Sam Adams I Am

Sam he is.

Before we arrived in Boston, we were all tasked with choosing a day's worth of activities for the family. At the top of my list, one of the activities I was most looking forward to, was a visit to the Sam Adams brewery. And fortunately, the esteemed brewery happened to be in the very neighborhood we were staying in. A short 20-minute walk one morning brought us happily there. (Don't worry, Violet had a lovely time at the playground with Grandma and cousin Brooke while we were doing our tasting.)

One of my favorite flavors.

The tour was free, hands-on and rather impressive. I've been to a brewery tour before, the Shiner brewery in Shiner, Texas. But as that's the only place in the world they brew Shiner, we had to keep our distance. Most of the tour was conducted in front of glass windows overlooking the bottling factory floor. But that's cool, I understand. There is important work going on in Shiner, Texas!

This tour, however, was entirely different. It's here where they create, test and perfect each Sam Adams beer, but most of the actual brewing is done elsewhere (under conditions strictly controlled to exactly match the Boston site - down to treating the water to taste exactly like Boston's). We were able to sample the different kinds of grain used in the brewing process, handle and crush the hops in the same method the brew masters use when choosing the perfect ingredients, and of course, learn all about what makes Sam Adams a great beer. This particular tour had the added excitement of being filmed for some promotional web commercials, so who knows, perhaps I'll also get my big Hollywood break!

Cheers!

Of course, the highlight of the tour was its culmination in the tasting room, where our excellent tour guide walked us through appreciating our beer with all our senses. We tasted this year's new batch of Octoberfest and toasted one another on our new beer knowledge. We also got to keep these lovely tasting glasses. Cheers!

Octoberfest in July!

Lauren and Greg in the tasting room.

Ready for my Hollywood close-up!

Blue Steel!

Having far too much fun in the gift shop with ol' Sam. I had a remarkably difficult time centering the camera after our stint in the tasting room (notice the glass I refused to put down making an appearance in the lower corner. Cheers indeed!)