LongShot 2013 Results

Back in May I submitted one of my Lilikoi Amber beers to the Samuel Adams LongShot Homebrew Contest, and I've finally got my results. As I discovered in July, that batch of beer turned into a bunch of gushers, so I didn't have high hopes for how my beer would measure up. The judges confirmed that every bottle gushed, but I didn't get slammed as bad as I feared I would, and in the end I'm considering this a positive experience. This is the first homebrew contest I've ever entered, and though I don't have plans of entering another anytime soon, I did find it interesting to hear what the judges had to say. Here are some of the highlights:

Judge 1: "Not as bad as I thought it would be considering the explosion out of the bottle. It did have some slight sourness and plastic-like flavors, but not overwhelming. Watch infection especially with fruit... The passion fruit did come through which was nice and a little surprising." Result: 22/50

Judge 2: "Very distant pilsner malt sweetness with no detectable hop. Remote hint of strawberry. Fleeting breadlike malt aroma emerged with warming, as did tartlike acidity. Persistent off-white finely beaded head. Dry lightly tart/fruit character sits on top of a smooth Brett character." Result: 25/50

Judge 3: "Kept fermenting in the bottle and I think the low alcohol made it susceptable to infection from wild yeast from the passionfruit. Try waiting until beer is finished fermenting and add in the passion fruit with higher alcohol or buy passionfruit that is from concentrate to avoid wild yeast." Result: 23/50

Judge 4: "Faint caramel malt aromas. Maybe some citrusy (grapefruity) hop aroma, and a big passionfruit - sweet scented... Light amber color - a little cloudy with a long-standing ivory head of very fine bubbles... finishes dry with a strange heat... This may have been a really good beer--it seems like a good idea anyway, but there is a wild yeast or bacteria in this bottle that is killing the goodness." Result 28/50

Another interesting aspect was the sense of personality revealed by each judge's comments, and the ways those comments differed. For example, Judge 4 described the beer as "light amber" in color, while Judge 3 called it "dark amber"; and Judges 2 and 4 considered the head-retention to be "persistent/long-standing", but Judge 1 thought the head-retention only "decent", and Judge 3 said it "went flat fast" and seemed "lifeless".