This morning, after removing the snow from the sidewalk and the ice from the cars, I tasted two new beers.

I poured short glasses of Rodney Kibzey's Weizenbock and Lili Hess's Grape Pale Ale.

These are the two winners of the 2007 Samuel Adams consumer homebrew contest. Three bottles of each beer are in the Sam Adams Longshot six-pack, which is being sold nationwide at about $8. The faces of these two brewers appear on the bottle labels.  So when you open the fridge, these people are staring at you. Spooky.

I preferred the Weizenbock, made by Kibzey, a home brewer in Illinois. It had a creamy body and very strong clove notes. Tasted, in other words, like a real Weizenbock.

The Grape Pale Ale, made by Hess who sells Sam Adams beers in Honolulu, was unusual. It tasted of grapes. Grape juice is an ingredient, as is maple syrup.  An ideal breakfast beer.

 After drinking beer for breakfast I have a number of questions.

Why it is that in a male-female household, the guy ends up shoveling the snow?

What do our local homebrewers think of these beers?

Have the locals made any beer with maple syrup and grapes?

What do you think of the idea of putting the brewer's face on a beer label?