Samuel Adams LongShot Grape Pale Ale

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

This is pretty underwhelming. Pours copper with a pillow beige head. The aroma has muddied malt, odd fruit that doesn’t seem like grape, dust and some maple syrup. Medium crisp body at first then a syrupy slickness that seems odd for something with this light of a body. The taste is strange with maple syrup taking center stage. There is also some caramel malt and a hint of spice. The finish has some phenolic spice. This is interesting in description and may be okay as a homebrew fresh as can be, but as a mass market beer this doesn’t work for me at all. It sounded like it might be interesting, but didn’t deliver.

Not quite like the description, little grape attributes. Clear orange in color. Aroma is less sweet than expected but it does have some honey in the background of my olfactory. Good carbonation on the palate. Taste lacks any sweetness or fruitiness that may be indicated on the label. Overall a somewhat mild and slightly fruity ale but certainly not enough fruit in there to classify this as a fruit beer. Above average in enjoyability as far as fruit beers go. Failrly strong alky bite even tho none is listed here, I’d say about 6%. Mild medicine bitter malty linger that hangs for a while.

Sampled from a 12 oz brown bottle this beer poured a vivid amber color with a large yellow-white head. The aroma was tangy and sweet grape. The flavor was sweet and sugary initially with noted grape flavors and turned oddly dry towards the finish. Yep it is grape, but I don’t get the pale ale part as there is no hop presence whatesoever. I can not say it is a disappointment only because I did not expect it to be any good.

12oz. bottle. Aroma is gently malty, toasty and sweet, with definable hints of the grape and syrup additions showing through and a touch of citric hop. Light-medium golden amber color, clear, with a head that subsides. Flavor is predominantly sweet and malty, sugary and lightly toasted with a fairly strong grape presence throughout, these coupled with a very gentle bitterness and faint grapefruit, caramel and apple. Mouthfeel is thinly acidic and sharp with a light-medium body. As it warms, a distinct maple aftertaste appears. The novelty of this one kind of wears off by the third bottle (no, I didn’t drink them in a row).

Bottle: The aroma is a combination of raisins, grapes, grain, and grass...a pretty unpleasant combo in my opinion. It pours a bright transparent amber with a moderate soapy off-white head. Weird combination of caramel and raisin up front. Finishes moderately grainy and lightly grassy. The flavors just don’t mesh and the graininess is very unpleasant. Light bodied with with mild carbonation.

12 oz. bottle from Plaza Liquors - Pours a clear copper color with a one and a half finger thick off white head. Light lacing. Has a sweet floral hop and caramel malt aroma. Flavor is herbal hops and light caramel malt. Not getting any grapes here. Has an unpleasant finish. Actually, this beer doesn’t taste good. Can’t believe SA picked this beer as a Longshot winner.

Pours a clear light copper color with a medium lasting offwhite head. Small hint of grape like sweetness in the nose along with lots of sweet malt and no balancing hops. Taste is much the same with almost predominantly malt flavors and somewhat of an extract like flavor to it... Could benefit from adding more hops so that they could actually b detected... Drinkable, and I think I got some grape like flavors, but they didn’t knock me across the head.

Bottle from BevMo. Medium amber/brown in color. Somewhat bready malty aroma. Roasty malted flavor. A hint of hoppy bitterness towards the end. Tastes like a million other average pale ales.