Samuel Adams LongShot Derf's Secret Alt
Created by Samuel Adams employee Fred Hessler.
Fred wanted to go big or go home with his homebrew and decided to brew a kicked up Sticke Alt. This full-bodied ale has a big, malty character balanced by subtle orange and grapefruit notes from the hops. With a light amber color, this brew has a sweet finish.
Fred wanted to go big or go home with his homebrew and decided to brew a kicked up Sticke Alt. This full-bodied ale has a big, malty character balanced by subtle orange and grapefruit notes from the hops. With a light amber color, this brew has a sweet finish.
3.4
220 reviews
Boston, United States
Community reviews
Pours a medium brown color with a light tan head with good lacing. Smells of molasses, brown sugar, caramel and citrus. Tastes mostly the same as it smells but also has a dark fruit taste and the flavors come out better with a defefinate alcohol presence from the abv. Palate is light and creamy with a dry finish. This is a pretty good beer overall for the style and I enjoyed it
Bottle. Poured a murky brown color with a smaller off white head. Aroma was molasses, brown sugar, malts and syrup. Flavor was some dark fruit, candies, molasses and sugar. Big body. Heavy mouthfeeel. Longer finish. Decent to above average beer.
THOUGHTS: Very nice. Very malty. I haven’t had many alts, but this is better than I remember the others being. It was easy to drink for the high ABV.
TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a clear, dark, reddish amber with a large, off-white head that mostly diminished and left good lacing. The aroma had heavy bread, caramel and all sorts of malt; light to moderate herbal, citrus and resin hops; prune; apple; cherry; alcohol; and hints of cola. The initial flavor was moderate to heavily sweet and lightly bitter; while the finish was moderate to heavily sweet and light to moderately bitter with and average to long duration. There was all sorts of malt, tons of malt, caramel, prune, cherry, apples, citrus and resinous hops, something a little rubbery, alcohol, dark bread and a little cola. The medium body was a little oily and then a little dry with soft and lightly tingly carbonation and a lightly alcoholic finish.
Bottle pours dark hazy brown with a medium tan head. Aroma is very nutty with slight phenolic boozyness. Flavor is big and rich bread malts, lots of caramel and toast with a sweet finish.
12 oz. bottle- Pours clear brown to ruby red with a one finger foamy tan head that reduces to a blanket. The aroma is caramel malt, spicy, toffee. The taste is big on caramel malt, alcoholic, syrupy, the finish is sweet but dry. Decent beer, but not really my style.
Murky brown, with a thin ring o’ foam. Huge malt aroma - molasses, toasty, and rich. Smooove palate. Very malty. More molasses and toast, perhaps even some rum. Crisp, woody finish.
12 ounce bottle poured an amber redish color, with aromas of malt, over riped fruit, light citrus, and some caramel. Flavors are the same, heavy malt flavor overall, did not taste like a 9.3% beer that is for sure.
Bottle. Enjoy before: 08/12. A clear deep copper/light mahogany pour with a thick and creamy khaki head. The aroma consists of caramel, spiced apple cider, a rich breadiness, and some mild citrus in the background. A little vanilla and some woodsiness become apparent as things warm up a bit. Goes down medium-bodied and fairly smooth. Gets a tad sticky as it warms. The taste starts with a good deal of caramel, toffee, apples, and pears. Estery. A mildly grainy/bready middle. A tangy finish with some oranges and touches of zesty citrus rinds. Hints of grassiness. A fair amount of spiciness throughout. The perfect level of warming alcohol that only adds to the complexity of this beer. Nice work Derf!
beautiful translucent dark red with a creamy tan head. heavy full body with medium-high carbonation.
aroma: rich bready german munich and aromatic malt, caramel, spicy grain, over-ripe fruit, leafy hops, and magic marker alcohol.
taste: rich bready munich malt, spicy tart grain, leafy hop bitterness, fruity esters, and magic marker.
12 oz bottle. Pours a slightly opaque amber with reddish hues. Aroma of caramel, nuts, spruce and raisin. Flavor is toffee, caramel, peat, with hints dark chocolate covered cherries. A sweet and slightly dry finish. This is a really good altbier.
Pours cloudy brown with a small tan head, perfect alt/doppel appearance. Aroma is super sweet, syrup, raisin, malt. Flavor is slightly less sweet, but still very syrupy, malty, dark fruit. Palate is quite nice, light carbonation. Overall a nice beer, if a bit on the sweet side. The high alcohol doesn’t really show. More of a doppel than an alt, though.
The aroma is fruity, bread, vegetables. The appearance is opaque red/brown, cream colored head. The flavor is fruity, bready, slightly boozy. Like a dopplebock. Medium/thick in body, creamy. The finish is pine, grapefruit, lingering. Very good overall. Good representation of the style, although this may have crossed the line from altbier to dopplebock.
Big Top Beverage Mart... variety case: Pours a reddish brown with a tan head. Aroma is Eastern European marinated fruits... kind of doppelbockish. Body is ridiculously heavy. Taste is rather sweet. Finish is slightly hoppy and bitter. Lots of fruitiness. This is a hard one to drink. I wish I only had one these rather than 8. Not my thing.
A malty, black licorice flavor profile chased with some fleeting citrus notes and a deep body. Some hoppiness knives through the aforementioned tastes, but it’s pretty subtle. Prepare for that hanging 9.3% bliss.
Bottle. Poured clear brown color with an average frothy light brown head that was mostly lasting with excellent lacing. Moderate roasted caramel and citrus aroma. Medium body with a sticky texture and soft carbonation. Medium sweet flavor with a medium sweet finish of moderate duration. My expectations where met.
