I’m not sure who came up with the idea of holding a homebrew competition with the prospect of commercial production for the winning entries, but it was a great one. Pete's Brewing held such a competition before Boston Beer’s Longshot competition, and the winner became their Wicked Winter Brew. Boston Beer’s Longshot featured two separate competitions yielding two runs of three beers each, unfortunately that seems to be the extent of the line, at least for the foreseeable future. A shame since Longshot beers have been decent to say the very least. 

The Special English Ale is a very nice beer. As soon as I popped the cap, I got a huge whiff of Cascades, no big surprise since the beer is dry hopped with them. Indeed, this is a hop dominated beer, from the citrusy Cascades and Willamettes to the wonderfully bitter Fuggles and East Kent Goldings in the finish. A smooth, slightly toasty malt presence serves as an ideal backdrop for this very hoppy pale ale of original gravity 1.053 and 32 IBU’s of bittering. Congratulations to Robert and Debbie Gordash of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida for an excellent recipe! 

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft

 



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