Basically, Samuel Adams (The Boston Beer Company) is looking to see which beer will be added to the “Brewmaster’s Collection” you probably have seen at your local grocery store. Last year, it was the Blackberry Witbier (which, had I voted in that, I probably would have considered whatever option B was). This year the choice is between a Pilsner and an IPA style beer.

We received a taste of each, and first tried the Pilsner – according to our representative, it was first brewer by brewmaster Jim Koch himself for his daughter’s wedding. Very smooth to drink, a little sweetness to it, but not overwhelming, and a very clean finish that definitely led me to want another sip.

Next up came the Samuel Adams Ale, which although an IPA, was an amber color, with a much more aggressive IPA style bite to it. Like most IPAs, it left that lingering hops taste after the finish (am I the only one that sometimes feels like that aftertaste is almost a “spicy” one?). A very good beer to be sure, however we could only vote for one…

And out table of 8 went, unanimiously I believe, for the Pilsner. From the sound of our representative, I think the Pilsner has been laying waste to the Ale competition since they started this event.

Overall, the evening went very well, my sister won a Samuel Adams T-Shirt in a raffle (the XL size of the shirt means pajamas, I suppose) and I had a few other brews on draft, including a Leffe Blonde Belgium style Pale Ale (Thumbs up) and Founder’s Red’s Rye Ale (Thumbs down).

But, on my vacation, I did manage to sample a couple beers and I’ll be posting very frequent updates here over the next few days, so more to come!