Boston, MA (January 2008) – For nearly twenty-five years, the brewers at Samuel Adams have taken great pride in introducing beer lovers to full-flavored, distinct brews. Starting in 1985 with the flagship brew, Samuel Adams Boston Lager®, Jim Koch helped set the stage for drinkers’ broadening interest in high-quality, full flavored brews. Continuing to push boundaries, Samuel Adams® Double Bock, our first “Big Beer,” followed a few years later. The brewers are again answering drinkers’ thirst for bigger, more intense craft brews with the new Samuel Adams Imperial Series.
The Samuel Adams Imperial Series will offer beer lovers’ an intense version of some of their favorite traditional beer styles by boosting the ingredients and testing the limits of each traditional style. With more robust flavors and nearly twice the alcohol by volume of your average beer, each style in the Imperial Series is intended to be savored and appreciated like a fine wine. This new series of beers will be offered year-round and include Samuel Adams Imperial White, Samuel Adams Imperial Stout and Samuel Adams Double Bock each in their own four-pack. The Imperial Series will be available nationwide in February at a suggested retail price of $9.99 per four-pack.
“For me, the best part of the craft beer movement is America’s evolving palate and the constant challenge for brewers to broaden the limits,” says Jim Koch, Founder and Brewer of Samuel Adams beers. “When I introduced Samuel Adams Boston Lager®, I had to ask people to think outside their beer norm to a beer with more aroma and flavor than the other beers available at the time. Today, the Big Beer segment in craft brewing offers drinkers a more intense drinking experience. The Samuel Adams Imperial Series, brewed with an aggressive amount of ingredients in each beer, is set to push beer’s boundaries even further.”
ABOUT THE IMPERIAL SERIES CRAFT BEER STYLES:
Samuel Adams® Imperial Stout
Much bigger than your average stout, Samuel Adams Imperial Stout is a colossal beer inspired by centuries-old stouts. These traditional stouts were first brewed by 18th century English brewers for the Russian Imperial Court of Catherine the Great. Brewed with an abundance of East Kent Goldings hops and Caramel 60 and Munich malts, this beer is intense with full rich flavors like dark chocolate, coffee and anise.
Samuel Adams® Imperial White
Samuel Adams Imperial White pushes out the boundaries of the witbier style. While showcasing the traditional witbier aromas and hazy appearance, it delivers a bigger mouthfeel and body. Brewed with ten spices, and a high quality blend of two-row Harrington, Munich and Metcalfe malts, malted wheat, and an abundance of Hallertau Mittelfrueh Noble hops, Samuel Adams Imperial White is an incredibly robust, refreshing beer with notes of orange and coriander.
Samuel Adams® Double Bock
Over the past 20 years, Samuel Adams Double Bock has become one of the Samuel Adams Brewery’s most acclaimed beers. An enormous amount of two-row Harrington Metcalfe and Caramel 60 malts, half a pound per bottle, is used to brew this intense, rich lager. This beer is close to the idea of beer as “liquid bread.” Its deep mahogany color, velvet smooth, rich yet slightly citrusy flavor and mouthfeel is a testament to the beer’s balance. In the past, Samuel Adams Double Bock has been available for a short six-week period. The brewers have decided to make it available year-round with the other Big Beers in the Samuel Adams Imperial Series.
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 American brewer, it accounts for just under one percent of the U.S. beer market. For more information, please visit http://www.samueladams.com
