Samuel Adams LongShot Double IPA

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

I’m not a fan of powerful IPAs, but I felt I had to try this and attempt to grade it for the beer it is. Anyway, beautiful beer. Hazy orange with a thick beige head that leaves significant lacing. The aroma is grapefruit for sure with some piney notes and a hint of bready malt. Very full, creamy mouthfeel. The flavor is actually very well balanced. Sweet caramel malt with some sugared grapefruit up front fades slowly to a very bitter hoppy aftertaste. The 9% ABV isn’t noticeable, but there is some alcohol warming to go along with the bitterness. A little too bitter for me, but it is a good beer for sure.

Pours a hazy deep orange with a medium creamy off white head that left some lacing. Aroma of sweet caramel malt, nuts, orange and various citrus fruits, resiny hops, tobacco, orange...actually smells like a slightly aged Dreadnaught. Flavor of resiny hops, caramel malt, nuts, some tropical fruits. While hop flavor and light hop bitterness is there, but malt sweetness comes through for sure. While a rather fresh bottle this beer is coming across as a bit of an aged double IPA as opposed to a fresh hop bomb double IPA.

Not quite clear dark orange color with a big fluffy head with some nice lacing. Aroma is juicy hops, citrus, grapefruit, orange, almost tropical. Taste is huge bitter tropical hops. Rich body. Pretty good but bitterness lingers a bit.

Pours a cloudy golden color with a nice off white head, a decent amount of lacing. Aroma is unmistakably IPA with hops and a slight citrus note. This beer has a very nice mouthfeel. The taste is very, very, very hoppy. Not quite as much as the Imperial Pilsner from Sam Adams (this is much more balanced), yet very hoppy indeed. Too hoppy for my personal taste, but I am really not a huge fan of IPA’s or hoppy beers in general.

Abundant citrus nose packed full of grapefruit. Spruce and pine accents followed by thick malty caramel and bread aromas. Hazy golden orange/light copper color that sparkles in the glass. The head remains for the duration and is fluffy with a light khaki color. Heavy rings of lacing stick to all sides of the glass. This beer looks incredible. Full bodied, chewy and very bitter with a sweet, dry finish. I know I should slow down, but it’s so good and drinks with such ease, just figure it’ll be an early evening for me. Flavorful with layers of hoppy goodness. You taste the grapefruit and evergreen, but then a mixture of flowers and a biting green almost noble hop aspect enters the equation. A touch catty and very resinous. After the hop assault fades a hearty dose of fairly sweetened malts come forward providing a creamy caramel and biscuit taste. It’s juicy, pucker inducing, filling, and yes it’s even malty. This is a wonderful offering.

courtesy of tampabrew. pours golden, thin white head. Aroma of citrus hops. Taste, lots of hops, boozy, remains very sweet and easy to drink. Plenty of citrus fruits flavors.

12 oz bottle thanks to 17thfloor. Pours a hazed orange with a beige head. Fresh grapefruit, floral hops, and a nice bready dough in the aroma. Medium body. Grapefruit, caramel, citrus, lots of lemon in fact. Bitter but somewhat tannic. The hops clash oddly here, maybe its just the state they are in. Decent though.

Pours a hazy, reddish-copper color with a moderately full, yellowish, pillowy head which is mostly diminishing and leaves minimal lace. Nose is interesting with dank being the first scent noted with also floral bouquet, tangerine, grapefruit peel, and some nice backing malts of toffee. Flavor is full of hop flavors and balanced by a nice malt backbone; malts are prominent in the beginning with toasted caramel, toffee, and biscuits. Hops filter in with notes of sweet tangerine, apricot, light resins, grapefruit peel, and light floral. Palate is medium, lightly sticky, lively, and drying into the finish. Finish finally shows the deceptive moderately high bitterness becoming a bit dry and noting more resins and light rustic notes. Not the typical IIPA I’m accustomed to but it was nice for a change. The initial smell was misleading, this one really turned out to be a decent beer.