Samuel Adams Porch Rocker Review

I was in my favorite bottle shop last week loading up for the end of spring/beginning of summer when I noticed a bright, unfamiliar Samuel Adams label staring me right in the face.  I've had nearly sixty different offerings from the Boston Beer Company and am usually on top of any new releases before they hit the shelves.  I picked up the bottle and examined it, trying to place where I had seen it before or had heard about it.  After a few moments, I recalled a newsletter that I had read earlier in the year announcing what sounded like an awesome spring/summer beer (which is saying a lot coming from me given that spring and summer are my least favorite beer seasons).

The Porch Rocker is the Boston Beer's Company riff on a German style of beverage called a Radler, which (as noted in the photo above) combines beer and lemonade into a refreshing summer drink.  I was really curious about what the result would taste like because I'm not a tremendously huge fan of hefeweizens, mostly because they are everywhere and they tend to be overdone in terms of their citrus profile (made only worse by the inclusion of a lemon on the glass), and that style is the first thing that came to mind when I read the description on the neck label (pictured above and at right). 

The first whiff out of the bottle was undoubtedly a lemon burst but it was more of an inviting, invigorating scent rather than an off-putting citrus-bomb like I was expecting.  The beer poured a very pale golden hue--the perfect color for a late-spring/summer brew.  Now, with hefeweizens, the traditional flavor profile includes bananas and cloves (only the better ones strike a balance between them and any additional spices that round out the palette).  What I found interesting about the Porch Rocker was that it had neither of these flavors (nor any spices to be spoken of).  Instead, it seemed to have a few different levels of lemon/citrus flavor coalescing with a faint, complementary hop nuance.  The malt didn't really assert itself to any great degree but I feel like it did serve as an anchor for the beer, as a whole.

Ultimately, I couldn't help but think that the beer tasted like Froot Loops (for the record--that's really how it's spelled).  It might just be my palette, so don't call me crazy if you've had it and don't notice that at all but it's the only thing that my mind could think of to associate the specific flavors that were hitting me throughout my sips.  The Porch Rocker bordered on the edge of too lemony for me but I'm not a big fan of such beers in general, which leads me to conclude that it would probably be the perfect amount for the average beer drinker.

On a hot summer's day, I can see this being the perfect quaff to beat the heat (and one that will blow the pants off of a Mike's Hard Lemonade or some sort of liquor-infused lemon concoction).  If you can still find it on the shelves, snag it--it's definitely worth the buy!

Cheers,

Matt