40 Years of Craft: Sam Adams x Boston Harbor Distillery

In celebration of Samuel Adams’ 40th Anniversary, we’re inviting drinkers out to sample through the decades with us! We’ll be hosting our own beer festival at the Boston Brewery, showcasing fan-favorite throwbacks alongside our newest taproom innovations, while highlighting friends we’ve made along the way through collaborations. Join us as we celebrate 40 years with live music, VIP Sessions, small business food pop-ups, and a retrospective in the form of beer! 

As part of the festivities, we reached out to a friend from our starting days: Rhonda Kallman. Rhonda helped Jim cofound the Boston Beer Company, our parent company, in 1984 and oversaw sales and marketing during our foundational years. Serving as the Executive Vice President for 15 years, she helped launch this homebrew dream into a craft beer revolution. 

Rhonda continued to pave the way as an innovator in the alcohol industry and founded Boston Harbor Distillery in 2012. With a penchant for whiskey, she began her next entrepreneurial journey. Today Boston Harbor Distillery has a line of handcrafted spirits including whiskey, gin, rum, and—our personal favorites—distilled Sam Adams beers. 

As we approached our 40th anniversary, we knew Rhonda needed to be a part of the party. Over a drink and many memories retold at their Dorchester location, we landed on our next collaboration. Together we’ve brewed RyePA, an Irish red ale aged in the distillery’s Putnam Rye whiskey barrels. 

Named as a nod to Silas Putnam, the craftsman and inventor whose workshop occupied the building that Boston Harbor Distilling now works out of, Putnam Rye is a favorite of Rhonda’s and our brewers. It’s crafted with rye and barley, then aged in American Oak barrels. The resulting whiskey has a slightly spicy kick from the rye while finishing smooth. For our collaboration, we crafted an Irish Rye Ale that is aging in the Putnam Rye barrels. 

RyePA, our partner project, will release on draft during the VIP Session of our 40th Anniversary Festival on March 2nd. Secure your tickets now and be on the lookout for an upcoming collaboration release from Boston Harbor in the future.