LongShot contest adds ‘East vs. West’ theme

Boston Beer Co. has added to new twist to its Samuel Adams LongShot contest from homebrewers. For the first time it will feature an “East vs. West” battle. Judges will choose one winning beer from east of the Mississipi River and one from the west. Each will be brewed by Samuel Adams and sold in the 2016 LongShot six-pack along with a beer from the winner of the Samuel Adams employee contest.

The submission window for the contest is May 1-16 and details are available at the company website. Winners will be announce at the 2015 Great American Beer Festival in Denver.

While Samuel Adams is accepting entries for the 2015 contest, the Samuel Adams LongShot American Homebrew Contest variety six-pack with winning brews from the 2014 winners will be available nationwide in select retail stores this spring. This year’s winners include Forestville, Calif., resident Greg Rasmussen; Smithtown, N.Y., resident Matthew Knott; and Brooklyn, N.Y., resident and Samuel Adams employee John Marra. The variety pack will include two bottles each of Greg’s “Raspy’s Robust Porter,” Matthew’s “Smokehouse Rauchbier” and John’s “Dark Night in Brooklyn” Dunkelweiss.