I have to say that these days, it takes a lot to surprise me in the beer world. I’ve been at this beer tasting thing for a good 30 years now, and having tasted over 4300 different brews at this point, I’ve seen some really interesting, and at times even downright strange, beers. That said, I must confess that Samuel Adams Little White Rye surprised me.

It’s not the use of a rather unusual brewing ingredient that caught me off guard here. It’s the way that that ingredient-sage-worked so well that threw me for a loop. The sage in Samuel Adams Little White Rye is unmistakable as the elementary spice of the beer, and it works remarkably well as we shall soon see.

Boston Beer did a Revolutionary Rye beer a few years ago, but Samuel Adams Little White Rye is really nothing like that. Instead, they call this a witbier in style, though I found Little White Rye has little in common with that style at least in flavor. They do use the classic ingredients of orange peel and coriander in addition to the sage, however. Two row pale and rye malts are used as well as Saaz and Tettnang hops. Alcohol by volume is 5.3%.

Right now, you can only get Little White Rye in the Beers of Summer 12-pack. That sampler, for which I paid a very reasonable $13.99, includes two bottles each of Little White Rye and the following 5 brews:

• Samuel Adams Boston Lager

• Samuel Adams Belgian Session

• Samuel Adams Summer Ale

• Samuel Adams Porch Rocker

• Samuel Adams Blueberry Hill Lager (also a new beer)

Samuel Adams Little White Rye pours to a light hazy golden color with a very thick head of tightly packed bubbles and a decidedly savory nose of unabashed sage. A fine layer of Brussels lace clings to the glass. Taking a sip, the beer has a medium body and a bit of citrus poking through for sure, but more than anything else in this beer I am getting the sage. It’s very potent and dominates the brew from the first sip to the very last, then lingers on the aftertaste for some time. The sage dries the beer in the finish with a savory splendor, though I do think it leaves the beer rather one-dimensional. The coriander and rye seem to have been crowded out.

This isn’t really a beer that I could see myself drinking more than one of in a sitting, but I will say that it begs to be served with poultry. Were I working for Boston beer, I would package this beer in the fall sampler, not the summer. The sage here would work wonderfully well with poultry, and I can only imagine how well this would pair with a heap of sliced turkey on Thanksgiving Day.



Home