The Boston Brewing Company’s label Samuel Adams has just release a set of brews that are something the world of craft brewing should stand up and take notice of. Even though Sam Adams is a year closer to getting squeezed out of the craft brewer classification, it doesn’t stop them from being still connected to their belief in the craft brewing movement.

The have just releases the Samuel Adams® Latitude 48 IPA Deconstruction 12 Pack. Their Latitude IPA has been very well received and to build on it even further, they are giving us an education in the hops used for the Latitude 48. Each 12 pack has two of the original IPA and then 5 pairs of brews that highlight each of the hops used in the beer as a whole.

Included in the twelve pack are:
2 – Hallertau Mittelfruen IPA – “Brewed with only Hallertau Mittelfrueh Noble Hops, contributing a soft bitterness and delicate lemony citrus and resinous pine notes.”
2 – East Kent Goldings IPA – “Brewed with only East Kent Goldings hops, contributing a mellow bitterness and earthy, floral and apricot notes.
2 – Simcoe IPA – “Brewed with only Simcoe hops, contributing a profound bitterness and dramatic grapefruit peel and pine resin notes.
2 – Antanum IPA – “Brewed with only Ahtanum hops, contributing a balanced orange peel, piney, and floral flavor ana aroma.”
2 – Zeus IPA – “Brewed with only Zeus hops, contributing bitterness ans an intense, pungent resinous pine flavor.”
2 – Latitude 48 IPA – ” Brewed with 5 different hop varietals. Asserive but not over powering hop character balanced by a slight sweetness and full body from the five different malts.”

Now wether you end up enjoying all or none of these beers, Sam Adams has to be applauded for expanding the way we think of distributed beers. This provides a clear path to exploring the characteristics that make up the fine beverage many of us love. For the standard beer drinker (Bud, Coors, Miller) this is a great way to expand their pallets with some well explained options all in a stand alone 12 pack.

The rest of the craft brewers should take note and follow the path of educating and expanding you bases with wonderful opportunities such as this one. Having better beer will only get you so far and being able to present not only great beers but a foundational example is worth more in the consumers perception for the next set of bottles they take off the shelf.