Pictures of homebrewers Joe Formanek, Corey Martin and Fred Hessler will grace bottles when the 2012 Samuel Adams LongShot beers are released next year.
Formanek and Martin won the national homebrew contest Samuel Adams conducts annually, while Martin was first in the in-house competition. As winners they earned the opportunity to make their beers along side Samuel Adams brewers and see them released in the 2012 LongShot Variety Six-Pack next year.
“The difference between craft brewers and homebrewers is ambiguous, sometimes all they need is a shot,” Samuel Adams founder Jim Koch said. “At Samuel Adams, we’re fueling the passions of homebrew hobbyists who are committed to brewing better beer by giving them the opportunity to achieve the ultimate homebrewer’s dream — making their beer available to beer lovers across the country.”
Formanek, who is from suburban Chicago, won for Five Crown Imperial Stout, while Texan Martin triumphed with A Dark Night in Munich. Their beers advanced to final judging in Boston by winning regional competitions.
For more than 15 years, Samuel Adams employees have competed in their own annual homebrew competition. Koch and other company brewers pick three finalists from the beers submitted. Those three employee homebrewers attend the Great American Beer Festival, where attendees vote for their favorite. This year, GABF attendees chose Hessler’s Derf’s Secret Alt as their favorite.