Gates chooses Sam Adams & Hub brewer is thrilled
Shares for the Boston Beer Co. were up 53 cents in mid-day trading to $31.22, but it's hard to say whether the lift had anything to do with the surprise appearance of the company's Samuel Adams brand at yesterday's much ballyhooed beer summit at the White House.
According to a story from the Associated Press, Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. opted for a Sam Adams Light when he met President Obama and Sergeant James Crowley, the Cambridge police officer who arrested Gates a few weeks ago for disorderly conduct in an incident that drew worldwide attention.
Earlier media reports had indicated that Gates might choose Red Stripe, a beer brand from Jamaica, for the White House meeting.
A call was placed to Boston Beer seeking reaction on Gates's decision to be the beer equivalent of a locavore, and the company e-mailed a statement from company brewer and founder Jim Koch.
"Was everybody at Samuel Adams thrilled that the president offered his guests our beer?" Koch said. "Absolutely. I may be biased, but to me, it was a perfect choice. After all, Boston is our home and home to both of the president’s guests. I’m honored that the president chose to serve Professor Gates an American craft beer."
Koch added: "Historically, countless important meetings have taken place over a beer. Our namesake, Samuel Adams, and his fellow patriots planned the American Revolution in the taverns in Boston, wrote the Declaration of Independence in a tavern in Philadelphia, and the Constitution was debated in a tavern in New York. Today, I am proud that with all the country watching, an important conversation happened over a Samuel Adams."
According to the AP, Crowley had a Blue Moon beer, and Obama chose a Bud Light.
(At right is a beauty shot of the Sam Adams Light. The photo was provided by Boston Beer.)
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