The tour wasn't hugely detailed or long, and took less than an hour of actual tour, but it was really nice to see where some of my favourite beers in the world were invented. (All of the R&D goes on at this facility; only their original Boston Lager and the discontinued Lightship were invented before they moved out of Koch's kitchen.)
Of course, the tour ended in a huge tasting room, where they gave us each five-ounce Sam Adams tasting glasses (which we got to keep) and passed around pitchers of three different varieties, in turn, for us to try. They served Boston Lager, the company's first and flagship brew, then the Spring Ale that's just hitting stores for the season, and then the truly wonderful Double Bock. That's a very rich and high-alcohol-content beer.
We'd stayed and chatted with one of the brewery tour guides before heading into the tasting room, and we talked a bit about Triple Bock. It's their expensive beer that's hardly at all like beer, much more like port or sherry, and it's sold in individual bottles. It seemed as though Micaela would enjoy that (she doesn't like beer), and on our way out of the tasting room, I spotted two bottles of the stuff. Asked Matt (the guide) if Micaela might be able to have a taste, and he slipped me a nearly-empty bottle in a plastic shopping bag.
Cornell beating Harvard in hockey was nice, too. ;-)