Jim Koch On Starting The Craft Beer Revolution And Sam Adams’ Partnership With The Boston Red Sox

Back in the day, you had difficulty getting distributors to take your beer. Tell us a little about that experience and when you made the decision to market it yourself.

You see this sort of hesitation with any product or idea that disrupts the norm. I created a beer that tasted different than the pale yellow beers of those days with an odd name, so distributors viewed Sam Adams as more of a risk than a game-changer. I knew I had something special with Boston Lager though, and if no one else was going to take a chance on me, I had to take that leap myself. That’s when I decided to distribute the beer myself and take my beer from bar to bar in Boston.

Photo Credit: Samuel Adams

You remain the top craft brewer in the country now and have been so for more than 30 years. What do you think has been the secret to your success?

To be successful, you have to start with a great product, so I’d have to say the beer!  Some other factors I attribute to our success has been our desire to continue to push the boundaries in brewing, experimentation, innovation and passion for what we do.

While we’ve seen success, we’ve also worked to ensure success for the craft beer industry overall. Craft brewing makes up 13% of total beer, so the more drinkers we bring in, the better we all do. To support the industry, we help provide loans and business coaching to fellow brewers through our Brewing the American Dream program (including 44 loans to nearly 40 small craft breweries totaling $1.3 million), have shared hops during shortages and we even support homebrewers through our LongShot American Homebrew Competition.

What changes to you see coming to the craft beer industry in the future?

It’s the greatest time in history to be a craft beer drinker, and it’s just keeps getting better. I think we will continue to see the industry grow, ongoing innovation and even more great beers available to drinkers.

How does it feel to now be the official beer of the Boston Red Sox?

Are you kidding?! It’s my personal impossible dream come true. We got our start here in Boston, and for the past three decades we’ve stayed independent and worked our butts off to brew great beer. As the official beer of the Red Sox, we get to celebrate our New England roots with millions of other fans. I’ll drink to that.