Posted on 06/17/2026 1:35:18 PM PDT by nickcarraway
The parent company of Sam Adams said its Boston Taproom ran out of the brand's flagship Boston Lager over the weekend because Scotland soccer fans in Boston for the 2026 World Cup drank four times as much as the bar usually sells.
Boston Beer Co. said in a news release that from Thursday to Sunday, the Tartan Army -- Scotland's supporters organization -- drank four times what the company normally stocks during a typical four-day holiday stretch like the Fourth of July, adding that it had to schedule an emergency delivery of beer Saturday morning and are adding extra deliveries this week to make sure it has enough.
"We've never seen anything like it," Billy DeCain of the Sam Adams Boston Taproom told NBC Boston.
"The White Bull Tavern, there was no beer," Scottish fan Dave Orr told NBC. "The Scottish fans just drank the place dry and all they had was Bud Light."
"Pretty much everything. We ran out of everything," Paul Morris of The White Bull Tavern said. "Tennent's being number one.
"The fans have been unbelievable. They're great -- fun, drinking, partying -- having a great time."
Boston has been taken over by Scotland fans the past few days, as they've traveled over the Atlantic to witness their men's soccer team play in its first World Cup in 28 years.
In a news release, Boston Beer Co. said, "There are 20 beers on tap there, including many you can only get at the taproom, but they were basically only drinking Boston Lager. We're adding extra deliveries this week to make sure we have enough."
Noelle Somers, chief operating officer at Hennessy's Bar, told The Boston Globe that the sales "tripled St. Patrick's Day."
"We've been here for over 30 years, and we've never seen anything like it," she told the Boston Globe.
On Saturday night, the fans watched Scotland defeat Haiti 1-0 at Gillette Stadium.
And after navigating the packed trains and traffic jams, the party continued long into the morning across Boston's many bars. Then, just under 24 hours after Scotland's win on the pitch, the Boston Red Sox put on "Scotland Day" at Fenway Park.
The Tartan Army led a fan march from Evans Way Park to the ballpark. It was led by a cohort of folks playing bagpipes as they brought a touch of Scotland to New England.
A conservative estimate saw at least 5,000 fans take part -- but judging by eye in Fenway Park, thousands more made the trip to watch the Red Sox play the Texas Rangers.
Scotland next play against Morocco on Friday at Gillette Stadium.
They come for the beer but they stay for the farts.
Yep, they are prone to gettin’ a wee bit drunk.
Its Scots, I mean all they do is drink so whats the problem they do what they do best
What’s under YOUR kilt?
Drink beer because no great story started with someone eating a salad.
Correct, but they did run out of beer.
“I am Scots/Irish and Cherokee...”
I probably am too. Ancestors early 1700’s from Ulster to Kentucky via Virginia, North Carolina.
“I am Scots/Irish and Cherokee...”
I probably am too. Ancestors early 1700’s from Ulster to Kentucky via Virginia, North Carolina.
“I am Scots/Irish and Cherokee...”
I probably am too. Ancestors early 1700’s from Ulster to Kentucky via Virginia, North Carolina.
It was an excuse to get rid of the too drunk, mitigating liability.
Please re-read: The Scottish fans just drank the place dry and all they had was Bud Light.”
Those Scotts Know beer from Queer
"Bud Light is likely not considered beer"
That’s socialism for you. Next they’ll run out of water.
Because Sam Adams is real beer and not the watered-down, rice-filled swill that are other beers.
Sam Adams Boston Lager has four ingredients: Water, malts, hops & yeast.
The two largest consumers of rice in America is Anheuser-Busch and Miller Brewing.
Most breweries use rice because it's the cheapest of grains and thereby delivers the highest profit margin.
It makes an acceptable-tasting beer, but you'll end up with a raging headache after a few drinks.
“...emergency delivery of beer...”
Are we having fun now?
Not surprising. Sam Adams Boston Lager is real beer. I've been drinking it since it was introduced in 1984.
It has a stronger, 'hoppy' taste compared to most pilsners and lagers that takes a little getting used to.
Most American brand beers use rice as the primary grain whereas Sam Adams Boston Lager uses only malted grains.
