Folks, my life is a nightmare! The unthinkable has happened! My world is shattered! What’s wrong you ask? I missed a Longshot Homebrew Contest sampler six-pack from Samuel Adams! It was the 2015 release of the 2014 winners that I lost out on, because I just couldn’t find them anywhere. They sounded so good, too: a robust porter, a classic rauchbier, and a dunkelweizen. Other than this miss, I’ve had them all, all the way back to 1996.
Every cloud has a silver lining though, or so they say, and the good news here is that that didn’t happen again with the 2016 Longshot sampler. I got an alert from Boston Beer that it should be hitting store shelves, and when I checked my local Total Wine’s website, they did indeed have it. Well, a little of it. When I got there I snatched up one of the two six-packs they had. The salesman told me they had only ordered a case, which seemed strange to me.
Anyway, the sampler included 2 bottles each of the following:
· Nanzer’s Belgian Golden Ale
· Raspberry Berliner Weisse
· Neighborino Flanders Red Ale
It’s the Longshot Raspberry Berliner Weisse that I’m here to talk about today, and I’ll let Boston beer do the initial talking. From the label:
At first look, you notice the big frothy head of this Raspberry Berliner Weisse. The bright notes of raspberries are balanced by refreshing tartness, followed by a wonderful fruity sweetness and clean finish.
Samuel Adams Longshot Raspberry Berliner Weisse has an alcohol content of 4% by volume, a little high for a Berliner Weiss in truth. The beer has just 8 IBUs and I paid $9.99 for my six-pack sampler. The bottle is notched as best before September of 2016.
Samuel Adams Longshot Raspberry Berliner Weisse pours to a cloudy dark red color with a thick fizzy tan ruby head and a light fruity raspberry nose. Taking a sip, the beer is quickly tart and wheaty up front, with tart and robust berry flavor too. Its creamy from the fruit and slightly sour in the finish but not as puckering as I want in the style. Still, it’s very refreshing on a warm spring day and served perfectly to wash down a burger fresh off the grill.
I did enjoy this beer, and congrats to Tim Thomssen of Nebraska for his winning recipe of a Berliner Weiss mit schuss. The 2016 competition marks the 20th anniversary of Boston beer’s commitment to homebrewers. Interested in entering? You can get the details on the Longshot website.
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