Prior to being a published author (and working my current day job), I spent a decade in the beer business. I got to talk about beer on a daily basis and travel up to New England a few times a year, where I found my favorite beer.
Prior to that, I would try just about any beer I was offered. And one that I found was Sam Adams Old Fezziwig. It’s a spiced brown ale (think Newcastle Ale) that they only brought out in October for the Holidays.
Side Note: I learned in my time in the beer biz that in order to get any shelf space, craft beers launch their seasonal offerings when Sam Adams does. And when they were an up-and-coming craft brewer, they had to bring their seasonals out early. That’s why you get Oktoberfest brews in August and Christmas beers in October.
The last time I had this beer was at least a decade ago. I would look for it around the holidays but never find it.
This past weekend, we were going to a Friendsgiving party and it’s BYOB. I hadn’t had any beer in a while, so I went to my local Giant to get some. I often go to a craft six-pack, but I hadn’t bought a mix-and-match sixer in a while, so I figured I give it a whirl.
Naturally, Sam Adams (being the second largest craft brewer behind Yuengling) had the most shelf space, and their winter beers were already out.
But I looked to the leftmost part of the Sam Adams row and saw a red can I didn’t recognize. At the top it said it was a Limited Release and looked further down the can.
Old Fezzwig was back! I grabbed the last two they had and broke one open at the party. It was just as good as I remembered. Carmel notes and a toffee taste, perfectly encapsulating the holidays. If this is an omen for the holidays, it’s going to be a good season!