Wondering what ever came of the Sam Adams "crowd-sourced beer"?

In case you missed it, the Boston Beer Co. launched the Samuel Adams Crowd Craft Project in January, inviting Sam's Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ friends to offer up their preferences to help create a new beer. Users were asked to make their choices about the beer's malt profile, hops selection, yeast type, and so forth. Back then, I sort of mocked the idea, saying it had "mediocrity written all over it." Turns out I couldn't have been more wrong.

The beer, called Samuel Adams B'Austin Ale, debuted last weekend at Guy Kawasaki's Girl + Guy Party at SXSW in Austin, Texas. It will also be on tap at a few pubs in Austin over the next couple of weeks, and a few kegs will be kept in the brewery's tasting room in Jamaica Plain, for tour groups.

Well, consider this my official request that the beer be brewed year-round, bottled, and sold in six-packs.

Sam Adams sent me a bottle of the beer to sample, and man, is it good. Hazy amber with an earthy, spicy hop aroma, it perfectly balances the desire for hops with a strong malt profile, without going overboard with either. Notes of coffee, caramel, and citrus reveal themselves, and it finishes with a slight bitterness and maybe a hint of black tea. At 5 percent alcohol, it's an easy drinking beer, too -- like a Samuel Adams Boston Ale (the gem of the Sam Adams lineup, if you ask me) with a bit more kick.

While there are no plans to brew more B'Austin Ale, here's a bonus: Sam Adams is making the recipe public so homebrewers can replicate it. Even better, I have it right here for you: