Samuel Adams Cherry Bomb

Review Date 3/8/2026 By John Staradumsky

  Style: Fruit Beer   Brewery: Boston Beer   Country: USA   State: Massachusetts   $ Per OZ: $.13 (B)   ABV: 9%

You will forgive me friends if I confess there is only one way I could possibly begin my review of Samuel Adams Cherry Bomb. That is:

Hello daddy, hello mom! Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-CHERRY BOMB!!!

And there it is. Shout out to the song from The Runaways, which I have been playing all day now, when not on the stereo, in my head. Perhaps that inspired the name of the beer, or maybe it was the firework that (I think) inspired the song. Regardless, when I heard about this new beer from Samuel Adams, I just had to try it.

That proved difficult at first; no one had it in stock. Then last week, I checked the Samuel Adams webpage for the beer, and noticed they had a button that said Find Cherry Bomb Near You. I decided to try it, clicked the button, and it estimated my location, and was close enough to that mark to display results. To my surprise, the results listed it as ins tock at my local Ingles supermarket, about three miles away.

I was pretty sure I did not believe this; none of the liquor stores I had been to ahd it, Half Time Beverage did not have it listed online, but a supermarket did? I decided to go see. Sure enough, there it was, much to my delight. I bought three cans, careful to leave the last one should someone else be looking for it, too.

Sam says:

Cherry Bomb explodes with bold, juicy, black cherry flavor with just a touch of candied sweetness. It's 9% Alc./Vol., but you'd never know it from the clean, crisp finish. Big flavor, yet refreshingly smooth with every sip.

Samuel Adams Cherry Bomb has just 10 IBUs. I paid $2.57 each for my 19.2-ounce stovepipe cans of Samuel Adams Cherry Bomb, which seems to me a very good deal indeed. They are stamped JUL 2026. My can advertise this beer as Bold & Bright and calls it a Wheat Ale with Honey, Cherry Juice, and Natural Flavors Added. The honey is an added fermentable that helps get the alcohol content up.

Ingredients listed on the website:

HOPS: Hallertau Mittelfrueh

MALTS: Samuel Adams two-row pale malt blend, Munich 10, and malted wheat

YEAST: Samuel Adams Ale yeast

SPECIAL TOUCHES: Michigan Cherries, Honey

Samuel Adams Cherry Bomb pours to a cloudy dark yellow color with a thick fluffy white head and a nose of potent tart cherry fruit. Taking a sip, the beer is full in body, much more so than I thought it would be. It’s rich in cherry flavor, too, absolutely bursting with dark cherry fruit notes. I get a touch of the sweet honey, and underneath just a hint of tart wheat, although that struggles to overcome the cherry notes. At the last, the beer is well balanced with hop bitterness and alcohol warmth that makes this easier to drink than it should be.

I will add there is a bit of cherry cough syrup/Ludens cough drop flavor here that Cherry Wheat is sometimes accused of, but it does not overwhelm for me. Combining sweet cherry and alcohol flavors are going to do that, I think. Comparisons to Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat are inevitable, and expected. If you like that beer, as I do, you might love this one, as I do. If you are not a fan of Cherry Wheat, chanced are you will not like this one, either.

The higher alcohol content makes Samuel Adams Cherry Bomb much more of a slow sipper than Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat is, which I have always found a quaffable refresher. With 19.2-ounces in a stovepipe, there’s plenty to sip, too. It’s also a bargain at the price, actually less per punce than the last Cheery Wheat that I bought.

I will definitely buy this beer again, and hope to see it on tap soon at my local Taco Mac.

Glad I tried it?  T

Would I rebuy it??