Sounds to me like you just like "good" beer. Sam Adams lager just wasn't that great of a beer, it was very over-hopped for a lager and beyond that it didn't have a great flavor profile. I, too, preferred the Boston Ale.
I enjoy Pilsners and Bocks primarily because they are lagers due to the cold fermented bottom-fermenting yeast.
Most beer connoisseurs describe lagers as being "cleaner" than ales because the bottom-fermenting yeasts in lagers produce fewer of the esters that can muddy up the flavor of an ale.
Many brewers will tell you that pilsners are the hardest beer in the world to make, because the lightly roasted malts and low ester content leaves the brewer absolutely no leeway for making mistakes. It's much easier to hide a mistake in an ale, or even a lager with more heavily roasted malts.
