This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at Samuel Adams Whitewater IPA.
In late January I was in one of the local supermarkets when I saw a new Samuel Adams Brewmasters Collection mix box. Having learned the hard way that not every new Samuel Adams brew is under hashgacha, I resisted the urge to buy the box. Instead, I carefully recorded the new beer styles in the box and then went online to check the Star-K LOC for these brews. Of course, none of the beers were on the LOC, but sometimes the Star-K can be slow to update their online LOC, so I emailed the Star-K to find out about the two new brews. As I waited for a response, I received numerous emails from other beer aficionados who wanted to know if I had any information on these new brews (you know who you are). Several weeks later, I received a response from the Star-K that one of the new beers (the Whitewater IPA) was under hashgacha, but the other beer (Mighty Oak) was not kosher.
Armed with the Star-K's response, I resigned myself to having to pass on the Whitewater IPA, as I did not want to buy the collection box and then pour the two mighty oak brews down the drain. But then, this past weekend I was in the local beer store (Beverage Barn on Jericho Turnpike in Garden City Park) looking for our parsha question brew of choice (Saranac Diet Root Beer!) when I saw that the Whitewater IPA was available in six and twelve packs. But even better, since the folks at the Beverage Barn are so nice, I was able to buy a single bottle to bring home to try. I brought the Whitewater IPA home and promptly stuck it in the fridge until I took it out tonight to sample with my dinner. Perhaps that was a mistake...
The Whitewater IPA has some very subtle flavors which were completely drowned out by our "Israeli night" themed dinner. My first few sips of the Whitewater IPA with the homemade lamb schwarma were fruitless, in the true sense of the word. Although the Whitewater IPA said that it was flavored with apricots and spice to "balance out" the hops, I tasted no apricot or fruit of any kind and the spice was absent. I cleared my palate and tried some more of the brew by itself but was truly unable to locate the promised fruit. Maybe I should have bought the six pack after all...
Samuel Adams Whitewater IPA is under the Kosher Supervision of the Star-K. Unlike most Samuel Adams brews, this bottle has the Star-K certification mark on the label. It is not on the current Star-K LOC (http://www.star-k.org/loc/kosher_letter_6635_bostonbeercompany.pdf ).
To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about the Whitewater IPA, please follow this link - http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/35/76800 .
As always, please remember to drink responsibly and to never waste good beer unless there is no designated driver.
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