Samuel Adams LongShot Five Crown Imperial Stout
Created by Joe Formanek.
For the past 15 years, Joe has been brewing his Russian Imperial Stout. This malt-forward brew has a rich complexity, with roasty and chocolate notes, yet enough hop bitterness to balance out the sweetness. This satisfying winter brew is full-bodied with an enjoyable velvety smoothness.
For the past 15 years, Joe has been brewing his Russian Imperial Stout. This malt-forward brew has a rich complexity, with roasty and chocolate notes, yet enough hop bitterness to balance out the sweetness. This satisfying winter brew is full-bodied with an enjoyable velvety smoothness.
3.6
225 reviews
Boston, United States
Community reviews
12oz bottle Pours pitch black with tad head. Chocolate and coffee aroma. Taste better as it warms. Chocolate vanilla and roasted malt
Black pour, huge head. Roasty aroma, cocoa, fudge, subtle woodiness. Taste of Cocoa, chocolate syrup, brown sugar, subtle vanilla, slightly charred wood. A bit too sweet for me. Nice effort, though it took a bit for flavours other than chocolate to come through.
Bottle. Moderate malt aromas of toasted dark bread and chocolate, with spruce-y hops, moderate dough for the yeast, and vanilla and alcohol in the background. Head is tiny, frothy/fizzy, brown with spotty lacing and is fully diminishing. Color is almost black. Flavor starts moderately sweet and lightly acidic, then finishes lightly sweet and acidic and moderately bitter. Palate is medium to full, creamy with a soft carbonation and a chewy and sticky on the lips finish. Very nicely done. This Imperial Stout is unique without it missing any of the necessary attributes of the style.
Pitch black body with a two centimetre tall lighter brown head - viscous as hell with a few bubbles noticeable. Aroma of pungent roasted malt, a bit of peat, earth, milk and bunches upon bunches of prunes, raisins and pit fruits. Full-bodied; Deep roasty flavour with a lot of malt, some milk, a hint of earth and a decent amount of peat and other smoked notes, along with soy sauce noticeable. Aftertaste shows hints of sweetness, but mostly a bittering malty flavour that persists and permeates some lactic and medicinal flavours afterwards. Overall, not a horrible imperial stout, but not showing enough complexity and enough sweet and classy notes to make this great. Still, nice to try, along with most other longshot series beers. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased from Total Wine in McLean, Virginia on 01-August-2012 for US$8.99/six pack sampled at home in Upstate New York on 28-December-2012.
Bottle from drabmuh. Thanks Matt.
An outstanding appearance. The beer is black with an inch of dense beige head that leaves a fair amount of lacing on the glass.
The aroma brings chocolate, roast, molasses, anise, some sweet malt.
The flavor is sweet, focusing on molasses and anise. Roast and chocolate come in next, and a touch of booze finishes things off.
Medium bodied with a creamy feel.
Overall, pretty good. Some really nice things going on here, but overall, a little too sweet for my personal preference.
Serving type: bottle
Reviewed on: 04-19-2012
Appearance: near black, with purplish highlights and a surprisingly large dark brown, almost purple head. Aroma: licorice, molasses, chocolate, coffee, peat bog, and chocolate. Taste: bitter dark chocolate, roasted coffee beans, brewer’s licorice, molasses, and a bit of smoke, with some nearly hidden piney hop character. Finish: boozy, slightly sweet, with a bit of a syrupy tang. Notes: Usually Russian Imperial Stouts are a little too strong for my tastes, but this one was just restrained enough that it remained a massive beer while still being approachable in flavor and palate. Of the Long-Shot Sixer this year, this was my favorite.
Appearance- Deep thick black with a fluffy brown head. Nice lacing and long lasting.
Aroma- Deep, rich roasted chocolate, Sweetness
Flavor- Dark, semi-sweet chocolate, big roasted malt, just the right amount of hops,nice caramel sweetness. Avery well rounded Imperial stout.
12 oz. bottle. Pours a dark coffee brown with a persistent dark hazelnut brown head. Nice aroma. Smells of brown sugar, dark fruit (cherry), and roasted caramel malt -- complex, though not as complex as some other imperial stouts. Taste starts out rich, sweet, and malty with lots of roasted and toasted malts, toffee, vanilla, chocolate, and coffee flavors. Toward the middle, the taste begins to turn bitter with an increasing hint of dark fruit. Finishes on a balanced note. Aftertaste is malty. Palate doesn’t have the engine oil thickness that some similar imperial stouts manage. Overall, a very good and enjoyable beer. Not the best in its class, but it is solid.
From bottle. Really nice toasted-roasted malt aromas. Chocolate, licorice, and smoke character. A bit of oak and vanilla. Dark black opaque with creamy-foamy tan lacing head. Medium-heavy body, a little oily, with medium carbonation. Starts with fairly rich roasted malt, chocolate, and licorice. Big bitter sugar tang with some carbonic acidity, soy. Bitter smoky finish, alcoholic warming. Light oaky character. Nice
Solid example, really needs a stronger, hoppier bite at the end to seal the deal, though. Drinks very easily and is pleasant, overall.
Deep black with a thick rocky dark khaki head. Lovely aroma of roasty black chocolate, aged molasses, and a certain meatiness behind it. Nice full and rich flavor with lots of malty, dark cocoa sweetness/bitterness, roasted black malts, a wee bit of molasses, smoke, with a somewhat moderate astringent finish. Not a fan of the roasty toasty smokey stouts, but this one is quite nice on a cold winter day.
Happy stout day! Smells of chocolate, roasted malts caramel and molasses. Tastes of all the same smells plus a slight black licorice flavor. Mouthfeel is creamy but pretty light for an imperial stout. Overall this was a great imperial stout. I’m interested on how it will taste after a year of aging.
