I think that it’s no secret that I have a love for Sam Adams – my hometown of Cincinnati Ohio had it’s very culture of brewing saved by Sam Adams, who purchased our nearly extinct last brewery – and carried on the legacy of brewing in Cincy, before the craft beer boom kicked it into high gear.
So yeah… I love them. I also love what they do to give opportunities and help for people who are trying to get started.
The Longshot competition has always been a great way to get awareness for what you’re doing as a homebrewer, and it has spawned plenty of pro breweries after winners had the “fire lit” after the competition. They’re kicking it up to another gear too, now.
The “Brewership”
For this years, 2017 Longshot competition, the brewery is awarding the most passionate homebrewer with the thirst for going pro a one-week “Brewership”. It’s a fully immersive brewing experience at the Sam Adams Boston Brewery, and will give one homebrewer a chance to work alongside some of the award winning brewers in the nano-brewery (a ten barrel brewhouse and barrel room).
This opportunity will also give insight learned from years of experience on the nuts and bolts of running a brewery, ingredient sourcing, quality assurance testing, and packaging (to name just a few things). Finally – the Brewership will also include the opportunity to brew a limited release collaboration beer that will be available in the winner’s hometown as well as at the Sam Adams Boston Brewery.
If this isn’t enough to convince you to pull out your brew kettle – the Brewership gives the winter and the two runner ups the opportunity to attend the Great American Beer Festival as well as receive a scholarship for an online course at The Siebel Institute of Technology. Brewers worldwide, including many of the Sam Adams brewers, have taken courses at the Siebel Institute as its online courses provide an internationally-inspired educational experience in brewing technology knowledge due to its World Brewing Academy partnership with Doemens Academy (Munich, Germany) established in 2001.
It’s About Building Craft From The Ground Up
I really don’t want to just copy and paste a press release for this – I hope that you understand what this is all about, and know that I’m genuine in saying that I believe in this company and their desire to help craft beer be bigger, and better than it’s ever been before.
In addition to contests like the Longshot competition, the brewery has the ‘Brewing the American Dream’ program which provides direct assistance to startup craft breweries – so far they’ve given out loans totaling more than $1 million dollars to 40 different breweries. It’s no joke, they believe in this idea.
If you’re interested in entering Longshot – and I hope that you are – you can get all the information that you desire over at the Sam Adams Website, and good luck!