Samuel Adams

Malt: The backbone of the beer

Malted barley is the backbone of the beer. It provides the body and sweetness. The quality and quantity of malt make a significant difference in both the appearance and taste of the beer.

Malt provides the fermentable sugars that add the sweetness to beer. The malting process turns grain from insoluble starch into soluble starch, reduces complex proteins, develops enzymes, and creates nutrients that become food for the yeast.

Small and mighty

There are two different types of barley: two-row and six-row. The names are derived from the way the kernels grow on the stalk. Six-row barley is preferred by most other brewers for economic reasons as it is heartier and more plentiful. Unfortunately, the smaller kernels have a lot more husk material which makes for a harsher more astringent taste, than it's plumper, sweeter two-row cousin.

In Samuel Adams® we use only two-row malted barley. It offers a full, plump grain that brings a full-bodied sweetness to the beer. We won't compromise that flavor just to save money.

A matter of degree

Similar to coffee, the variety of malt is only part of the flavor that can be imparted by the grain. A tremendous amount of flavor can be created in the roasting process, from the temperature to the length of time, to determine the color of the malt and the flavor imparted to the beer during the brewing process.

• Pale and Light Malts – lighter in color but still full of flavor, these malts impart a full flavor of toasted biscuit and cereal note.
• Caramel Malts – are produced using a special malting process that allows some of the starches to be converted to more sugars and caramelize. The remaining complex sugars are what give the beer body, sweetness and mouthfeel. All this lends flavors ranging from toffee sweet caramel and a range of colors light to dark amber. Caramel malts also help provide a full bodied beer and a dense rich head.
• Chocolate Malts – roasted at higher temperatures the color of this malt is dark, but not quite as dark as black malt. As a result, the flavor contribution to beer ranges from hints of chocolate to a deep nutty flavor.
• Black Malts – the longer roasting and higher temperatures used to create black malt, creates a dry burnt flavor and smoky notes in the beer.
• Smoked Malts – these specialty malts can be smoked with peat or other woods to give the beer a distinct character.

Fields of grain

Although barley is the most common, other grains like wheat, rye, and oat, provide unique depth of flavor to beer. Wheat, used as the majority grain in wheat beers, has considerably more protein than barley which give the beer a full mouthfeel yet crisp finish and hazier color. Rye and oats can also be used as fermentable sugars and impart their own grain character to the beer.

Hops: Better, not bitter

What is a hop anyway?

A hop is a flower that looks like a little soft pinecone and grows on a long vine. These flowers are almost exclusively used for beer but what's important to the brewer is what's inside that little flower, a golden resin known as the lupulin gland. This resin contains the vital alpha acids necessary for the hops to impart their bitterness and flavor. Without lupulin, hops would be practically useless as a brewing spice.

Hops are to beer what grapes are to wine. Their variety, origin, and nuances of flavor create the soul of the beer. For most beers, hops lend bitterness and not a lot more. That bitterness comes from the alpha acids of the hop. However, we select hops for the aromatic flavor qualities over their bittering value. Aroma hops, with their lower alpha acids, produce an array of complex flavors and aromas in our beers from citrus and fruit to pine and eucalyptus.

Hallowed Ground

Just like wine, the conditions of soil, moisture, and sunlight have a direct impact on the quality of the hops. As a result, hop varieties in their original region impart different flavors when grown elsewhere.

The oldest hop growing region in the world is located in Bavaria Germany just west of the Alps, and is still the home of its prized Noble aroma hops. The Noble designation indicates those hops from the surrounding original growing regions of Tettnang, Spalt, Hallertau, Hersbrucker, and Saaz. The Noble hops used in Samuel Adams beers have been grown on small family farms in this temperate region for centuries.

Jim's great-grandfather's recipe called for these special hops and Jim's been making trips to Bavaria to hand select the hops for Samuel Adams to ensure he only gets the very best of the best.

The hop belt

To truly get flavorful hops to thrive, they require a specific climate and soil type. Those conditions can only be found in what is considered the "hop belt" of the world and falls along the 48th latitude. The region includes classic growing regions of central Europe and England as well as the Northwest of the US. Each region's hop varieties impart different flavors from the aromatic piney notes in German hops to earthy ale hops in England, and the citrus brightness of American hops.

Although hops are inextricably linked to beer today, that wasn't always the case. The earliest mention of hop growing dates back to 1000-1200 A.D. in Germany and later travelled England. Prior to hops gaining prominence however many other bittering agents, from juniper to roots and pine were used but none could create the layers of flavor that hops could provide.

Yeast: Magic catalyst

Yeast was the key to unlocking the magic in beer. It was likely wild yeast that settled on a grain like cereal mixture that kicked off the first fermentation and the rest is beer history.

Yeasts can either be top fermenting (ale yeast) or bottom fermenting (lager yeasts) but both perform the same basic function of feasting on and breaking down sugars and converting them to alcohol and CO2 that produces the carbonation in beer.

These two yeast strains also affect the flavor of the brew by imparting a unique fermentation character. Ale yeasts ferment at warmer temperatures and typically ferment faster with an estery and fruity fermentation character. By contrast, lager yeasts ferment at cooler temperatures for a longer period of time and impart savory and complex flavors.

The brewer may do a lot of work, but it's all in creating the optimal conditions for the magician to perform his work.

The vault of yeast

It may sound simple to say that there are only two forms of yeast (top and bottom fermenting) but within those two groups are endless variations and a huge spectrum of flavors. Each yeast strain imparts its own unique flavor to the beer. Many of the characteristic tastes of classic beer styles from the banana and clove like tastes of German Hefeweizens to the fruit and spice of a Belgian Bruin, come from the yeasts that are used.

Specific yeast strains are so imperative to the recipe of a particular beer that samples are kept in a special vault. Just in case of brewery disaster the vault acts a bit like Noah's ark keeping samples to ensure that the beer can live on.

Water

Beer played an important part in the development of civilization. Fresh water was unreliable because of the number of water born diseases in early times. However since nothing harmful can survive and propagate in beer, it was the drink of choice for many. In fact, the ship logs of the pilgrims noted that they had stocked enough beer aboard for each man, woman and child to consume one gallon a day.

If you were a 19th century brewer deciding where to build your brewery, one of the deciding factors would be whether it was near a good source of fresh water. Be it a river, an aquifer, a well, or any other source, you needed it nearby to supply your brewery with the necessary water to brew, and the cleaner the better. Proximity to a source of water is no longer essential, contrary to some advertising. Today, it is easy to bring fresh, pure water into the brewery.

Creative canvas

One great advantage of being a brewer over being a wine maker is the variety of specialty ingredients that can be added to make great and interesting beer. Using spices, fruits, and herbs has been used for centuries but always limited to what was available nearby and the traditions of the region. For us, the inspiration comes from searching and exploring these tastes from all over the world. You never know where a new taste combination can come from to add an extra layer of depth to a great beer. Beer has expansive creative possibilities which make it a more versatile pairing choice with food.