I get excited each time the longshot six-pack is made available. This April the six-pack with the winners for 2009 was released, but I have not got around to picking it up until last weekend. What I love about this special six-pack, is two-fold. I love the fact that Sam Adams supports homebrewing and is willing to not only run a competition of this size, but also brew the top winners. Second, the fact that the beers in this six-pack started out with a recipe from someone just like myself, inspires me to try some new things. This year in the six pack we have an Old Ale, an American Barleywine, and a Saison. Today I will focus on Jeremy White’s beer, Lemon Pepper Saison.  From my understanding, this beer could be a Fruit Beer with a Saison as the base style if it contains lemons, which it does not. It contains lemon peel. So I will judge it as a straight Saison.

Sam Adams Longshot Beer #1: Lemon Pepper Saison

From the Bottle “Pale in appearance, this ale is light bodied and effervescent with an interesting combination of both fruity and spicy flavors . The initial sweetness of vanilla and citrus notes from the lemon peel is followed by the spiciness from the grains of paradise. the finish is slightly tart, yet refreshing.”

Aroma: The lemon peel aroma is the first thing I notice. There is a mild lemonade-like aroma to the beer. This is followed up by a sweet honey-like malty flavor. The peppery aroma comes through last for me. What I like is that there is not a big muddling of aromas in here. There is a refreshing lemony aroma, a sweet and clean light malt character, and a supporting spicy character. There does seem to be some yeast flavors coming into play, sort of give the beer a slight traditional Belgian Abby feel that I don’t particularly care for. (8 points)

Appearance: The beer is a solid gold with some very good clarity. There is a nice layer of foam that sticks firmly to the glass. Looks very much like a Saison. (3 points)

Flavor: Up front you are welcomed by a refreshing citrus flavor, mostly lemon by there seems to be a touch of bitter orange as well. Maybe its just me. Following up the middle is a soft malt flavor of honey soaked bread. What kills it for me is the immediate followup of the bitterness and grains of paradise combo that kicks in way too soon for my liking. It’s not a bad flavor, it just comes too soon for me. It seems to bash away the bready malty quality too quickly and too aggressively. The lingering finish is nice though and tones down to a soft dry honey flavored finish.  There is a sourness that almost escapes your attention because it is a quality of the lemon trait of the beer. However, this sourness is probably from some part of the brewing process, either a sour mash, yeast/bacteria additive, or even the use of wheat. But it is not from the lemon. This sourness is more subdued and tart leaving a refreshing tasting beer. There are hops in this beer, but it seems to be mostly for bittering. The bitterness is about mid-range for me, but don’t expect much hop flavor here. (15 Point)

Mouthfeel: A bit on the light side for what I am used to for a Saison, but I think it falls within the style. The carbonation is a bit on the low-end of the Saison scale though. Not nearly effervescent enough, even though the label states it is. (3 points)

Overall: Overall I feel this beer does hit the style, regardless of what some people on other review sites seem to state. The Saison style is a very broad style, but mostly you are looking for a beer that is strong enough to stand up to aging, but not so strong as to not be a refreshing and thirst quenching beer. The amount of fruit and spice is acceptable and fairly balanced for what the beer is intended to be. I just feel that sometimes people get one or two commercial examples of a specific beer style in mind, and anything that is not like those beers is not to style. However, if you examine the guidelines, you will see that this beer vary in strength from 5% to 9.5% for stronger versions. The color range can be from pale orange to even a dark copper or brown. Granted the guidelines say that the stronger Saisons should be entered (for competition) in the Belgian Specialty category, but they are still Saisons. The portions of this beer that are traditionally Saison are all there. There is spice, there is a fruity quality, it is refreshing, and it is well hopped. It is not well hopped like how an IPA should be, but well hopped enough to balance the malt. It is not a perfect Saison to me, but it is a Saison and a well made one for me. (8 points)

Overall I give this beer a 37, Which to me would be about a B+.
On last thing to consider with this beer, is that Jeremy White won the Employee portion of the longshot competition. That is not take away from his win, but for those who may think “I entered a better Saison than this.” or “This was one of the best in the Country?” can know that this beer was not a winner from the open public competition, but the one for employees only. Which makes it a bit less of a longshot compared to the public entries, but still I give him respect for winning the thing. Either way, I still like this one for the most part.