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Also this issue: Land of Twenty |
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August 22-28, 2002
food
In person, Jim Koch is every bit the easygoing goofball that he sounds like in those radio commercials for his Samuel Adams beers.
Standing at the center of a long table jammed with journalists and some suits from local distributors, Koch said, "We're going to do something today that you probably haven't done since college -- drink five beers before lunch."
Actually, we merely tasted five beers. Boston Beer Co. was celebrating the introduction of its Sam Adams Light in Philly by inviting media folks to participate in a blind taste test, held Tuesday at Cuba Libre in Old City.
"I believe Sam Adams Light is a better beer," he added. "If I'm full of shit then I'm full of shit and it will be very embarrassing."
But on appearances alone it was ridiculously easy to pick out the Sam Adams Light when glasses of it and four other popular light beers were lined up. Beers A, B, D and E were the color of watered-down ginger ale, clear enough to read through. Beer C was a deep amber almost identical to the Samuel Adams Boston Lager that made Boston Beer Co. and its founder, Koch, famous.
And sure enough, when the scores were tallied, Sam Adams Light had easily bested Corona Light, Bud Light, Amstel Light and Miller Lite, in that order. Coors Light was not in the mix, Koch said, because it's also carried by the local distributor that handles the Sam Adams brands. But no matter. I've tasted it, and it wouldn't have fared any better than the others. (I'd never had Amstel Light before, and I had to resist the urge to spit it out.)
Sam Adams Light, however, has something most mass-produced light beers lack -- flavor. It's not quite as robust as the Boston Lager, but it's close, and there's none of the bitterness so common among mass-produced lights.
Currently Sam Adams Light is available only in bars and restaurants. ("Philadelphia is a unique market," Koch says. Because of Pennsylvania's arcane liquor laws, "if you want to try something, you have to buy a case" -- a risk few are willing to take.) Watch for it in stores starting Sept. 16.
Beginning in September, The Cooking School at La Campagne in Cherry Hill, N.J., will offer Moore Brothers Wine School, a series of classes presented by Moore Brothers Wine Co. (www.moorebros.com), Food & Wine magazine's pick for "Best New Wine Shop in America" last year. The weekly classes begin Sept. 10 with Tuscan wines. For more information, visit www.lacampagne.com or call Moore Brothers at 856-317-1177.
Got a tip for the Food section? E-mail Frank Lewis at flewis@citypaper.net or 215-735-8444 x 204.
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