Samuel Adams LongShot Cranberry Wit

Brewed by Boston Beer Company
Style: Fruit Beer
Boston, Massachusetts USA

this is not a noteable beer. in fact, i’m surprised it won the award. maybe i’m just not well-versed enough in fruit wits. i like the appearance of this beer: hazy, cloudy, unfiltered and swimming with spicy yeasts; however, the flavor does not support the visual. hints of cinnamon and orange peel surface, mellowed on the sides of my tongue by something - slightly tart? no discoveries of cranberry, even after yeast agitation. i prefer the blackberry wit from 2007’s sam adams’ longshot sixer.

Bottle. Pours an average sized, foamy, lasting white head. Murky, yellow-orange, cranberry tinged body. Wheat malt aroma, cereal, grain, a touch of cranberry and some dusty, stale air. Same flavors along with hints of spices, but it’s all quite muddled to me. Fairly light bodied with some wheat creaminess and average carbonation. So-so. Wish I could taste the original.

Pour is not bad with a murky caramel color, effervescence, and a moderately full, white, foamy layer of head with some sporadic lace and some decent longevity. Nose is fairly bland for a wit; light toasted grains, light cinnamon, faint coriander, and only hints at tart cranberry. The flavor is more of the same; some tart wheat and cranberry, toasted cereal, faint spicing, and hints at sweet breads. Palate is very lively, light to medium, thin, but round. Finishes short with some lingering grains, faint tartness, and hints at coriander. Cranberry is subtle, the spicing is complementary, but the base beer is nothing. Typical SA brew with the cereal notes dominating and nothing much else going on. Drinkable but boring.

Bottle. Pours a hazy light amber with a thin white head. Aromas of grain, with a light cranberry smell. Sweet, and grainy. Just… ugh. Not good. Carbonation is nice though, which mitigates some of the unpleasantness. Light wheat finish. Weakest of the three Longshots in this pack.

Pours hazy amber with a small white head. Aroma is fruity. Flavor is sweet, fruity, with a tart finish.

Bottle. Pours hazy golden amber with a fluffy white head. The aroma is wheaty, with fruity sweetness and a bit of spice. Flavor is also wheaty, with a light cranberry sweetness, citrus, and spice. Better than I expected.

Pours hazy gold with murky copper core and off white head. The aroma is a mix of orange peel, spices, a dash of tartness and a sense of grain and wheat. The taste starts with both tart and sugar sweetness. It then gets mildly grainy near midway before cranberry notes surface and take over the flavor. It gets mildly spicy into the finish. Pretty refreshing brew but also kind of jumbled or disjointed.

Pours a slightly unappealing yellow, but the cranberry aroma makes up for it. Don’t mistake this for the often mocked Cranberry Lambic. The cranberry taste is subtle, yet noticeable. I’d take this over their Blackberry Wit. A strong attempt at a fruit beer in a category where many come out terribly.