Boston Beer Company -- better known simply as Sam Adams -- is the Rodney Dangerfield of the beer world. No, it's not dead, nor is it unfunny (founder Jim Koch seems like an amusing guy), but it gets little to no respect. This because it was one of the first small craft breweries to hit it big. So big, in fact, they just changed the definition of "craft brewery" to allow Sam Adams to still qualify as one. It's not "cool" to celebrate something like that.
In the real world, however, Sam Adams is consistently above average. Sometimes they even do some excellent stuff.
Their Winter Lager is definitely a good one at least, one of the better winter beers this season. It's a bock which pours a dark brown color with a nice tan one finger head. The nose reveals plenty of malt, as well as spices and caramel. It smells like winter.
The flavors don't surprise. This is a nicely balanced lager, with malts and spices lacing the tongue in harmony not seen since Berlin, 1989. The spices linger in the back of the mouth pleasantly. All in all, this is very drinkable, and at 5.5% ABV, it's a good session beer.
Hating something because it's relatively popular is odd. Judge by quality. Sam Adams Winter Lager definitely has enough of that.