Samuel Adams Launches New Collection of Barrel-Aged Beers Brewed and Aged Exclusively at Boston Brewery

October 29, 2009

Brews Available for Purchase at the Samuel Adams Boston Brewery for First Time with Release of the Samuel Adams Barrel Room Collection

BOSTON, Oct. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- The Boston Beer Company announced today the limited release of a new series of beers, the Samuel Adams® Barrel Room Collection. The release includes three oak-aged beers brewed and aged at the Samuel Adams Boston Brewery. The brewery has long been involved in the time-honored tradition of barrel-aging beers, beginning with Samuel Adams® Triple Bock first brewed in 1993, to five batches of Samuel Adams Utopias® released since 2001. The release of the Samuel Adams Barrel Room Collection today further demonstrates the company's continued commitment to marrying traditional brewing methods with craft brewing ingenuity. The release of the Samuel Adams Barrel Room Collection will mark the first time beer will be available for purchase at the Boston Brewery to local beer lovers and to craft beer pilgrims visiting from across the country and around the world.

Passionate about pushing the boundaries of brewing, the Samuel Adams brewers are constantly experimenting with new techniques and pioneering new recipes to change the American beer drinker's experience. For Samuel Adams, all of this experimentation and innovation takes place at the Boston Brewery, its center of creativity, and the birthplace of every style of Samuel Adams® beers. The Samuel Adams Barrel Room Collection, which includes Samuel Adams® New World Tripel, Samuel Adams® American Kriek, and Samuel Adams® Stony Brook Red, are a result of years of experimentation by the brewers at the Samuel Adams Boston Brewery. The trio of brews have been aged in Eastern European oak barrels, originally used to age brandy in Italy, imparting a subtle sweet, toasty note to each beer. The barrels also allow a small amount of oxygen to slowly seep in to the brew, smoothing out the flavors in the beer.

"For years, we've been playing with barrels at the brewery, aging small batches of beer in our Barrel Room. Before now, these beers have only been available at beer festivals or to a few lucky visitors to our Boston Brewery," said Jim Koch, Brewer and Founder. "Our Boston Brewery is where every Samuel Adams style of beer is dreamed up and nurtured. It has been our hub of innovation since I started brewing here in 1988; I like to think of it as the ultimate brewer's workshop."

Twenty-five years ago, craft beer pioneers like Samuel Adams began introducing beer lovers to more full-flavored, high-quality beers that were unlike the beers they were accustomed to drinking at the time. At a time when most American beer tasted alike, Samuel Adams Boston Lager® offered a revolution in flavorful, fresh, distinct beer and helped become a catalyst for the craft beer revolution in the 1990's. Today, Samuel Adams continues to push the boundaries of brewing, challenging beer lover's palates with beers like the Samuel Adams Barrel Room Collection.

Each style in the Collection is bottled in a 750ml bottle and finished with a champagne cork. Samuel Adams New World Tripel and Samuel Adams Stony Brook Red have been bottle conditioned, a process which creates an extra smooth and balanced flavor in the beer. The Samuel Adams American Kriek is left uninterrupted to maintain the rich cherry flavor from the Balaton cherries used in the brewing process. For an optimum drinking experience, the brewers at Samuel Adams recommend serving each brew in a traditional Tulip-style beer glass to best capture the beers aromas.

The Samuel Adams Barrel Room Collection beers are available for purchase at the Samuel Adams Boston Brewery and at select retail locations in Massachusetts, Denver, Colorado, Maine and New Hampshire for a suggested retail price of $9.99 per 750ml bottle. The Collection includes:

Samuel Adams New World Tripel: Pale gold in color, this ale is big, flavorful and complex. A special Belgian yeast strain adds tropical fruit and spice notes to the crisp dry ale, while Saaz hops add a subtle herbal note. (~10% ABV)

Samuel Adams American Kriek: The intense black cherry character in this beer comes from Balaton cherries, which were discovered in Hungary and are now grown in Michigan. These special cherries are prized for their depth of flavor. The tartness from the cherries is balanced by a rich, malty character with toasted oak notes added from the barrel aging. (~7% ABV)

Samuel Adams Stony Brook Red: This unique brew defies traditional beer style definition. The rich, malty brew combines notes of tart fruit from the yeast with a toasty oak character from the barrel aging. The long dry finish is almost wine-like. This is a beer that is satisfying on its own and also pairs well with many foods such as braised or roasted meats, beef stews and strong salty cheeses. (~9% ABV)

THE BOSTON BEER COMPANY BACKGROUND:

The Boston Beer Company began in 1984 with a generations-old family recipe that Founder and Brewer Jim Koch uncovered in his father's attic. After bringing the recipe to life in his kitchen, Jim brought it to bars in Boston with the belief that drinkers would appreciate a complex, full-flavored beer, brewed fresh in America. That beer was Samuel Adams Boston Lager®, and it helped catalyze what became known as the American craft beer revolution.

Today, the Company brews more than 21 styles of beer. The Company uses the traditional four vessel brewing process and often takes extra steps like dry-hopping and a secondary fermentation known as krausening. It passionately pursues the development of new styles and the perfection of its classic beers by constantly searching for the world's finest ingredients. While resurrecting traditional brewing methods, the Company has earned a reputation as a pioneer in another revolution, the "extreme beer" movement, where it seeks to challenge drinkers' perceptions of what beer can be. The Boston Beer Company strives to elevate the image of American craft beer by entering festivals and competitions the world over, and in the past five years it has won more awards in international beer competitions than any other brewery in the world. The Company remains independent, and brewing quality beer remains its single focus. While Samuel Adams is the country's largest-selling craft beer, it accounts for just under one percent of the U.S. beer market. For more information, please visit www.samueladams.com.

SOURCE Samuel Adams