Samuel Adams: What’s on Tap

Welcome to the Award Winning edition of the What’s On Tap!

Just to be clear, the What’s On Tap is most definitely NOT winning any literary awards, but the Samuel Adams® beers we all know and love certainly are. I just returned home from a few amazing days at the Great American Beer Festival® (GABF) and it was one hell of a time! 400+ breweries, 2000+ beers to try and a whole boat load of craft beer lovers.

It was a busy time for us at the GABF. We brought home a nice peice of hardware, announced the winners of the LongShot® American Homebrew Contest® and got to taste some amazing craft brews. In fact, I am still trying to catch up on some sleep….

In this edition of the WOT, you’ll find out about all of our Denver activities, our October Open House and who won our Beer Lover’s Choice® election!

And keep your eyes and inboxes open for next month’s newsletter…special things are on their way…

Cheers!
– Brian

Ok, a cheesy introduction, but that is pretty much how we felt out there! The GABF was an incredible, four-day whirlwind of great breweries, great beer and great people. We met some awesome Sam Fans throughout the weekend. Thanks so much to everyone for stopping by the booth. I love meeting people who love the beer as much as I do.

I also got to taste a few fantastic beers from other US craft brewers. Not that anyone is asking my opinion, but American Craft Brewers are definitely making some of the finest beer in the world. If you are a beer lover and haven’t ever been to the GABF, I would definitely recommend making the trip.

On a side note, they were also judging a couple beers (sarcasm) at the festival and we just happened to bring home a beautiful gold medal in our suitcase. We won a GOLD MEDAL for our Samuel Adams® Double Bock. Needless to say the brewery was very proud!

All kidding aside, the GABF is one of the largest and most respected competitions among US craft brewers and we are very proud to have one of our beers selected as a medal winner.

To go along with our award-winning brews, we also honored a few award-winning homebrewers. All four finalists joined us out in Denver to enjoy the festival and to learn which of their beers would be included in the LongShot six-pack.

Mike McDole (California), David Jackson (Georgia), Rodney Kibzey (Illinois), and Dave Pobutkiewicz (New Jersrey)

So, after judging over 2,000 homebrew entries, Jim Koch, Gary Glass from the American Homebrewers Association and a collection of other beer experts finally came to agreement on the winners of the 2007 LongShot American Homebrew Contest:

Mike McDole for his Double IPA and Rodney Kibzey for his Weizenbock.

Needless to say, it was a pretty exciting trip for our winners. They got to taste their beers again as well as other beers at the festival. It was fun to watch all of the homebrewers talk about each others brews. I think everyone was impressed with the winning homebrews. Now, their beers will be brewed and distributed throughout the country in the LongShot six-pack beginning in February 2008. With the two American Homebrew Contest winners selected, that left just one more spot open in the LongShot six-pack…

Our three Samuel Adams employee homebrew finalists had quite a full weekend. For four days they were meeting GABF attendees and tasting them on their beer. Each person who visited the LongShot booth was asked to vote for their favorite employee beer. After a very close election, with over 1400 votes, Lili Hess’s Grape Ale emerged as the winner of the 2008 Samuel Adams Employee Homebrew Contest.

So, we have a Double IPA, a Weizenbock, and a Grape Ale. That is quite an array of beers for one six-pack and I can’t wait for you all to taste them. Congratulations to all of our finalists! They were all amazing beers! Over the next 5 months we will be working to get these awesome homebrews to you…so be patient. We have the test batches already brewing in Boston. It was definitely another successful year at the GABF and I am already looking forward to next year!

It was yet another close vote in our 2007 Beer Lover’s Choice election. As a quick reminder, our Beer Lover’s Choice® election takes place in bars across the country and lets you decide what is going to be the next Samuel Adams beer. In the end, with all precincts reporting, we have declared Samuel Adams® Irish Red this year’s winner and newest member of the Samuel Adams® Brewmaster’s Collection!

With over 42,000 votes cast by drinkers all over the country, absolutely shattering last years record vote, Samuel Adams Irish Red will be available in January in its own six-pack and in the Samuel Adams Brewmasters Variety six- and twelve-packs.

Samuel Adams Irish Red
Originally brewed in Kilkenny, Ireland in 1710, Irish Red Ales are known for being remarkably balanced. Our interpretation is true to the style. Pale and Caramel malts give the beer its rich, deep red color and distinctive caramel flavor. The sweetness of the malt is pleasantly balanced by a pronounced hop bitterness, and in turn, the beer finishes with a smooth earthy note from the East Kent Goldings hops.

Hops last month, Barley this month.

We had a great Open House last month that was perfect for any hop lover. Now, we decided we would do an Open House about another key ingredient – Barley. We were just in Saskatchewan to take a look at the Barley crop, so we have grain on the brain. We’ll tell you everything you need to know about the difference between two-row and six-row barley, why different roasts are used and what special barley we use specifically for our Samuel Adams beers.

It should be a very educational night and there will be a few “malt-bombs” to taste and I promise that next month’s Open House won’t be about yeast.

RSVP here

• What: Samuel Adams® Open House – Barley Night
• When: Thursday, October 25th – 5pm to 8pm
• Where: Samuel Adams® Boston Brewery
  30 Germania Street
  MBTA Orange Line to Stony Brook Station