Samuel Adams LongShot Double IPA

Brewed by Boston Beer Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Boston, Massachusetts USA

This IPA is a true American IPA. Hops coming in high & hard. The palate is destroyed. There isn’t much balance to this one. But if you like hops..then you’ll love this, especially with a kick of 9%

"I have waited a long time for this, my little green-labeled friend." --Emperor Palpatine. Appearance: Pours a hazy, dark copper body with a tall, tight, off-white head. Nice splattering of lace on the way down. Smell: The aroma is abundantly hoppy, leaving little room left for the meager malts to shine through. There’s white pine, white pepper-coated tropical fruits, dried grasses, and alcohol-splashed citrus pith. Taste: The pale maltiness, while not exactly plentiful, is ample enough to provide some semblance of balance, though it really only serves as a canvas for the pungent, commanding hop flavors. Then, all at once, it’s herbal, woody, spicy, piney, and chock full of fruit flavors, including tangerine, mango, and white grapefruit. The hops turn over a strong, expansive bitterness, to which the malts and hints of caramel are powerless to combat. Finishes dry and with a strong bitterness that lasts well into the aftertaste. Mouthfeel: Medium-plus body. Medium carbonation. Slight perceived creaminess to the mouthfeel. Drinkability: An enjoyable, well-made Double IPA at a rather compelling price. Samuel Adams Longshot Double IPA paired well with the History Channel special "The Link" featuring the media-frenzying fossil dubbed "Ida". Is it me or did they get this special out in a real damn hurry?

Pours a bit hazy medium amber with a nice thick head. Aroma is citrus and pine. Mouth feel is lively with a good amount of carbonation. Favor is very hoppy as indicated by the aroma, but much drier than I was expecting. Citrus, pine and a lot of bitterness dominate the taste. Unfortunately for me, the malt is completely lost in the mix, making this a hop heads’ dream, but a bit too one-dimensional for my tastes.

The pour was a slightly hazy copper and orange color. The head was white and thick with decent lacing. The aroma was fresh pine and floral hops. Some citrus and malt as well. The flavor was a bit of citrus, pine and light pepper with some malt balancing it out fairly well. The mouthfeel was almost medium in body and the finish was clean. Not bad.

Pours lightly hazy amber with a large frothy rocky head. The aroma has big floral hops along with tropical, grapefruit, green onion, and some pine. There is also sweet malt that’s toasty and prevalent. Medium / full body that’s smooth and starts with smooth carbonation that ends up being sharp and pronounced. The flavor begins with tropical hops with some pine, perfume and green onion funk along side a healthy malt backbone that’s rich and a bit warm. The finish is resiny, hoppy and sweet. A good and well balanced IIPA.

Name: LongShot Double IPA
Date: May 03, 2009
Mode: Bottle
Source: Roadtrip
Appearance: opaque burnt orange, fine beige head, streaks of drippy lace
Aroma: sweet pine and citrus aroma, sweet crystal malt, lots of grapefruit, orange candy
Body: creamy body
Flavor: sweet citrus flavor, bitter orange peal, peppery spicyness, long bitter finish
Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 15/20
Rating: 3.7/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **4

12oz brown bottle served in a Duvel Tulip. Poured a hazy orange/gold with a finger of fine bubbled white head. Big piney hop aroma. A little too piney to me, very "green", not in the sense of young beer but herbal. There is also some malt in the aroma. It starts off with aggressive hop bitterness. Nice malt base, good mouthfeel with plenty of carbonation. Long dry finish with plenty of mouth pucker from the hops. I found the hop flavor to be a little vegetal which I didn’t enjoy.

Bottle. Pour is hazy dark orange with a little carbonation. Very nice floral and hop aroma. Flavor is bold malty hops, orange and finishes syrupy and bitter. Very solid brew, would buy this regularly if this came out in sixers. However the other two in the pack were less than stellar, so I probably won’t get this again.