Here it is August, and I’m actually just finishing up the last of my 2008 Longshot beers. If you don’t already know, Boston Beer Company (the makers of Samuel Adams beers) offers its fans a chance to have their own homebrew recipe brewed up and sold in stores all across America. And while I’m still drinking this year’s batch, they're busy getting ready for 2009, announcing four finalists: a traditional German style Bock, a somewhat less traditional Espresso Stout, a classic German Pilsner, and an English Brown Ale. For my part, I’m rooting for the Bock and the Espresso Stout, but your mileage may vary.

Anyway, I hope that whatever beers end up triumphant and appear in next year’s sampler, they’re as good as the Longshot Weizenbock that I’m sipping tonight. Homebrewer Rodney Kibzey gets the credit for the recipe for this one (and his face on every bottle as his reward). This is, in my estimation, one of the best Longshot beers to come around the pike, ever. Kudos once again to Boston beer for giving homebrewers a chance to have their beer showcased, and for giving the rest of us an opportunity to enjoy them.

If you’ve never tasted a weizenbock before, you’re in for a treat. These German-style wheat beers combine chewy barley malt flavor with tart wheat character and spicy clove notes from the yeast employed. And like the bock style from which they borrow, they’re also stronger than most. Rodney’s Longshot Weizenbock has an alcohol content of 7.2% alcohol by volume, about half again as strong as most beers.

Longshot Weizenbock pours to a wonderfully murky red color with a thick rocky head formation and a spicy nose of clove and banana. Weizenbocks usually have a bigger, firmer body than most wheat beers do, and this one is no exception. The tart wheat comes through nicely, but there’s plenty of chocolate, too, some spicy clove, and plenty of banana and apple fruit. Fresh bread and chewy caramel come through, too. The finish is slightly sweet, with a little alcohol warmth and a lot of malt richness.

I really enjoyed this beer when the 2008 Longshot six-pack was released, but I also just popped a bottle dug from the depths of my DBR with about six months of age on it. If anything, I think it’s gotten a little meatier, with a rich and luscious mouthfeel that really satisfies. A shame this one isn’t available anymore, other than perhaps the odd Longshot six-pack left hanging around, And even then you’d have to buy three bottles of Longshot Grape Pale Ale with it, that likely have not held up so well.

Boston Beer, if you’re listening, Samuel Adams Weizenbock would be a great addition to your lineup…….