Beer Man: LongShot series offers variety in tasty brews
Beer Man is a weekly profile of beers from across the country and around the world.
This week: Samuel Adams LongShot Series
Boston Beer Co., Boston
Homebrewers are the backbone of the microbrewery industry — they were the ones who helped the rebirth of breweries in the United States by starting the breweries, making the beer and buying the products. Nearly every brewmaster in the U.S. started out as a homebrewer.
The Boston Beer Co., maker of the Samuel Adams brand, holds an annual homebrew contest followed by the release of six-packs featuring two bottles each from the three winners.
My favorite of this year's LongShotofferings was Greg Rasmussen's Raspy's Robust Porter. The Forestville, Calif., resident pulled off the impressive feat of making his porter look delicious through the simple act of pouring it into the glass. The dark brown color with red highlights and slightly viscous body shouted out the richness of the beer.
The taste did not disappoint. The porter had a creamy, solid mouthfeel that almost made me not want to have to swallow it. There were notes of chocolate, caramel and roasted malt, with less of the typical bitter coffee notes found in many porters. As the beer warmed, I also started getting hints of smoke, licorice and grassy hops. This 6.8% ABV beer is one I would be more than happy to buy regularly.
One of the three homebrew competition slots is for Samuel Adams employees, and the winner was Dark Night in Brooklyn, a dunkelweiss made by John Marra of Brooklyn, N.Y. It started out strong in clove aroma with some citrusy notes, and flavors of chocolate and slight tartness. As the ale warmed, aromas and flavors of banana, malt and bready yeast became more apparent.
The 5.2% ABV dunkelweiss had a slight hop bitterness and a dry finish. It lacked the big rocky head that the best weiss beers have and the citrus notes clashed a bit with the chocolate, where in a regular weiss they would fit in well.
Last was the 5% ABV Smokehouse Rauchbier from Matthew Knott, of Smithtown, N.Y. While the smoke was not subtle, it also did not make the beer simply taste like liquid ham. There were flavors of pale and caramel malt, a slight sweetness and a clean but not dry finish.
The LongShot series is just starting an expanded nationwide release. It is supposed to be added in the coming days to Samuel Adams' "Find a Sam Near You" list that has a link at the bottom of the brewery's home page.
Many beers are available only regionally. Check the brewer's website, which often contains information on product availability by mail. Contact Todd Haefer at beerman@postcrescent.com. To read previous Beer Man columns, click here.