You know what goes well with extreme physical exertion? Just like any other situation, the answer is beer. To that end, Sam Adams is developing the perfect product for the 2012 Boston Marathon.

In Boston today, The Boston Beer Co. will release “Sam Adams Boston 26.2 Brew.” From The Boston Globe:

The Boston Beer Co., best known for its Samuel Adams line of craft brews, said it is preparing a special commemorative beer to mark the 2012 Boston Marathon.

The company is planning to unveil “Samuel Adams Boston 26.2 Brew” at a news conference scheduled for Thursday at the Samuel Adams Brewery. At the conference, Boston Beer is expected to formally announce its first-ever partnership with the Boston Athletic Association, which manages the Boston Marathon.

The association’s Joann Flaminio and marathon veteran Bill Rodgers are expected to join Boston Beer founder Jim Koch at the event.

A quick bit of Googling tells us that a 150 pound runner will burn 100 calories per mile during a marathon, or roughly 2600 total calories. If the new Sam Adams marathon beer comes in at 160 calories per bottle, which is how many calories Sam Adams Boston Lager has, you’d be free to chug 16.25 beers, run the marathon, and not gain a pound.

Runners high, 16 beers, and no beer belly? Why not? It’s already been reported that non-alcoholic beer speeds marathon recovery.

From flickr user epic ever

It’s February, and Bell’s Hopslam and Troegs Nugget Nectar are hitting shelves as I type this (Troegs just rereleased Nugget Nectar in their tasting room today). As hoppy beer arms race rages on, just as it has for years, some breweries are rethinking what it means to write an IPA recipe.

From the Washington Post:

Wildeman Farmhouse IPA, from Flying Dog Brewery in Frederick, is an IPA fermented with a Belgian saison yeast and seasoned with a secret spice that the brewery declines to identify. It was originally brewed for In de Wildeman, a beer bar in Amsterdam. The reintroduction of the beer, this time as a year-around brand, gives Flying Dog two Belgian-style IPAs. Raging Bitch is fruitier; Wildeman has a dry, peppery, almost tannic finish.

Widmer Brothers Brewing Co. in Portland, as part of its Rotator series, has released Spiced IPA, a collaboration with Paul Sangster and Chris Stawney of the San Diego-based homebrewers club QUAFF, Quality Ale and Fermentation Fraternity. “A year ago, we asked the members to develop a new IPA. We didn’t tell them who we were, just that it was a big national brewer,” said Widmer brewmaster Joe Casey.

The winner, chosen from among 25 recipes, includes malty Assam black tea, ginger, cinnamon, clove, star anise, black pepper and cardamom. The flavorings are blended by a Portland company called Tao of Tea. In their raw form, the ingredients are immensely fragrant, like a freshly baked fruitcake. In the beer, the ginger emerges strongly up front, the black pepper dominates the finish.

Sam Adams Tasman Red is one of the better beers in this class I’ve had. A fantastic red IPA, it takes the bucketful of hops in each bottle and pairs it with a thoughtful approach to malt. Nugget Nectar gets it right for similar reasons, even if it’s closer to an IPA than the new breed of spicy beers (though it is billed as an imperial amber).

All of this raises the question many brewers have long asked: where does one style begin and another end?

From flickr user Bernt Rostad

The Phoenix New Times assembled a list of the worlds 10 strongest beers (even though the list is 11).  Most of these are OK for the novelty, but brewing for the sake of alcohol doesn’t usually result in good beer.

1. Brewdog The End of History (55% ABV)
2. Schorschbräu Schorschbock 43% (43.38% ABV)
3. Brewdog Sink the Bismarck! (41% ABV)
4. Schorschbräu Schorschbock 40% (39.44% ABV)
5. Brewdog Tactical Nuclear Penguin (32% ABV)
6. Schorschbräu Schorschbock 31% (30.86% ABV)
7. Sam Adams Utopias (27% ABV)
8. DuClaw Colossus (21.92% ABV)
9. Sonoran 200 (19.37% ABV)
10. The Bruery Black Tuesday (19.5% ABV)
11. Dogfish Head Worldwide Stout (18% ABV)

From flickr user Thomas Hawk

It’s obvious that the folks at the Brewers Association have an enviable job when one of the organization’s biggest “problems” is that craft breweries are outgrowing the definition of what it means to be a craft brewer.

Last week the Association announced that it was tripling the size of breweries that were considered “small” by craft brewery standards.  The previous limit, 2 million barrels per year, was sure to be eclipsed by the makers of Sam Adams and because of its ongoing success.

The industry’s largest craft brewer, The Boston Beer Company, is poised to become the first craft brewer to surpass 2 million barrels of traditional beer within the next few years. Loss of The Boston Beer Company’s production in craft brewing industry statistics would inaccurately reflect on the craft brewing industry’s market share.

In addition to Boston Beer, the current growth trajectory of other sizable BA member breweries places them on a course approaching the 2 million barrel threshold in the coming years.

Nick Matt, chair of the Brewers Association board of directors correctly summarized: “Rather than removing members due to their success, the craft brewing industry should be celebrating our growth.”

