Samuel Adams LongShot Grape Pale Ale

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

Your standard 12 oz. Samuel Adams bottle, notched freshness date along the left side of the label (July 2008), sampled in a pint glass. L: Clear reddish copper appearance, a frothy pale beige head of fluffy foam, good retention, slowly settled into a thin creamy lacing. Rings of splotchy lace follows the body down the glass as I consume it. S: Light white grape juiciness, toasted caramel and maple, touches of grainy bread, at the edges is a faint herbal hop. F&T: The mildly firm carbonation gives the body a moderately rounded, creamy feel in the mouth, airy and soft, making this quite the easy drinker. Caramelized malts and maple syrup are the first tastes I notice, followed by tart green grape skins and pulp. A nice hop spiciness comes out towards the end, adding to the dry white grape, sweet caramel, crusty grain bread finish. An interesting take on the pale ale, not something I would want all the time, but does make a good change of pace beer.

Pours a light golden color with small white head. Honestly wouldnt have known this was a pale ale or had grape in it if not for the name. Its crisp and clean with a slightly sweet finish. I actually enjoyed it alot but the name is misleading.

Not bad, but the combination of hops and grapes is neutralizing, and left me with the impression of neither. A good hot-day beer if very cold, but has that Sam Adams ’gloss.’ and probably not a great addition to the style.

Pours a reddish-orange color, the thin head drops quickly. The beer is very carbonated with lots of bubble rising. Aroma is sweet with a bit of fruitiness. I can convince myself I smell white grapes. The taste is caramel malts with light fruit sweetness coming through in the finish. Minimal hop bitterness. The mouthfeel is moderately thick and slightly sticky. I’m not sure what I expected from this beer. I was hoping for a lean towards APA rather than fruit beer. It came out somewhere in the middle. Nice job.

Bottle. Pours a reddish-orange color with a nice white head. Aroma of wheat, also I got some prune and light fruits. Taste of wheat (predominantly), honey (only slightly), and some sour grape (also hard to taste, but it was there!). Mouthfeel was a bit thicker, stickier than I’d expect from a pale ale. Also pretty sweet. Hmm...I’m not sure why more people don’t like this beer, I thought it was an excellent example of a fruity pale ale (wouldn’t classify this as a fruit beer though...). I think people are deceived by the name, but I enjoyed the subtle sour grape taste admidst a nice, sweet pale ale.

We really didn’t really expect much from this beer, bit we were pleasantly surprised. As fans of Sam Adams this, even though a Long Shot beer, really tastes like a Sam Adams beer. Not something we’d make a 4 mile beer run for but if it was in regular store we would buy it again. Basically if your a fan of Sam Adams or home brew we recommend you try the Long Shot pack.

Color is a clear caution-light yellow/orange. Thin 1/4 finger of head. No carbonation to be seen. The smell has hints of sweet and dark berry. Smooth honey. Darker notes of grape; sweet but rich. Aromatic berry wafting above the glass. No pale malt to speak of, per se. The taste is slightly sour grape, with a richer dark second wave. Hints of juicy grape, balanced by some dry pale and crystal malts. Medium bodied feel; leaves a juice-like coating on the tongue. Actually quite nice. It’s a highly drinkable, berry-laden brew. Not overly sweet. It’s just dark enough.

murky brown body with a thick long lasting cream colored head. nose is malt, like sticking my nose in a mash tun. very sweet flavor that i enjoy. caramel flavor dominates in a good way. a bit of green grape is there in the finish. love the sweetness. 5 5 7 3 13