Just got word from the SA Newsletter by email:
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First, about the NEW SAM ADAMS BEER STYLE for 2009:
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You Voted & The New Beer Style is...
Your taste buds have spoken! As part of the 4th Annual
Samuel Adams Beer Lover's Choice program over 50,000 of you tasted the two worthy contestants -
Samuel Adams® Blackberry Witbier and
Samuel Adams® Coffee Stout - and cast your votes. The voting was close but as with most contests there can only be one winner. We are pleased to announce (drum roll please) that Samuel Adams Blackberry Witbier will be the next addition to the Samuel Adams family of beers. We brewed this traditional witbier with orange peel and coriander, and then added a hint of blackberry. The flavor is very complex with malt and cereal notes, intense spice and citrus flavors and a smooth, sweet/tart finish. It will be available in January in its own 6-pack and in the Samuel Adams® Brewmaster's Collection Variety 6 & 12-packs.
While a winner has been chosen let us not forget the other worthy contestant. Samuel Adams Coffee Stout was brewed with Rwandan coffee from The Thousand Hills Coffee Company. Thousand Hills' proceeds help subsidize and support the building of schools in Rwanda. To learn more about their admirable efforts visit their
website.
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Now, ABOUT THE LONGSHOT 2009 Variety Pack:
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Big News from the GABF
We're just back from a phenomenal time at the 27th Great American Beer Festival® in Denver, CO. It certainly wasn't our first time at the event - Samuel Adams Boston Lager® won the "Best Beer in America" Award four years running in the Consumer Preference Poll until they retired the award - but we're always impressed by the amazing number of mouth watering American beers there for the tasting. Combine great tasting brews with friendly beer-loving people and you get one heck of a good time. Weíre very excited to share that we won a bronze medal in the aged beer category for Samuel Adams Utopias® 2003 vintage.
We have some other news from the GABF we'd like to share. You may recall that we were going to announce the winner of the 2008 Samuel Adams® American Homebrew Contest® at the festival. The winner had been chosen from thousands of homebrews submitted from all over the country with aspirations of being included in the 2009 Samuel Adams® LongShot® Variety Pack. It certainly wasn't easy but Jim Koch and a panel of experts crowned
Alex Drobshoff and his
Traditional Bock the winner!
GABF attendees also had the chance to taste and vote in the Samuel Adams employee category of the contest. All Samuel Adams employees had the chance to brew but it came down to three employees who brewed tasty beers and worked hard to get votes. In the end
Carissa Sweigart and her
Cranberry Wit grabbed the victory!
Keep an eye out for consumer winner and employee winner's brews in the 2009 Samuel Adams LongShot Variety Pack starting in April '09!
Also in the 2009 Samuel Adams LongShot Variety Pack will be one of last year's winners. Some of you may recall
Mike McDole of California and his
Double IPA. When chosen as a winner in '07, we anxiously anticipated its inclusion in the LongShot 6-pack. However, we were in the midst of a worldwide hops shortage and many of the seven varieties of hops in Mike's recipe were literally sold out. We couldn't find enough of several of these hops on the market at any price to brew his beer. While we presented Mike with a plan to brew his beer substituting in different hops, it ultimately would have created a very different beer. So we were delighted that Mike decided to have his brew included in the '09 LongShot package.
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All contents of this post are from the Sam Adams Newsletter, in case any lawyers find this. Both of the above excerpts are written by Sam Adams / Boston Beer Company, and not by me. Please don't sue me.
Sam Adams '08: Blackberry Witbier, McDole's Double IPA and MORE!!!!
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