Samuel Adams Merry Maker
This rich dark gingerbread stout entices with the aromas of the holidays. The flavor of gingerbread comes alive, beginning with the smooth sweetness and heartiness of dark roasted malts and a touch of wheat. But it’s the intensity and spices of cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, & ginger that add a wicked kick for a jolly playful brew full of merry mischief.
3.6
501 reviews
Boston, United States
Community reviews
Opaque black in color with a small reddish/tan head. Sweet spice cake with hints of Allspice and Cardamom, very tasty. Reminds me of the gourmet lollipops from See’s Candy. Warming alcohol, nice mouth feel, lightly sticky sweet. I’m enjoying this! The 9% is well masked but noticeable in the warming finish.
22 oz bottle. Pours almost black. Aroma of pumpkin pie spices, ginger, graham crackers, molasses. Flavor is on the sweeter side with the spices being prominent, somewhat bitter aftertaste. Weird mouthfeel - kind of thick but with a little too much carbonation for my taste. Masks the high ABV pretty well. Not a bad holiday beer, not great.
Tap @ Brixx Asheville Biltmore Park - pours pitch with a tan head. Aroma is ginger, nutmeg, clove, and cinnamon. What I like about this stout is that it’s balanced well with the base stout. It does give the feeling of gingerbread without being a ginger bomb. Very good!
Aroma: molasses, gingerbread spices
Appearance: black with a brown head
Taste: medium sweetness, medium bitterness,
Palate: medium body, creamy, soft carbonation, long finish,
Delicious
Bomber bottle picked up at the local Wegmans. A somewhat aggressive pour gave a two finger + head, which is fairly slow to dissipate. Very heavy, thick lacing. Served well chilled in a tulip glass. Beer is very dark, close to black. Head is light to medium tan. Aroma is pleasant and malty with significant notes of winter spices. Some breadiness in the aroma. Taste is lightly sweet with a touch of bitterness. Notes of roasted malts, some gingerbread and pleasant spices, cinnamon and nutmeg. Spices are present yet well embedded. Smooth roasty finish. Medium bodied beer with a slick texture and light carbonation. Over all highly impressed with the complexity and balance of this beer from Sam Adams. Lots of flavor yet well balanced and smooth. Heavy lacing remains in glass.
Dark brown chocolate color, with nice, light brown head. Chocolate sense with some notes of spice. Gingery and spicy and clove like taste. Some notes of chocolate and banana. Smooth mouth feel and a great stout
Poured from a bomber today. Ginger, milk chocolate, cloves, and grain. A: 2 finger tan head. Black body with some red in the glass. T: Ginger, cloves, brown sugar. Cinnamon is subtle. P: Very thin for a stout. Oddly crisp and bubbly too. O: The flavors are unbalanced (too much spice) and it has a weird mouthfeel for a stout. It doesn’t taste good. Drain pour.
Pours a very dark chestnut brown color that appears pitch black and opaque in the glass with a one finger mocha head that slowly settles into a lasting ring. Sporadic spotty lacing left behind. Looks really nice.
Zesty wintry spice aroma with peppery notes countered by silky chocolate malt and subtle roast. Prominent earthy spices with hints of ginger, allspice, clove, cinnamon, brown sugar and nutmeg. Spices are countered by chocolate malt sweetness along with toffee, burnt toast and robust coffee bean. Spice character is a little stronger than I prefer but it’s nicely balanced by the complex malt bill.
Full body with a stronger malt presnce the the nose suggests, balancing out the prominent peppery spice notes. Not as many spices as in the aroma but still dry and earthy with seasonal flavor. Ginger really stands out along with some clove, cinnamon and allspice followed by sweet dessert-like chocolate malt flavor and subtle roast. Bakers chocolate, flourless chocolate cake and toffee along with roasted espresso bean, burnt toast, oatmeal and bittersweet dark chocolate. Subtle alcohol heat in the finish but overall the high ABV is very well masked. Although its heavily spiced, this beer is well balanced and easy to drink. Not overwhelmingly earthy nor is to too acrid or bitter tasting. Nice amount of sweetness and light toasted malts complimenting the ginger and other wintry/seasonal spices.
Heavy ginger, clove, and cinnamon flavor. 9%. ---Rated via BeerBuddy for iPhone.
From 22oz bottle to lager glass. Pour is a deep brown, basically black with a thick tan head. Nose is huge roasted malt, cinnamon, nutmeg. Taste is medium-heavy bodied, sweet. Touches of sourness come through but most,y dominated by sweetness. Super silky mouth feel, thick but goes down very smooth. I’ll have this one again around Christmas when the conditions are even better.
Poured into a snifter.
4.0 A: Black color. Two fingers of frothy/creamy tan head. Retention is good and a half inch ring of lacing is left.
3.0 S: Roasty and chocolate maltiness. The spices are there, but are lacking in strength. Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, clove. It’s not bad, but it doesn’t please the way this type of beer should.
