Every year Samuel Adams does their Long Shot contest to allow home brewers to get their beer made in a commercial brewery and distributed throughout the Samuel Adams distribution range. It's a great idea, we think, and has resulted in some delicious beers! Speaking of beer, let's check out the Lemon Pepper Saison from the Samuel Adams Long Shot Series:

Appearance: The Lemon Pepper Saison pours a darker shade of clear gold than many traditional Saisons. The big, white, fluffy heady is totally expected, though. Looks like it might be a bit much for a hot summer day, but perfect for a warm spring day.

Smell: The aroma doesn't have a lot of the yeast character that we expect from a Saison. We get some papaya and fresh apricot. Obviously, there's some lemon and cracked pepper in there as well, but shouldn't that almost be assumed by the name of the beer? Well I guess we'd assume it would smell like a Saison, so that shows what assuming does...

Taste: A bit sweet for a Saison, but the pepper on the finish helps to dry it out at the end. It's a fruitier tasting beer with apricot and papaya in there. There's a hint of lemon in there, but it's definitely more in the aroma.

All in all, this beer is OK. Not a great representation of style, but still pretty good. We wouldn't seek it out, but we'd happily drink it!

We were pretty stoked to get this months club, we've tried a lot of beer, no really we mean A LOT. So when we get beers we've never seen before it's always a little more fun. These sounded cool too especially the Southern Pecan, which is where we'll start.

If you want to get the same club as us go here: Click to Join

Lazy Magnolia Brewing Company - Southern Pecan

Appearance: Depending on the light the Southern Pecan strays somewhere within the range between brown and garnet. The head on this one is an off-bone color.

Smell: The aroma of this beer is a little like a lager. There's some sulfur in the smell, and it smells smooth and sweet.

Taste: On the tongue it's a bit sweet and finishes nutty. It has quite a malty tone to it, but the nuttiness balances it well. This would go well with dessert or barbecue. In fact, it makes us really want a piece of pecan pie! We really like this one, we would totally buy this if it was available around here.

Lazy Magnolia Brewing Company - Indian Summer

Appearance: A golden clear pour is the first thing you notice when you pour this one.  It's not as light looking as many summer beers, but not too dark to be worrisome. It's just deep enough in color to look interesting. Surprisingly off-white head for the color of the beer.

Smell: Right away we get spiced fruitiness... not heavy handed, but in a good way.

Taste: Oh, that's good right up front! Crisp and pretty dry up front, it's not nearly as sweet as it smells. The wheat in this beer definitely helps with the taste while the orange peel and coriander are super light, which is important for a spiced beer. When we heard spiced, we were worried... but this is spiced in a way that we can really enjoy. When we say wheat, coriander and orange peel, you might think Blue Moon (or a better craft beer version) but this is a much lighter summery beer that is light-handed with the spice. The citrus definitely adds to a brightness rather than sweetness.

Ellicottville Brewing Company - EBC Pale Ale

Appearance: This is more pale, when it comes to the spectrum of paleness. The head is white and the beer is clear. Pretty much hit the style on this one.

Smell: Oooh, that's pretty nice! Lot's of hoppy smell and some honeysuckle in there. A hint of orange is in the aroma as well. This smells nice! A little sweet and lots of hops.

Taste: We actually have differing tastes over here when it comes to pale ales. Jeff really likes this one, it's got really solid bitterness up front with some decent honey and orange hop flavor at the end. Devon prefers a more late-hopped beer with less bitterness and more hop flavor that this one has.

Ellicottville Brewing Company - EBC Nut Brown Ale

Appearance: Guess what? The beer is brown. Surprised? We're not. But we'd be upset if it was blonde or red. The head is a coffee and cream color. It's on the darker side for a brown ale, and looks pretty appetizing.

Smell: There are some sweet and malty aromas in this one. It's quite nice, there's a bit of brown sugar as well. No real hop smells, this one is all malt.

Taste: Up front there's a strange bitter flavor... but not from hops. That's too bad, because we expected much more from this one. We don't know what the flavor is, but we don't care for it. It smells good and looks good, but this one fell a little flat for us. That's part of trying new things, not everything is delicious. Oh well.

A few weeks ago, on a hot summer day, we ventured up to The Tap at Haverhill Brewery in Haverhill, MA craving some Berlinerweiss. It was about 90°F and we were seated in the sun out on their beautiful deck. We needed some tart, refreshing, lower alcohol beer stat! We ordered a pitcher of Berlinerweiss, and here is the story... Actually, before we get to the beer, a quick history lesson. Berlinerweiss was traditionally brewed in German as a lower alcohol (this one clocks in at 3% abv) refreshingly tart beer. American Craft Brewers have recently begun to take up the style, much to our delight. Seek this one out on a hot summer day, it's one of the most refreshing beers made in our minds! Now, on to the Berlinerweiss!

Appearance: The beer pours with a light light light hazy body, like a translucent lemonade. A fine white head pops cascades up and then quickly recedes away to a bit of foam sitting on top of the beer. It sure looks light and refreshing!

Smell: When you pour this beer you get all sorts of aromas. A bit of lemon is there, along side the acidity one would expect from lemon juice... we're not talking the stuff you find in those plastic lemon containers, though, we're talking a fresh squeezed lemon! You can also smell a bit of lactic tartness, but it's light. Wheat rounds the whole thing out, that snappy, dry aroma that reminds you of unleavened bread.

