A Landmark: Samuel Adams Belgian Session

I got this sample in the mail yesterday. Samuel Adams Belgian Session, Boston Beer's new summer seasonal, coming in April. Here's the description they sent along:

Samuel Adams Belgian Session is a crisp, bright version of a traditional Belgian beer with fruity, slightly spicy flavors from the Belgian yeast. After many trial batches made from a finicky Belgian yeast, the brewers redefined the typical session beer style, using subtly sweet toffee and caramel notes from a blend of pale and honey malts to harmonize with the yeast's distinct fruity and spicy flavors. By definition, session beers contain no higher than 5% ABV (Belgian Session is 4.3%), allowing the drinker to enjoy multiple beers during a "session."

Okay, I'm not overjoyed about the "By definition" part, but you know, Jim Koch lives too close to BeerAdvocate's Alström brothers, so I'll cut him some slack...because you undoubtedly notice that while they quote the BeerAdvocate definition, the beer actually goes by the SBP definition you see over there to the right. Nicely done.

I'd give you a quick tasting note, but we're cleaning the oven right now, and all I can smell is burnt sugar and meat drippings, so I'll put that off and add it tomorrow. Meanwhile, as I said to Cathy when I pulled this out of the box and caught the name...we've moved the earth. Okay, we've moved American craft brewing. If Boston Beer makes a Samuel Adams label out of a type of beer you've been championing, that's a good day.

Next up: why session beer pisses off beer geeks.

Session Cider, too

Woodchuck Cider is a huge seller. It's a big brand, and cider is growing. So it kind of tickles me to see them go to full-year production on Woodchuck Crisp, a 3.2% ABV cider they're calling America's first "Session Cider."

It is one of the driest ciders in the Woodchuck lineup.  Dry and delicate in body, it finishes with a delicious apple flavor. Crisp is 3.2% alcohol by volume (abv), yet retains taste complexity. 

They put the cider in their variety packs, and it was a hit, so they decided to go year-round. It is now available in major US markets.

And this footnote to why they were calling it "session cider" pleased me as well: we're definitely getting the message out there.

"A Session Beverage is described by longtime beer journalist Lew Bryson as being less than 4.5% ABV, flavorful enough to be interesting, yet balanced enough for multiple pints."