sure how I feel about the pairing. It's a little too heavy on the hops to really let malty aromas take the stage like that.

Taste: This is a pretty straightforward beer. Not much off-flavor here at all, just heavy on the hops and a side order of malt. There's a strong aftertaste of hops, not quite as strong as, say, the Harpoon Imperial IPA but strong enough. Fortunately, despite the strong hops taste, it doesn't get too bitter in the aftertaste due to a good effort by the sweet malt to stick around.

Mouthfeel: Not too heavy on the carbonation within the mouth despite the great head retention. Medium-bodied for the style, which also places it pretty squarely in the middle of the body spectrum overall.

Drinkability: Above average but not outstanding. Two or three are easy to put down, any more and I get a little sick of the straight hops. This beer definitely suffers from more-of-the-same syndrome.

Overall verdict: B-, it's a good beer and definitely a great fallback choice but it's just too straightforward for me to prefer it to more complex brews.