I’m not sure who came up with the idea of holding a homebrew competition with the prospect of commercial production for the winning entries, but it was a great one. Pete's Brewing held such a competition before Boston Beer’s Longshot competition, and the winner became their Wicked Winter Brew. Boston Beer’s Longshot featured two separate competitions yielding two runs of three beers each, unfortunately that seems to be the extent of the line, at least for the foreseeable future. A shame since Longshot beers have been decent to say the very least. 

One of the great things about homebrewing is that it allows you to experiment with brews that you might never see from a commercial brewery. Each of the two Longshot runs has featured such a beer. This year’s is a Molasses Coffee Stout of original gravity 1058 and 20 IBU’s of bitterness. Not surprisingly, this beer is deep black in color with a thick tan head. The nose is full of coffee aromas, but here it’s the genuine article, not the suggestions roasted malt often imparts. The palate is extremely coffeeish too, but the molasses seems to have fermented out, or at the least is masked by the slightly harsh, astringent coffee bitterness. An interesting formulation by Paul and Kari Karasiewicz of Dayton, NJ. 

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft