Boston Beer

In 1984, Jim Koch left his job at Boston Consulting Group, took a family recipe from his father's attic, and started brewing beer in his kitchen. Along with co-founders Rhonda Kallman, Harry Rubin, and Lorenzo Lamadrid, he launched The Boston Beer Company. Their flagship beer, Samuel Adams Boston Lager, was named after the revolutionary figure. They weren't just selling beer; they were starting a movement against the mass-produced domestic lagers that dominated the market. The company's growth was fueled by a focus on quality ingredients and a grassroots marketing strategy. Koch famously went bar-to-bar in Boston, persuading bartenders to carry his beer. This hands-on approach paid off, and by 1985, Samuel Adams Boston Lager was voted "Best Beer in America" at the Great American Beer Festival. This early win was a crucial proof point for the nascent craft beer scene. A pivotal moment for the company came in November 1995 when it went public on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol SAM. Unconventionally, they offered shares to their loyal customers through flyers in their six-packs, allowing the people who built the brand to own a piece of it. This IPO provided the capital for significant expansion, including the purchase of breweries to keep up with demand. Boston Beer's journey from a kitchen startup to a publicly traded company helped legitimize the entire American craft beer industry.