The Boston Beer Company, Inc. (SAM) S-8 Registration of securities for employees

EXHIBIT 5.1

100 Summer Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02110-2131
(617) 345-1000
Fax: (617) 345-1300

December 7, 2004

The Boston Beer Company, Inc.
75 Arlington Street
Boston, MA 02116

Ladies and Gentlemen:

      We have acted as counsel to The Boston Beer Company, Inc., a Massachusetts corporation (the "Company"), in connection with the registration statement on Form S-8 (the "Registration Statement") of the Company to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Commission") with respect to the registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Act"), of 150,000 shares of the Company's Common Stock, $.01 par value per share (the "Shares"), to be issued from time to time pursuant to the Company's 1996 Stock Option Plan for Non-Employee Directors, as amended (the "Plan").

      We have examined originals or copies, certified or otherwise identified to our satisfaction, of all such records of the Company and all such agreements, certificates of public officials, certificates of officers or other representatives of the Company, and such other documents, certificates and corporate or other records as we have deemed necessary or appropriate as a basis for the opinions set forth herein, including (i) the Articles of Organization of the Company as amended through the date hereof, (ii) the By-Laws of the Company as amended through the date hereof, and (iii) the Plan.

      As to questions of fact material to our opinion expressed herein, we have, when relevant facts were not independently established, relied upon certificates of, and information received from, the Company and/or representatives of the Company. We have made no independent investigation of the facts stated in such certificates or as to any information received from the Company and/or representatives of the Company and do not opine as to the accuracy of such factual matters. We also have relied, without investigation, upon certificates and other documents from, and conversations with, public officials.

      In rendering the opinions expressed below, we have assumed, without investigation, the authenticity of any document or other instrument submitted to us as an original, the conformity to the originals of any document or other instrument submitted to us a copy, the genuineness of all signatures on such originals or copies, and the legal capacity of natural persons who executed any such document or instrument at the time of execution thereof.

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The Boston Beer Company, Inc. December 7, 2004 Page 2
The opinion expressed below is limited to the Business Corporation Act of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and we do not express any opinion herein concerning any other law.       Based upon and subject to the foregoing, and the other qualifications and limitations contained herein, and after (a) the above-referenced Registration Statement has become effective under the Act and assuming that such effectiveness remains in effect throughout the period during which Shares are offered and sold, and (b) the Shares have, if required, been duly qualified or registered, as the case may be, for sale under applicable state securities laws and all applicable state securities laws are complied with, we are of the opinion that the Shares are duly authorized and, if and when issued in accordance with the terms of the Plan, will be validly issued, fully-paid and nonassessable.       We hereby consent to the filing of this opinion as an exhibit to the Registration Statement. In giving this consent, we do not thereby admit that we are in the category of persons whose consent is required under Section 7 of the Act or the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder.
	Very truly yours,
	/s/ Nixon Peabody LLP

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