Here’s a beer from Boston Beer Company so rare that it’s not even on the Samuel Adams website: Samuel Adams Chai Saison. This is a draft-only experimental offering (one assumes) that I ordered right up as soon as I saw it on tap at Taco Mac. This is the 4th saison I’ve tasted from Boston Beer overall.
This is what Taco Mac said about the beer on the draft menu:
A Belgian ale that is most commonly pale, refreshing, moderately strong and finishes dry.
They’re talking about saison in general, of course. Anyway, the keg label says Samuel Adams Chai Saison has an alcohol content of 6.4% by volume and I paid $9 for an 11-ounce glass. That’s high, not high enough to keep me from trying, but I wouldn’t pay that again for this size serving. To be fair, this is a very limited beer.
My glass of Samuel Adams Chai Saison arrived a beautiful golden color with a medium sized head of creamy foam and a spicy cloves, ginger, cardamom and green apple in the nose. The beer smells more like apple pie than chai (the cardamom at work no doubt). Taking a sip, I got more of those spices in the palate with light bready malt, a gentle tartness and drying spice.
A very tasty beer but pricey at $9 for 11-ounces as I said, and while I got a lot of chai spice I didn’t really get much tea character. I might buy this in bottles if it is ever offered that way, but not again on draft at this price. Much better and more chai-like in my opinion is Red Brick’s Divine Bovine (aka Sacred Cow) Chai Tea Milk Stout.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft