BOUNCING BOCK AND FORTH; BREW CONCOCTED IN SIMI VALLEY KITCHEN GIVEN A SHOT AT SIX-PACK SUPERSTARDOM.

Byline: Michael Coit Daily News Staff Writer

Crafting some of the world's finest home-brewed lager brought Meleq Kacani a $5,000 prize and a two-week trip through the European beer meccas of Germany and Belgium.

Those rewards, though, don't match the satisfaction and pride that comes with the recent release of Kacani's chocolate-, toffee- and caramel-flavored recipe under the LongShot Bock label.

``The prize money and everything is cool, but just to have my name on a six-pack people are purchasing is really great. It will lead to good things, hopefully,'' said Kacani, 24, who started brewing as a Royal High School senior.

Kacani and brewing partner Rocky Herbert are one of three brewing teams now enjoying the success of getting their brews on store shelves, next to many established labels that have made celebrities of craft brewers.

They were the winners from 800 entries representing eight countries in the second World Homebrew Contest, held a year ago by Boston Beer Co., which makes Samuel Adams beers. The company has bottled the recipes under the LongShot brand name and released the Bock, Special English Ale and Molasses Coffee Stout for retail sale nationwide.

``Homebrewers share Boston Beer's passion for the complexity and diversity of the brewer's art,'' said Jim Koch, president and brewer for the company. ``We're all interested in the same thing - great, flavorful beer.''

Discriminating beer drinkers recognized the qualities of the first LongShot release last year, buying out supplies at liquor stores and supermarkets that carry large craft beer selections, said Lucy Sholley, Boston Beer spokeswoman. Similar sales are expected with this fall's release, she said.

``It developed a real cult following. The people who loved it just loved it,'' Sholley said.

Kacani's Bock registers between the fruity Special English Ale and the creamy Molasses Coffee Stout.

``This is a real connoisseur's type of beer. It's not a beginner's beer,'' Sholley noted.

The journey from time-consuming kitchen bottling to commercial-scale production has been a dream for Kacani.

His first taste came as a senior in high school when a friend's father brewed a batch from a kit. ``I sampled it then and was kind of intrigued that that could be made from home.''

Beginning with one of those home-brewing kits, where one boils malt from a can with sugar and then ferments and bottles the product, Kacani soon was fashioning his own equipment and brewing from whole barley malt and hops.

``It took me two years to work out the bugs,'' Kacani recalled.

Kacani took an administrative services job with the State Farm Insurance office in Westlake Village. But he kept his dream cooking and fermenting in limited batches at his parent's Simi Valley home.

The first contest Kacani entered was in 1993, and hosted by the Maltose Falcon Home Brewing Club in Woodland Hills. Kacani's dopple bock won a second-place ribbon.

The World Homebrew Contest followed three years later. Kacani's developed knowledge and skill was clear in his decision to enter the German bock.

``I knew that it fares well in competition. It's big beer that stands up against lighter beers,'' he explained.

Kacani and Herbert were among the three semifinalists in the lager category, and joined the six entries remaining in the ale and specialty beer categories in Boston last fall. They tested recipes, brewed test batches, and then multiplied the 5-gallon entries for 300-gallon batches.

Joining in the process of brewing a scaled-up version of a personal recipe was a rare treat that Kacani savored.

``It was pretty interesting brewing on their equipment,'' he said. ``When you scale up to that level, it's a lot of hard work. There's constant precleaning and washing in between uses to keep everything sanitized. You're working over these huge vats that are boiling.''

Kacani noted that the LongShot Bock features the same barley malt, hop varieties and techniques used at home, though the Boston Beer yeast slightly alters the taste.

``You're still getting a beer very much like I brew at home in my kitchen,'' Kacani said.

Now if only Kacani could earn a living at his craft.

With his bock hitting the shelves, Kacani figures some entrepreneur opening a brew pub or a craft brewery that sells at the retail level could use his talents.

``I'm hoping to look at it more seriously now,'' he said. ``It's not really that easy because you're still doing it on a really small scale.''

Craft brewers have taken a small slice of beer sales from the giant brewing companies. But new labels are increasingly saturating that market niche.

The Boston Beer Co., as a result, didn't hold a third World Homebrew Contest this fall, deciding instead to sponsor another competition.

``When you walk into any liquor store or any supermarket with a lot of beer labels, it's hard for a beer to stand out in that crowd,'' Kacani acknowledged.

Yet Kacani won't let his dream die. LongShot Bock could be his ticket.

``All the craft brewers that made it started with one flagship beer that's kind of special and stands out,'' he noted. ``I would like to be a success story just like Jim Koch.''

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Photo: (1--Color) Award-winning beer crafters Rocky Herbert, left, and Meleq Kacani of Simi Valley will see their brew marketed as LongShot Bock.

Myung J. Chun/Daily News