I am a fan of the style but this one was off the mark for me. There was a nice citrusy zing in the middle being pressed on either sides by a too sweet aroma and taste and on the other side by a really hot alcohol burn. Poured a medium brown with a nice head but that was the highlight.
Best before August of 2012.
A: A beautiful clear mahogany body shows plenty of lazy carbonation floating towards the huge tan creamy head that forms a plateau as it slowly dissipates leaving a mess on the glass. This is a great looking beer!
S: Whoa this is a sweet malty beer, hints of toffee, and some fruity notes of sweet apple. This is great!
T: Very malty and sweet. This has hints of apples through the sweet caramel, molasses, and toffee body. The end gets a bit thick though and hints at alcohol on the finish that sort of take away from the flavor giving it an edgy finish.
M: Moderately thick with little signs of carbonation.
O: I’m not sure how this style is supposed to be, but it reminds me a bit of a dopplebock. This is very malty with hints of fruit and I really enjoy it.
Very good. My least favorite of this Longshot release but great color, maltiness and aroma.
Pours cloudy amber with thin head. Sweet fruits leap out and blend into molasses. Malted toffee follows. Slight alcohol hints. Very strong. Overall a nice brew. Could probably only drink one but it is enjoyable.
Bottled. Poured clear reddish-amber with a nice, dark beige head. The aroma picked up sweet, aged caramel, molasses, and darker fruit with cracked black pepper and earthy accents.. very warm. The flavor found more of the warm fruit and molasses plus some vanilla bean.. peppery alcohol and earthy accents.. tasty, but a tad too hot. Medium-bodied and spicy on the palate.. lightly-toasted.. decent feel and flow.
12oz bottle from 2012 mix pack. It poured a clear, deep reddish brown color with persistent beige head and some lace. Nice appearance. Aromas of dark malts, citrusy/spicy hops, peppery yeast phenols, boozy alcohol. Flavor had some residual malt sweetness, grapefruity hops balance, tart and toasty, fairly harsh alcohol notes, some red-wine-like fruitiness and tannins. Medium body and carbonation. Unpleasant, harsh, acidic aftertaste. Maybe I got a bad bottle, but I only wanted a small sample of this one. I’ve learned there are very few high-gravity lagers I enjoy. I haven’t had any classic sticke alts, so I don’t know how true-to-style this one was.
Light cola brown; healthy cardboard brown head. Thick with tiny bubbles of carbonation.
Aroma is cola and heavy toffee and molasses. Nary a hop to be found, or at least none that I can detect. Musty barnyard flavors, but I’m diggin’em. Overwhelmed by sweetness but a dark sweetness. There is a touch of orange rind that creeps up after a few minutes.
Dark sweetness on the front of the tongue; very much like a malty cola. The toffee/molasses comes through in a big way.
Feels smooth, but chunky. Has a palpable fizz that makes the flavors dance a li’l bit. This type of beer is so not my alley, but it’s getting it done with so many diverse flavors. It’s sweet but not saccharine; horsey but not dank. Well done, Fred.
The aroma is sweet and malty with mixed fruit and hops. The appearance is brown with a large head. The taste is like the aroma. The palate is smooth. Alcohol is partially hidden. Overall a really nice beer. Best Alt I’ve had so far.
5/31/12
bottle at azwine.
auburn brown with a small ow head.
a+f= toasted sugar malt, flowers, mild citrus and a dry minerally finish.
medium bodied and meh
12 oz bottle. Pours clear amber with a medium beige head with decent retention. Aroma is bready, caramelly--all malt. Tastes like a real German altbier. It’s malty sweet and a bit meaty. Mouthfeel is syrupy, a bit watery maybe. Well-crafted, but this isn’t a favorite style of mine.
Sampled on 7/7/2012. This altbier pours a dark brown color from a 12oz bottle. Small sized beige white head with decent retention and nice lacing. The aroma is caramel, malt, sweet and bready. A medium bodied altbier. The malts are caramel, bready and sweet. The hops are herbal and earthy. Decent carbonation. Nice sweet bready malts. Tastes like a dopple sticke. Hides the alcohol well. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly sweet.
12 oz bottle. Pours on the dark side of amber, clear with an off-white head. Ripe red apple and pear aroma, raisin and molasses hints. Nice full palate, tart apple and caramel with lots of citrusy orange, raisin, hinting at roastiness. Mmm. Very satisfying beer.
From bottle. Mild sweet nutty aroma, light winey acidic tang. Caramel and molasses, alcohol. Reminiscent of a dubbel. Dark coppery brown clear with light tan foamy lacing head. Medium heavy body with medium-high carbonation. Starts sweet with molasses, alcohol, plum, and rich malt. Clean finish with sweet tang, topped off with a mild bitterness. Sweet nutty after, kinda like Doppelsticke.
deep amber pour with a cream head. nose is huge on the malts, caramel, sweet, and sticky. nice on the palate, sticky malts, toffee, caramel, dough, and bread.
The pour is dark amber in color with an off-white head. Toasted malt with a surprising hoppiness, mostly citrus peel. There’s a nice sweetness to the nose and quite a bit of white grape, which I seem to get in most alts. Some caramel and toffee maltiness, maybe a bit of chocolate, too. The flavor is a bit boozy, unfortunately. Some citrus hop flavor, a lot of toasted malt, white grape, and toffee sweetness are also present. The booze really lasts throughout the entire sip.