Samuel Adams and the Boston Beer Company

Man, has this company spanned the scope. This company has gone from the bottom the very damn top spectrum in the course of it's history, becoming the largest American beer company in production. How did this happen? Let's take a look back...

1984 (A great year to be born, by the way) saw the inception of the Boston Beer Company by founder Jim Koch. Their first release was their famous Boston Lager (Which I guess I'll have to try, now won't I?) originating from a Koch family recipe created in St. Louis, Missouri by Jim's ancestor Louis Koch. Like many other breweries at that time, Louis' brewery was officially killed by prohibition. It came back briefly after the prohibition ended, but died shortly thereafter in the early 1950s.

Jim revived the recipe in '84 with the help of some friends and Joseph Owades. First it went under the family name, but a year later it was brought back with the name of the brewer patriot Samuel Adams' Boston Lager.

The Boston Brewing Company actually represents on of the earliest successes in the craft brewing industry which gained momentum after friendly President Carter signed a bill which among many other things made it legal to home-brew. Through the years, the BBC has sold their Sam Adams brand, constantly expanding in to new varieties and flavors. To this date that have released over thirty different brews covering all the major bases as well as Alcohol by Volume (Running up to a staggering 25.6% abv!)

We poured your Sam Adams in a Sam Adams:

In recent years the BBC has released a special glass they've designed for their lagers. Their partnership with TIAX laboratories produced a roughly tulip shaped glass that... well... I'll let you take a look. The reviews have somewhat come back positive but the glass still elicits a couple snickers from purists. If I ever get my hands on one, I'll let you know. In the mean time, I'll stick with my mug or a nonic.

You're the Best Around:

In 2008 as we all know, European beer giant InBev purchased St. Louis beer company Anheyser-Busch. A lot of the public booed at this, after all this is an American giant. Another side effect of the merger is that it took our brothers in Craft-Brew at the Boston Beer Company to the number one spot for an American owned brewery. Congratulations, boys. You've earned it.