3.25 T: Like the nose, it’s not bad, but it’s underwhelming and no better than average. Chocolate, brown sugar, molasses, and a hefty roastiness. Spices are again underwhelming.
3.75 M: Medium body. Good moderate carbonation. Lightly creamy and super smooth.
3.25 D: Not bad, but for a $7-8 bomber, I expect a better product.
★ 664 characters
DavoleBomb, Dec 25, 2013
Bomber into a pint glass. pours black , with a medium tan head that lasts. decent lacing. Nose is ginger, cinnamon, and allspice. Taste follows the nose, with a slightly bitter hop finish. Very nice.
Very dark with foamy brown head. Aroma is boozy and chocolaty, initially it is reminiscent of barrel aged brandy followed with hints of gingerbread. Flavor is intense gingerbread upfront but not remotely sweet. Dark chocolate slightly boozy finish. Not great if it’s too cold so don’t over chill it. Tasty with a cookie or ten.
---Very tasty but I think it contains Zolpidem, it put me to sleep and I never got a chance to finish the bottle.
Old rating. Kinda boring big spiced beer. Medium bready body. Usual spices (clove, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg)...maybe slightly over spiced. Creamy body.
Smooth stout with cinnamon, clove and gingerbread.
Palate was that of full body, creamy, average carbonation. Nice taste hints of cinnamon, and spice with a full bitter finish. The aroma could have been more pronounced.
Reading all the reviews on this brew, I was really looking forward to it when I couldn’t get a local gingerbread brew from Berkeley. I honestly wasn’t too impressed with it - The alcohol content very much overwhelms a lot of the flavor in it and it’s much more bitter than most stouts I’ve had. I clearly must have a bad palette for stouts here since everyone else enjoys it :(
Pint 6 bottle shared. Poured a dark brown to almost black with mocha head. The aroma is of roasted malts and ginger snaps. The flavor I liked a lot plenty of roasted malts and lots of ginger snaps. Nicely blended all the way around. Overall if you like ginger snaps and nutmeg this is a good beer.
750 ml bottle from Costco. Nose is definitely gingerbread with cinnamon and hints of bubblegum and chocolate. Black with a medium dark cinnamon tan head. Flavor is lightly sweet and gingerbread spicy with a hint of bitter.
Pours black with a beige head. Aroma has lots of spice (nutmeg, cinnamon, clove), some chocolate, toffee, and bread. Taste is more of the same spices, lots of chocolate and coffee roastiness, and slight cola. Nice med-full body, smooth carbonation.
Bottle from 2012: Merry Mischief. This beer pours a very dark black with lots of smoke. Also has a thick dark tan frothy head. The aroma is lots of dark spices, nuttiness, burnt caramel, slight bitterness on the nose, vegetables, cinnamon, sugar, and almost a pumpkin pie with all the spices and sweetness. The taste has heavy ginger breadiness up front. It is super sweet and creamy. I also pick up cinnamon and other spices. There is some bitterness on the back end as well as some alcohol. This beer is complex but perfectly balanced.
Strong aroma of the house filled with holiday baking. Smooth feel. Nice snicker doodle finish.
Pours dark thick black with a generous dark brown head. Aroma of chocolate, ginger, cloves, cinnamon. Actually does taste like gingerbread but without the sweetness. Very nice.
Pours black with a huge brown head that leaves pretty good lacing. Aroma is roast malts and huge cookie spices; some hops. Taste is overwhelming spices at the front, some dark malt backbone, booze, and a syrupy herbal finish. Thick mouthfeel. Overall, was not impressed--was expecting much better from Sam Adams.
From tap. Pours dark brown with a small tan head. Roasted, spiced. Herbal. Dry and spiced. Bitter and herbal finish.
22 oz bottle from Midway Market (!) for $6.99. Aroma of spicy ginger and cinnamon and cloves, dark malt. Almost-black with a huge, almost-creamy, persistent light brown head. Flavor more ginger and spices. Medium body, medium-heavy stickiness. 9% is hidden well. Decent for the style.
~Aroma of clove, ginger, and cinnamon with bread, roasted malt.
~Pours black with fluffy lasting light brown head.
~Ginger, cinnamon and clove in flavor with bitter roastiness, sweet caramel malt.
~Medium light bodied with medium CO2, somewhat refreshing feel, lingering roast bitterness.
~Enjoyable spiced beer. I like that the spices don’t overpower the malts completly. Not my favorite style of beer, but easy to drink.
Pours black with a tan head. Chocolate, spice, roasted malt and bready aroma. Chocolate, ginger, licorice, cinnamon, clove, biscuit and roasted malt flavors. Full body and moderate carbonation. Chocolate, clove and nutmeg finish.
Very impressive. rich roasted and toasted flavors with huge spices but not overwhelming. Very sweet balanced by bitter roasted malts. Nice thick body and creamy mouthfeel. Low co2. Slight booziness. The spices are there but modest which is great.
22 oz bottle pours a dark brown color with a small white head. Aromas of ginger, nutmeg, roasted malt. Full bodied, a very nice Christmas beer