Longshot Traditional Bock - Boston Beer Company, Boston

Longshot Traditional Bock, a beer created by homebrewer Alex Drobshoff. How cool is that... You enter your beer in a homebrew contest sponsored by Samuel Adams, win and not only do you get your picture on the label but your beer gets distributed nationally. It doesn't stop there though, probably the coolest thing about the Longshot is that it's actually quite delicious. The folks at Sam Adams know their beers so I wasn't really doubting the quality of a handpicked contest winner, but I was still pleasantly surprised by the quality of this beer. Even though this is labeled a Bock I think of it as a borderline Doppelbock. After all, it is almost 7% ABV and has a lot of Doppelbock qualities. The Longshot packs a ton of roasted barley up front, it hits you as soon as the beer lands on your tongue. Don't get me wrong, this doesn't taste like it's smoked or anything. It just has that warm, almost salty quality... like an Amber but replace the hops with malt.

Speaking of malt, this beer has plenty of that too... To bring you back from roasted grain overload, the Longshot has generous amounts of creamy, sweet caramel malt. Each drink of the Longshot was great. You start out with a mouthful of roasted barley and finish with a sweet malt that has a hint of dark chocolate. It's pretty good for a Doppelbock, it's even better considering it's just a Bock.