Samuel Adams LongShot Old Ale

Formerly brewed at Boston Beer Company
Style: Old Ale
Boston, Massachusetts USA

This one is really too sweet. I think the appearnance would be helped if it was left unfiltered. It looks too commercial for it’s flavor and originalty. Adding some oak or bourbon notes would help balance the sticky-sweet downfalls. But hell, I’m an IPA guy.

Pours a deep reddish amber/copper with a tan head. The head pours nicely with pillows of unevenly sized (mostly small) bubbles. The beer leaves a heavy lace on the glass as it is consumed. The aroma is intensely malty - malt, malt, malt, malt, malt! It almost smells like malt extract syrup. There is also a touch of smoke and some fruitiness (dark cherries) in the aroma - and a just a touch of yeast and hops. The flavor starts with a complex, sweet, fruity malt character. There are hints of caramel and perhaps molasses. The hops are also evident, although this is not a bitter beer. The middle of the tongue detects some other yeasty and fruity flavors - including a hint of, strangely enough, bubble gum. All the way to the finish, the malts are the lead player. The finish is bittersweet with the balancing bitterness of the hops growing as it splashes against the back of the throat. The alcohol makes it presence known in the finish, too - though subtle (except for the warm throat and light buzz). The aftertaste is fruity, malty with noticeable yeast and hops, too. The mouthfeel is quite thin for a beer of this strength and maltiness, but not too thin. It develops a creamy texture in the mouth as you swirl it, releasing some carbon dioxide. Overall, this is a very pleasant ale. My overall impression is of a strong doppelbock blended with a strong Belgian ale.

aroma of cherry with a some wood and alcohol. clear burgundy with no head. flavor is lightly caramel with a hint of chocolate. notes of plum and cherry and raisin. very nice.

A brownish amber color with a beige head. A chocolate, caramel, and raisin aroma. The flavor is rather sweet with some chocolate, grapes, caramel, toffee, and nutmeg. This beer is very rich but has a red wine quality to it with the grapes standing out a bit. A bit of alcohol showing in the finish. This is hands down the winner of the Longshot pack! Thanks Don Oliver, you have got me a nice buzz going on!

nice aroma of dark fruits. little bit of a syrupy body. Sweet taste, maybe raisens. Nice brew. This is my fav of the longshots sam adams put out.

this was flat out amazing. barely able to taste the alcohol, great for a homebrew! sweet, could taste the cherry flavor for sure.

deep red color with little head and little carbonation. clear. aroma is sweet cherries malt and sweet fruit. almost a fruit punch jolly rancher aroma. holy shit this is 10.6%? big ups to sam adams for packing it in a 6pack sampler. it actually tastes pretty reasonably too. a tiny bit on the thin side, but most of what i smelled comes in to a slightly lesser degree. i served this at fridge temp, maybe that was a mistake. i get no alcohol. i can’t quite tell why this isn’t rated a bit higher. after i smelled it i was afraid it’d sickly lagerish but it isn’t. i could see the dimensionless argument but i don’t think it’s very strong. perhaps it’s a little too sweet? there’s a bit of a tacky aftertaste? sucks to that, this is good. and bonus points for sam adams putting out the bigger beer.

Yes it is an old ale, not the best I have had but decent. More of a traditional take on the style as there are no hops I could detect. A dark brown color very small head. Sweet, dark fruits, sticky.