I've been to the brewery in Boston twice for their tour. Lots of good beer samples at the conclusion of the tour. My favorite is the Double Bock, but is so hard to find, especially in California.

Cherry Wheat seems nicely consistent.

They also have a blackberry witbier out now, but I think the Leinie's Berry Weiss is still the better product there. Though I s'pose they're all in violation of the German Purity Law.

Octoberfest by far, #1. Boston Lager is great, and I can enjoy the occasional Summer Ale.

Winter Lager... is that the one I found similar to Blue Moon? eck....

No it's not. At least I hope not.

"Blue Moon" (I'm presuming you're referring to this Coors subsidiary's best selling product, Blue Moon Belgian White Ale and not one of their other beers) is a Belgian-style witbier, a spiced ale made partly with wheat and flavored with such spices as coriander, orange zest, and grains of paradise. Samuel Adams White Ale is the Boston Beer Co. version of that style. The Samuel Adams Winter Lager is -- to start with -- a lager, not an ale, which is about as big a difference as the one between a cat and a dog, even though both are still animals. The Winter Lager is an all-barley brew using a darker roast malt than a witbier (or their own Samuel Adams Boston Lager -- Winter Lager is more like a Vienna lager or a slightly darker Oktoberfest) and flavored with a different and proprietary blend of spices. For obvious reasons, namely that we'd blab about it, Jim Koch won't tell us reporters details about that spice blend but I'll speculate that the only one in common with a witbier would be the orange peel. Other spices I taste when I sample their Winter Lager include cinnamon and ginger.

What a nice little write up review.

Talking about Blue Moon, what a delicious and refreshing beer. I know man law #73 is no fruit in your drink but I break it with a smile on my face as I place a nice slice of orange in my Blue Moon.

the Imperial Pilsner is a GEM of a beer if you like the hops
really stunning beer

the rest of Sam Adams line...quite sub-par trash

Thank you. I do write for a beer magazine, though, (some have referred to me as a professional beer drinker) so for the sake of the readers I'd better be able to describe the differences between a couple of beers.

Putting an orange slice in a witbier is not traditional. That touch was invented by a bartender serving Blue Moon Belgian White Ale at the Coors-owned brewpub inside Denver's Coors Field baseball park. A person who worked there told me it happened because they had a bunch of extra oranges behind the bar one weekend and were looking for some way to use them up.

Ha, i would have never known that. Thanks for the interesting little tidbit. I usually throw anywhere between 1 and 3 small slices of orange in there. Makes the beer much more refreshing. Ive done the usual lemon in Hoegaarden as well. Any insight as to where that was created? thanks in advance.

The Belgian village of Hoegaarden.

The style nearly vanished before it was rescued by a gentleman named Pierre Celis. Pierre later moved to Texas and opened the Celis Brewery in Austin; a partnership with Miller went bad and Pierre returned to Belgium to make beer. He's back in the U.S. working with another Texas brewery to make beer under the "Brussels" name (because someone else owns the rights to "Celis", he can't put out beer under his own name).

One for Winter Lager.

Mine too when the weather finally warms up here in Chicago, I heard the term Juneuary the other day to describe the very cool June we've had.

I really don't have a favorite Sam Adams, enjoy most of them.

On a side note, there was a severe shortage of hops a couple years ago which put in peril many micro breweries. Jim Cook views Sam Adams as a micro-like brewery and to help out the other micro-breweries, was selling hops at Sam Adams cost to them.^ Learned this little tidbit on the Sam Adams brewery tour, where they are very generous with the tasting at the end of the tour as jtp1947 notes.

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Boston Lager .

Of the ones I can routinely purchase at a restaurant here, that about sums up my thoughts. :) I don't care for Summer Ale, so I'm always in a hurry for fall to arrive, since I love Oktoberfest. If that's not available, I'll go with Boston Lager or Winter Ale, when that's available.

My thoughts on the list:
Boston Lager--Usually a staple, since it's available at most bars and restaurants, and will do if that's the only non-swill they have
White Ale--Not bad, but not something I'd rush out to buy
Double Bock--Don't care for this
Boston Lager Light--If I have to drink light beer...
Summer Ale--NOOOO!!! Fall, please arrive soon!
Oktoberfest--YAY!!!! Favorite!
Winter Ale--A let-down from fall, but I can deal
Old Fezziwig Ale--Haven't had this in ages, but IIRC, not too shabby
Cranberry Lambic--Not a huge fan
Holiday Porter--I don't remember this one
Cherry Wheat--No thanks, I'll have something else
Cream Stout--Decent
Scotch Ale--Yummy
Black Lager--Ok
Brown Ale--I don't think I've tried this, unless it's their Boston Ale
Hefeweizen--Not a fan of this style, so I wouldn't drink this
Pale Ale--Not bad
Honey Porter--Ok
Irish Red

I'd say it's a cross between their new IPA and the seasonal Oktoberfest.

I bought a 12-bottle sampler pack from the liquor store. I tried the Pumpkin Ale over the weekend. I won't be buying that again.

The Oktoberfest, as noted already, is delish.