The four traditional ingredients in beer are water, malt, hops and yeast. With the new Samuel Adams Nitro Project, the brewers want drinkers to experience a fifth ingredient: nitrogen, in place of carbonation.
After experimenting with many iterations and test batches in the nanobrewery at the Sam Adams Boston Brewery, the company has announced the release of the first three brews from the Samuel Adams Nitro Project: Nitro White Ale, Nitro IPA, and Nitro Coffee Stout.
Nitro White Ale (5.5% ABV) is made with orange peel, coriander and Grains of Paradise, with hints of orange and peppery spice and a light wheat character.
Nitro IPA (7.5% ABV) has initial creaminess that gives way to hop intensity gathered from Amarillo, Centennial, Galaxy, Polaris, Simcoe, and Zeus hops. The hop varieties lend resinous pine, citrus and floral notes to the amber-bodied brew.
Nitro Coffee Stout (5.8% ABV) is a jet black brew with dark roasted malts, notes of bittersweet chocolate with hints of dark fruit. Sumatran Mandheling and Indian Monsoon Malabar coffee add a deep roast dimension to the beer.
Nitro beers are most commonly associated with stouts, but Sam Adams has nitrogenated a variety of styles. Nitro beers use a combination of both nitrogen and carbon dioxide. Nitrogen is mostly insoluble in beer, so the resulting bubbles are smaller and create the rich, creamy texture familiar to nitro beers.
Nitro White Ale is available nationwide on draft. Nitro White Ale, Nitro IPA and Nitro Coffee Stout will be available in 4-packs of 15-oz. cans beginning in February for a suggested retail price of $8.99-$10.99 per pack (all prices vary by market).
