Samuel Adams Homebrew Contest Winners Lands in Stores

BOSTON -- The winning recipes of the Samuel Adams LongShot American Homebrew Contest -- Category 23 Variety will be on store shelves this month. The contest received more than 700 entries, with two floating to the top of the homebrew crop.

Samuel Adams founder and brewer Jim Koch tapped homebrewers nationwide to think outside the box and develop a "Category 23" style beer unlike any other. Georgia resident Richard Roper's Friar Hop Ale and Illinois resident Rodney Kibzey's Blackened Hops beer were named the 2010 winners at the Great American Beer Festival. In addition to those two winning brews, Samuel Adams also honored Employee Homebrew Winner Caitlin DeClercq for her Honey B's Lavender Wheat beer. All three homebrewers had the opportunity to brew alongside the Samuel Adams brewers in Boston. Their recipes were bottled and are now available nationally in six packs.

The brews come to market just as the company is gearing up for this year's contest. The 2011 American Homebrew Contest will be accepting submissions between May 9 and May 20. Two winning beers will be chosen from all of the entries and the chosen homebrewers will have their brews made available across the country in 2012.

"I started homebrewing the first batch of Samuel Adams Boston Lager in my kitchen 27 years ago, and ever since then I've been passionate about creating unique and interesting brews that challenge the perception of what beer can be," Koch said. "We asked homebrewers to really push beer's boundaries and brew their own one-of-a-kind recipes. I was very impressed by the quality and creativity of the homebrew entries submitted to the first Samuel Adams LongShot American Homebrew Contest -- Category 23; Richard Roper's Friar Hop Ale, Rodney Kibzey's Blackened Hops and Caitlin DeClercq's Honey B's Lavender Wheat are all exceptional beers that will give American craft beer drinkers an opportunity to taste interesting ingredients and flavors that they may have never expected in a beer. The response and creativity were overwhelming and I look forward to seeing what other great brews homebrewers will come up with in the 2011 contest."

The variety six-pack will be available in select retail stores beginning in late March for a suggested retail price of $9.99. The variety pack will include two bottles each of Roper's Friar Hop Ale, Kibzey's Blackened Hops and DeClercq's Honey B's Lavender Wheat.