Great news, and a wonderful problem to have to solve.

From flickr user there's no way home

We’re in the middle of the holiday season, and as you get closer to Christmas, you may be wondering which beers to take with you to your various events.  The Washington Post has assembled a guide for nine beers that will get you through the next few weeks.

Up first, a beer we’re written about before, Boston Beer’s Infinium.  

To make a long story short: Koch and team devised a unique mashing regimen that takes place at unusually low temperatures and lasts over a week (normally, mashing — mixing the grain with hot water and heating — takes an hour or two). This allows the barley to generate plenty of its own natural enzymes, which break down complex carbohydrates into simpler molecules that the yeast can digest. Infinium also undergoes the methode champenoise, which involves provoking a secondary fermentation in the bottle, tilting the bottle to allow the yeast to settle in the neck, then removing the plug of yeast sediment.

The result is indeed spritzy and light on the palate for a 10 percent alcohol-by-volume beer. It’s got a subtle, sherbety fruitiness and a hint of spicy hop. “Imagine a space between a champagne and a good dessert wine crossed with a Samuel Adams Noble Pils,” is how Koch describes it. It’s not nearly as radical a departure from existing beers as Koch’s Utopias was, but it should make an interesting substitute for Champagne this New Year’s Eve. Suggested retail price is $20 for a 25-ounce corked bottle.

From flickr user Krikit

We like to spread the love by not posting about the same brewery two days in a row, but Sam Adams is on an innovative streak.  Word is that you should be able to replace the boring Korbel with a Sam Adams “Infinium” this New Year, a beer intended to be a shot across the bow of the wine-and-champagne crowd, proving that no matter what the occasion, beer is just as acceptable as anything else.

Boston Beer Co Inc’s Samuel Adams is launching a champagne-like brew later this month to prove that beer can be worthy of a New Year’s toast.

The limited run beer, called Infinium, will be sold in 750-ml bottles with foil-covered cork tops, like champagne. It is gold-colored, crisp and dry, with nearly double the alcohol content of an average beer and more than some wines.

“I get a beer that sits in between a champagne, a good dessert wine and a Sam Adams Noble Pils, which is a hoppy, aromatic pilsner,” said Jim Koch, chairman and founder of Boston Beer.

This is also the first collaboration between Sam Adams and Germany’s Weihenstephan Brewery.  SAB Miller, producers of the self-proclaimed “champagne of beer” Miller High Life, is nowhere to be found.

Sam Adams Tour - TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor has compiled and released a list of what they think are the top 10 brewery tours in America.  I’m sure you will probably disagree with at least some, which are heavy on the industrial and very large craft brewery side of things.

Here’s the list:

1. Anheuser Busch Brewery Tour, Saint Louis, Missouri
2. Samuel Adams Brewery, Boston, Massachusetts
3. Coors Brewery, Golden, Colorado
4. Lakefront Brewery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
5. Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co., Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin
6. Stone Brewery, Escondido, California
7. Terrapin Brew Company, Athens, Georgia
8. Harpoon Brewery / Mass Bay Brewing Co., Boston, Massachusetts
9. New Belgium Brewing, Fort Collins, Colorado
10. Boulevard Brewing Company, Kansas City, Missouri

It’s fair to think that seeing an Anheuser Busch or Coors brewery may not be great once you get to the tasting room, but I actually think it would be interesting.  Maybe not top-three interesting, but probably somewhere on the list.

How-to/tech blog Lifehacker has written up a useful guide and produced a video on how to chose the right glass and make the proper pour for whatever it is your drinking.

More and more craft brewers would prefer you not use the standard pint glasses you’ve had for decades.  They want you using something that helps the aromas come alive, the carbonation expand properly, and the taste to hit your tongue in the way they intended.  Whether you believe that a particular glass can do that or not, it’s still worth a shot.  Glassware is typically not expensive — a tulip glass can be had for less than $5 if you look — and you usually only need one of each kind.  If you’re skeptical, it’s a cheap way to experiment with craft beer in a new way (plus, it will give you an excuse to buy more beer).

And just as a reminder, you can get your free Sam Adams pint glass until October 31 by following these instructions.

You know those commercials about the special glasses Sam Adams developed for their lager?  Well, you can get yourself one for free by using the information below.

To receive your free glass, please send the UPCs from 3 Samuel Adams 6 packs with an index card that has your name, address, phone number, email, and date of birth to:

INMAR Fulfillment Center
Attn: Boston Lager
Program: BOSBLF01
PO Box 426008
Del Rio, TX 78842-6008

If you live in AL, AR, AZ, CT, HI, IL, IN, KS, KY, MA, MD, MO, NC, NJ, OH, OK, SD, TX, UT, VT, or WV, you do not need to include the UPCs.  And, if you live in TX or VA, you need to include a check for $3 payable to “Inmar”.  (Sorry, but these are required by state laws.).

There is a limit of one glass per person.  As quantities are limited, the free glass offer is available only while supplies last.