Sam Adams-alike

[Shortie]

OK, now so far my attempts at home brewing have not been a rousing success (a ginger beer, A fruitjuice TC and the jury's still out on the lemonade) but I'm just amusing myself over the summer, waiting for cooler weather so I can have a go at a lager kit.

My favourite lager is Sam Adams (went to Boston for a long weekend about 10 years ago and was smitten) and I was wondering if there was any kind of kit which might be of a similar nature? I don't know much about beers so I don't know if the darker Sam Adams type stuff is just a different type of lager or whether it's in another category altogether. Any ideas?

Or is it too ambitious to hope to find something similar in a kit?

Thanks...

[delboy]

I think you'll struggle to find a kit on the market that comes close to sam adams, you could i guess try modifying a typical lager kit by steeping some crystal malt to get the body colour and residual sweetness, dry hopping a lager kit with some mittlefruh hops would also be a step in the right direction.

[mtmcndrw]

Just to add a little bit to what Delboy said.

There is a book called "Clone Brews" which attempts to give recipes for clones of beers from around the world.

One of them being "Samuel Adams Boston Lager".

This is primarily an extract recipe that requires a period of boiling during the brewing process. During brewing the recipe calls for 2 oz of Tettnanger (Bittering hop) which is boiled for 45 minutes. Then 1/2 oz Hallertauer Mittelfruh (Flavour hop) which is boiled for 13 minutes. Then 1/2 oz Tettnanger (Aroma hop) added for the final 2 minutes.

1/4 oz Hallertauer Mittelfruh (dry hop) is added during the fermentation period of the brewing.

Hope this is of help.

Matt.

[Shortie]

Thanks for the info guys. I shal l bear it in mind for the future, it's a bit complicated for my novice skills as yet!