Samuel Adams Crowd-Sourced Beer Will Be B’Austin Ale (SXSW) & MateVeza

Remember this post?  Well Samuel Adams is confirming in their newsletter what we suspected back on Feb 8th…their B’Austin Ale and their crowd-sourced beer, are one and the same.

This from SA:
We’ve now turned your collective feedback into a great beer recipe, which we’ve been hard at work brewing all month. Here’s the brew you asked for: a slightly hazy, medium bodied, amber ale with a spicy hop aroma, notes of toffee and a smooth, yet spicy finish.

We’re calling this brew, B’Austin Ale!

We’re brewing here in Boston and sending the beer off to Austin for its big debut. B’Austin Ale is launching in Austin at the Girl + Guy party during an interactive conference next month. This special brew will also be on tap in select bars throughout Austin and here at our Boston Brewery.

In other news from Samuel Adams check out the Come Brew with us contest:  Visit our Come Brew with Us page to submit your entry between now and March 31st.

Also check out some great details on the MateVeza, Samuel Adams Brewing the Dream philanthropic program winner Jim Woods.

For the full newsletter…

Back in January we teamed up with social media enthusiast Guy Kawasaki for the first-ever Samuel Adams Crowd Craft Project to create a crowd-sourced beer. We asked you to tell us what characteristics would make-up your ideal brew by selecting the color, clarity, body and flavor of the beer.

We’ve now turned your collective feedback into a great beer recipe, which we’ve been hard at work brewing all month. Here’s the brew you asked for: a slightly hazy, medium bodied, amber ale with a spicy hop aroma, notes of toffee and a smooth, yet spicy finish.

We’re calling this brew, B’Austin Ale!

We’re brewing here in Boston and sending the beer off to Austin for its big debut. B’Austin Ale is launching in Austin at the Girl + Guy party during an interactive conference next month. This special brew will also be on tap in select bars throughout Austin and here at our Boston Brewery.

We’ll be live Tweeting from Austin, so be sure to follow @SamuelAdamsBeer and check our Facebook page for updates – fans will be the first to know if and when this beer will hit newmarkets.

YOU SHOULD COME BREW WITH US!

Do you love beer? Well, judging from the fact that you’re reading this newsletter – it’s probably a safe bet to assume you do.

Can you imagine yourself taking in the great aroma of a new brew on the boil in the brewhouse? How about sampling beer directly from the aging tanks?

If this sounds good to you, then get your creative juices flowing and submit your photo or video entries for the "Come Brew with Us!" contest. Share why you should be chosen to come to our Boston Brewery and brew a batch with us.

The first 2,500 entries win Perfect Pint glassware and 25 finalists receive kegerators as well, so you’ve got nothing to lose!

Visit our Come Brew with Us page to submit your entry between now and March 31st.

LONGSHOT 2011 6-PACKS TO BE RELEASED IN MARCH!

As a brewer there’s always that moment of truth – when you take that first sip of a new batch. I still enjoy the anticipation and that’s typical for homebrewers as well.

This year’s Longshot 6-pack will hit shelves in early March. We’re excited to share this year’s three winning home brews:

A Dark Night In Munich – created by Corey Martin, of Austin, Texas. A Munich-style Dunkel with a nice malty backbone, roasty, slightly spicy notes, and a traditional doughy character from the yeast.

Five Crown Imperial Stout – created by Joe Formanek, of Chicago, Illinois. A Russian Imperial Stout with a rich complexity, roasty and chocolate notes, and enough hop bitterness to balance out the sweetness.

Derf’s Secret Alt – created by Samuel Adams employee Fred Hessler, of Massachusetts. A Sticke Alt with a big, malty character balanced by subtle orange and grapefruit notes and a sweet finish.

Be sure to check out our Find a Sam page to help you find a 6-pack in your area!

SPOTLIGHT: MATEVEZA

In 1984, Jim Koch started The Boston Beer Company on a shoestring budget with help from family, friends and his drinking buddies. Like most small businesses, Jim faced long odds and a mountain of skepticism, but against those long odds, a movement began, and the American craft beer revolution took root.

In June 2008, we started a philanthropic program that grew out of Jim’s early experiences and provides fuel and hope for small business owners with dreams of their own of making it in food and beverage industry. (Learn more)

This month, we shine the spotlight on a Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream recipient: Jim Woods of MateVeza.

MateVeza was conceived in 2004 by homebrewer Jim Woods after he fortuitously followed a sip of freshly brewed yerba mate with a hoppy pale ale in his San Francisco apartment. No stranger to creating his own beer recipes, sparks flew for Jim, as the contrasting flavors of yerba mate, hops and malt came together to create a delicious and truly unique beer drinking experience. Woods had first learned about yerba mate from his cousin and later experienced the yerba mate culture firsthand when he himself had the privilege of traveling to Argentina.

Determined to bring his one-of-a-kind yerba mate ale to life, Woods worked tirelessly to perfect his new brew. After almost two years of tinkering with his recipe, Woods found himself approaching Butte Creek Brewing Company, a small, certified organic microbrewery in Chico, California to brew MateVeza. Butte Creek brewed the first batch of MateVeza in November of 2006, making it the first beer brewed with yerba mate in the world. While working in San Francisco as a commercial real estate analyst, Woods promoted the beer on nights, weekends, and vacation days. His hard work paid off, and MateVeza was approved for sale at stores including Whole Foods and BevMo. In order to meet the growing customer and retail demand for MateVeza, Woods approached Mendocino Brewing Company and worked with thebrewery to achieve organic certification and began brewing MateVeza with new packaging and a new India Pale Ale in April of 2009.

Three days before his 29th birthday on August 26, 2009, Jim left his full time job and set out to bring his organic, naturally caffeinated yerba mate ale to the masses. In May 2011, Woods became the first brewer to receive a loan from Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream and is using the loan to be able to brew more to meet the growing demand for his IPA and Black Lager and towards the debut a new style of beer in August of last year.

To learn more about Jim and MateVeza, check out his webpage at http://www.mateveza.com/.