In fact, Boston Lager uses only four ingredients: water, malted grains, hops and yeast.
Maybe the rest of the world will (finally) figure out that maybe we, Americans, are onto something.
World Cup fans fall in love with American culture, comfort food classics
X user @FreddyLA7, from Germany, has more than 500,000 followers and has been posting enthusiastically about his experience exploring the South. He began his road trip nearly a week ago, according to his posts. He raved about how green Georgia is, writing, "it’s crazy," and posted a picture of a Taco Bell and a pile of food, declaring the fast-food chain "The holy land."
Freddy took in some "Stranger Things" filming locations and the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park and raved about his experience at Walmart.
"Just had our first Waffle House experience at 1 a.m.," he posted, along with photos of several plates of food. "Great food, great prices and friendly staff. 10/10, we will be coming back."
Freddy enjoyed a mountain of food that he called "Wendy’s escalation!" and joked about the number of soft drink choices he said were "overwhelming."
He captioned a photo of a Buc-ee’s, writing, "DUDE LMAO THIS IS A GAS STATION," as well as a photo of the dinner he procured from the travel center at 1 a.m. He also featured Chili’s, Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, Chipotle, Buffalo Wild Wings and Waffle House (again) in his posts.
Freddy called Bass Pro Shop’s Outdoor World "another surreal place." He posted a photo of a selection of rifles in the store.
I know some people will say I’m too positive about everything I see," he wrote, "but this place was crazy. They had a shooting range in the store."
In another post, he wrote, "I love Americans. We were about to walk an hour to the stadium in the rain to save on an Uber, and the receptionist at the hotel we were parked in front of decided to drive us there."
An X post by user @washghost1 showing a little Norwegian boy ordering at In-N-Out and then delighting in his burger has garnered nearly 900,000 views.
@SkylarSkye3 posted a photo of food from luxury grocery store chain Erewhon.
"I can’t lie… the food in America is ridiculous," she wrote. "Everyone talks about portion sizes, but nobody talks enough about how GOOD everything tastes. Even the ‘quick’ food feels elite compared to what I’m used to in the U.K."
X user @japan_nobunaga wrote a lengthy post about his experience at an American breakfast counter (though it's unclear if he's in the U.S. for the World Cup or simply to tour the country). The waitress had recommended the biscuits and gravy.
"When the plate arrived, I thought something had gone wrong in the kitchen," he wrote. "I say this with shame. The dish looked like a construction site after rain. Pale mounds. Gray ladle-fall. Speckles I could not identify. In my land, the eye eats first. A meal is arranged like a garden. This meal was arranged like weather."
He said he changed his mind after tasting the Southern staple.
"I must now formally apologize to the biscuits, the gravy, the waitress, the kitchen and the entire breakfast tradition of the American South," he wrote.
"It was magnificent. Warm. Peppered. The biscuit drank the gravy the way a field drinks rain — THAT is why it is shaped like that, you fool — and every mound I had insulted was a soft fold of comfort that my homeland, in 800 years, never once thought to invent."
The same user also humorously documented his experience with brain freeze after drinking a gas station slushy too quickly and the wonders of coleslaw at a BBQ meal.
"One thing I love about the European World Cup tourists right now is that they’re not just being dropped off in the middle of Los Angeles or New York City or some overhyped metropolitan hub that most Americans like myself don’t even like," X user @realmikolson observed.
"They’re being dropped right in the middle of the heart of middle America."
"A wise man once said, ‘If you want to hate America, watch the news. If you want to love America, drive across it,’" Olson wrote on the post accompanying the video clip.
Olson said international tourists driving nine hours across Texas and experiencing Auburn University fraternity houses are witnessing "overwhelming American kindness."
"A lot of the locals in these areas have no idea who these people are or why they’re even there," he said, adding that there’s been very little World Cup news or marketing, particularly in small towns.
Nevertheless, he’s heard of instances of restaurant owners driving World Cup fans to games because they can’t find an Uber. A deli owner gave British tourists free lunch "just because they came all this way," he said.
Some Alabama firefighters reportedly gave foreign visitors a tour of their fire department and free merchandise.
Olson said that the hospitality that’s "shocking" tourists is a direct result of people "living by American values and principles."
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