Sam Adams Old Fezziwig Ale

Old Fezziwig clocks in at a modest 5.9 ABV.  The description on the bottle touts lots of specialty malts and spices.  Based on the description you would expect to taste caramel, chocolate, nutmeg. cinnamon, and orange.  The Beer ours a nice dark brown with a hint of red much like a nut brown ale.  Head is minimal.  The spices are the predominant smell on the nose with a nice mix of the malts as well.  The spice balance is very nice in this beer.  The hops take a back seat here and let the caramely sweetness mix with the spices for what is a very enjoyable beer.  This is the standout of Sam's winter seasonal ales.  The balance is the key to this one and what makes it very easy to drink. The character stays the same even as it warms.  Pick up a case of f the same winter mix just for this beer f you must. 

Sam Adams Winter Lager

The beer is described as a traditional lager spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, orange, and ginger. As it was poured the first thing I noticed was the color was darker than I expected; darker that he regular Sam Adams Boston Lager.  The hops smell is more noticeable than expected for a lager.  There seem to be two noticeable hops flavors but it soon becomes apparent that the second thing smelled are the spices.  Any malt flavor seems to be overpowered by hops and spices.  While I don't associate the taste with Christmas like I might a harvest ale or Oktoberfest with fall this is an enjoyable beer.  I had hoped to find this more enjoyable than their Boston lager and I must say that I do.  While I did not expect this offering to be one of the highlights of the Sam Adams winter seasonal beers it certainly is.  As the beer warms the hops flavor mellows and blends with the spices.  The spice character becomes more pronounced which makes the entire experience interesting. This is another solid offering in the winter offerings and certainly worth picking up.

Sam Adams Chocolate Bock

I fully expected this offering to be my favorite.   A chocolate bock would generally be a highlight for me.   The beer comes in at 5.8% ABV. The beer poured a rich dark black. The hops and chocolate smells were immediately present.   Almost no head.   The chocolate is a bit on the light side. The bright caramely malts come through early with more than expected carbonation based on how it poured.   Later the hops follow and this beer begins to be a more complex tasting experience.  The chocolate lingers last and is definitely strong. Despite being a chocolate bock this isn't as sweet as some other beers of the style.   It does make for an enjoyable beer. It could probably stand a better balance of hops and chocolate but as it stands it's a fair representation of the style. I will admit I am a bit biased to dark bocks, however. Probably my second favorite of the Sams winter ales.

Sam Adams Winter Collection

I'm going to start with some familiar territory.  Sam Adams is readily found almost anywhere in the country and North Carolina is no exception.  For winter the Boston Beer company has produced several spiced varieties to go along with the season.  Their special winter brews can be found in a pub pack type case that also includes the familiar Boston Lager, which is how I purchased them.  The winter brews are the Winter Lager, Old Fezziwig Ale, a Holiday Porter, a Chocolate Bock, and White Christmas.  All in all the pack is an enjoyable mix of several very different types of beers.  I am sure that just about anyone can find something here that they will like. I am equally sure that everyone can find something in this collection to complain about too.  The Fezziwig was the surprise of the collection for me and likely the stand out beer of the group.  I found the porter to be a bit disappointing and the other varieties were average to slightly above averages examples of their style.  More complete reviews of each individual beer to follow.