Samuel Adams Boston Brewery

The Samuel Adams Boston Brewery is the Jamaica Plain home of the Boston Beer Company’s flagship brand, drawing locals and visitors with brewery tours, tastings and a gift shop. Samuel Adams helped start the craft beer movement in the United States, and Boston Lager, still brewed from the recipe Jim Koch used in 1984, remains its most popular beer. Seasonal releases such as Octoberfest and Jack-O pumpkin ale rotate through the year.

Koch brewed the first batch of Boston Lager in his kitchen from a recipe belonging to his great-great-grandfather, which he found in his father’s attic in the early 1980s. The company has since grown into a publicly traded brewer that still calls itself an independent craft brewery, and Koch personally tastes every batch of Boston Lager. Samuel Adams has also pioneered aging beer in used spirit barrels and holds a patent on a glass design.

What to Know

• Since 2008, the Brewing the American Dream program has supported small business entrepreneurs.
• Samuel Adams runs three visitor locations: the Boston Brewery, the Boston Taproom and a taproom in Cincinnati.
• A non-alcoholic version of Octoberfest joined the seasonal lineup.
• Jim Koch wrote the bestselling business book Quench Your Own Thirst.