Taste: Wow! The first thing you notice is the delicate yet assertive tartness of this brew. As we smelled, there's a bit of lemon in this as well. The Tap Berlinerweiss is almost like drinking carbonated, watered down orange juice that hasn't been sweetened. It's just so dry, tart and refreshing! This is one of a select few ultimate lawn mower beers for people who want flavor and refreshment. The wheat has a barely there characteristic that is almost imperceptibly felt in the back of the mouth, this beer really features the cool, crisp acidity of lactic acid that Berlinerweiss is known for. Oh, and that lemon we talked about? All naturally produced by the fermentation, there was no fruit added to this beer. Historically, Germans would add a bit of woodruff syrup or raspberry syrup to their Berlinerweiss... but that just leaves us asking "Why?" Why would they ruin such a perfectly refreshing miracle of nature?! We say enjoy this beer as it is au naturale, as in dry, tart and refreshing! The hint of lemon is all the fruit we need.

The Tap in Haverill is a brewpub and , while they bottle and distribute some of their beer, this one is still brewery only for now. At 3% abv, howvever, feel free to take a growler of Berlinerweiss home and drink it by yourself or share with friends on a hot summer day! Just get down to The Tap quick, they only brewed so much of it this summer. Ask the Brewer for The Tap on Twitter if the Berlinerweiss is still available. Even if it isn't, head on up as they have some other delicious craft beers!

The story of Clown Shoes is a great one. We can't think of many other brands that have come as a result of a liquor store loving beer so much that the owner decides make a line of beer of their own; that's exactly what Berman's in Lexington, MA has done, though. Jesse Dooley, Berman's beer manager and brand ambassador for Clown Shoes, began improving the store's beer offerings a few years ago. Eventually Gregg Berman, one of the owners, became interested in the craft beers he was bringing in. They started to talk about the idea of making their own beer, and then the realization clicked...they already had a distribution license. They could make a beer and distribute it! They initially contacted a few breweries to work with and Mercury Brewing Company, brewers of Ipswich Ales, stepped to the plate with open arms. Head Brewer Dan Lipke was the perfect match because he didn't merely listen to what Berman and Dooley were saying, he really understood what they wanted out of the brand. As Jesse puts it "Dan has the ability to visualize and then translate our thoughts into great beer!" Based on our time drinking Clown Shoes beer there's a lot of great ideas and a lot of great beer happening.

For a new brewery Clown Shoes has been able to come out with several great products early on. Their Black IPA, Hoppy Feet, and new White Ale, called "Clementine," have both quickly become favorites of ours.

We asked Jesse exactly how they come up with their recipes and got some insight: "We take some factors into consideration such as the seasons but other than that we find a style of beer that we feel could be improved upon such as black ales or brown ales or white ales. We line them all up and sit down with Dan Lipke and discuss what aspects we like and dislike about the beers and how we think we could improve upon them.  We then come up with multiple ways that we all think that they could be improved and do test batches in each style.  We take a poll on the winner and there we have it!"

What really sums up Clown Shoes is how they look at beer. We asked them what the goal of Clown Shoes was and their response says it all: "To bring fresh, local and innovative beers to the folks without pretension. Ultimately, if we can make beer that people enjoy we have accomplished our goal." Amen to that, we say!

We're calling it right now, Clown Shoes is going to be big. If you haven't tried the beer go out and find some. We've reviewed their current offerings below and we can't wait to see what they put out next.

Our Reviews

Clown Shoes Clementine

This is the third installment from Clown Shoes. We had high expectations for this beer after hearing what went into it...our expectations were blown away. This beer is amazing, we just got out of work, it's 82 degrees out, and this exactly what we want. Sitting outside at the picnic table with a great white ale makes life pretty good. This is not a normal white ale. It tastes like a hoppy clementine orange but it's very dry and insanely drinkable. The orange flavors are subtle but have amazing depth. You can pick out the sweetness of the fruit along with the bitterness of orange peel. What really makes this beer shine is the balance, no one flavor dominates, they all seem to work in perfect harmony. We only have one bottle of this and we're already wishing we'd bought more.

Clown Shoes Black IPA

This was our first introduction to clown shoes. The black IPA style is completely made up, but we like made up styles. What it really means is a nice roasty hoppy beer. Made up styles are what american craft beer is all about, taking great ingredients and combining them to create a new drinking experiences. This beer combines all the roasty coffee flavors we love in a good stout with the mouth feel and piney hop goodness of an IPA.

Clown Shoes Brown Angel

This is a very hoppy brown, once again this really doesn't fall into a style. You can taste it's english roots but then you get slapped with a nice hoppy finish. The hops definitely dominate in the beer but the malt puts up a good fight. If you like Lagunitas Brown Sugar then you should definitely gives this a try.

Troegs Sunshine Pils is a great example of a Pilsner done well. When summer rolls around we still enjoy stouts and porters, but there's no denying that a crisp refreshing pilsner or saison really hits the spot once it gets warm out. We recently stumpled upon Stoudt's Karnival Kolsch, which was universally praised every time we brought it to a friends house. Sadly the Karnical Kolsch was a limited batch and I haven't been able to find it anymore. Its absence me searching for something to fill the void it left. I went to my local beer store and picked up a few pilsners; only one really stood out, Troegs Sunshine Pils.

It was exactly what I wanted in a pilsner, crisp and refreshing with just enough hops to make it something special. Spicy noble hops blend nicely with just the right amount of lager taste to create a balanced and refreshing beer. Sunshine Pils is dry, crisp and incredibly refreshing, in short everything that I wanted it to be. This is going to be a staple in my cooler as the summer goes on and I've already stocked up on it for Memorial Day weekend.