Black, huge brown head. Smells like chocolate and marshmallow, with a little bit of coffee. Taste is coffee, a little fruity, and a good deal of vanilla and chocolate. Hint of rum, as well. Woody finish.
Bottle. Poured a dark jet black with a big pillowy two finger creamy tan head. Aroma was milk chocolate, roasted malts, charcoal, and hops. Flavor was rich and creamy. Malts, chocolate, coffee and roasted flavors. Finished dry and bitter. Very good beer.
Location/Date:Bottle on October 1st, 2012.
Appearance: Pours black with light brown lace.
Aroma: Aroma of light roast, chocolate.
Taste: Stronger than the aroma. Nice amount of roast, some chocolate, a little bit of bitter at the end.
Palate:Medium body, creamy, short aftertaste.
Summary: Tasty imperial stout with a nice taste and palate.
I thought this was really great. A full body with a solid grainy flavor, the best of this most recent long shot bunch. Thick yet easy to drink.
THOUGHTS: Nice, robust imperial stout. Probably better than SA’s own imperial stout. It could have done a better job hiding the alcohol.
TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured an opaque black with a small, light brown head that mostly diminished. The aroma had moderate to heavy roasted malt, chocolate and chocolate syrup; light hops; cherry; slight alcohol; and dark fruit. The initial flavor was light to moderately sweet, lightly acidic and lightly bitter; while the finish was moderate to heavily sweet, lightly acidic and lightly bitter with a long duration. There was chocolate syrup, roasted malt, dark fruit, cherry, dark chocolate, light hops, light alcohol, licorice, and a little grain. The medium to full body was oily, a little sticky on the lips and then a little fry with fairly fizzy carbonation and a slightly alcoholic finish.
Bottle,
this impy had a black pour and made a spare/small cover of coffee colored bubbles that went away to an island in the center and thin ring, this drink is very black and I could not see any carbonation except for what was flowing up the sides of the glass, it left some spots and small fingers of lacing on the sides of the glass, the bottle had no sediment,
there were aromas of roasted malt, bitter chocolate, a little malt sweetness, and faint smoke roastiness in the background,
the flavors were roasted malt, bitter/dry chocolate, some dark/intense caramel and molasses sweetness,
the finish had a combination of alcohol, malt and coffee bitterness,
the mouth feel was a little more than medium with a nice creamy feel on the palate,
a simple Impy with a nice mouth feel.
12oz bottle. Poured a black color with a large sized tan head. Aromas of roast, floral hops, green, chocolate, and some earth. Tastes of chocolate, caramel, roast, floral, some earth, and some dark fruits. Alcohol content hidden.
Oh my gosh! Good thing I noticed the "Enjoy by August 2012" date notch on the label for this 4-month old Imperial Stout. Heh! Well, I just want to get in a rating and cellar the other bottle from the six pack. This pours with a nice warm chocolatey and alcoholic nose. Black with a ring of foam around the edge of the glass, little carbonation evident. There is some very tiny fizziness trying to swim through a suitably rich and thick stout malt taste, but it only serves to enhance it. Quite chocolatey, smooth roast malt. Not getting much in the way of ester here, so why even bother to mention it? Anyway, this is a smooth and rich as any Impy Stout I’ve ever tried at this young age. I definitely want to save the other bottle for, oh, just say "later."
Hearty baking chocolate profile with a touch of saltiness. The mouthfeel is thinner, more innocuous than some of the more heavy, pulpy stouts. Completely average at best.
12 oz bottle. Pours black with a dark brown head. Aroma of cherry, toffee, coffee, peat, caramel. Flavor is chocolate, peat, cherry, toffee, coffee with a hint of sugar. I enjoy the sweetness that comes through in the finish.
From a bottle poured a black color with a large amount of brown head. Bitter malty flavor with lingering aftertaste.
Bottle. Enjoy before: 08/12. A jet-black pour with a thick chestnut head that leaves rings of lacing behind. The aroma features dark chocolate, cocoa, roasted coffee, toffee, caramel, some pine, and a little citrus in the background. Vanilla beans and an oaky woodsiness become apparent as things warm up a bit. Full-bodied, thick, and velvety smooth on the way down. Caramel, candi sugar, dark chocolate, molasses, and toffee upfront in the taste. Some vanilla extract and a hint of an oaky woodsiness in the middle. Moderately tangy at the end with some estery dark fruits, lemons, and zesty citrus rinds. A decent amount of alcohol warmth throughout. Not bad at all.
12 oz. bottle from Tmoney99. Pours a very dark brown color with a medium sized, dense tan head. The aroma is a blend of dark and milk chocolate, dark fruits (cherries, plum), dark caramel, a slight hint of anise, earthy with some light alcohol. The flavor has dark chocolate, roasted malts, mild black coffee, dark fruits, warming alcohol burn and some nuttiness toward the finish. Medium plus body, on the dry side. This was pretty interesting and worth a try.
Bottle. Body is a deep and thick looking dark brown and supports a dense and beautiful dark tan head. Aromas are thick with chocolate and bananas, a little creaminess and a hint of dark fruit (prunes?). Flavor is very nice, but there is a bit of a sherry/prune/iron note from oxidation or something that is a slight flaw in my book... Almost like blood. Beyond that, this is a nice enough Imperial Stout. Chocolate and bananas are the main draw, mouthfeel is thick enough and slightly creamy and finish is sweet with some of that dark fruit presence down the homestretch. ABV is impossible for me to detect, not even a slight warming.
Big Top Beverage Mart, Roslyn variety case: Pours a black colour with a straight brown head. Aroma is mostly chocolate with a lower bit of roast, there also be some coffee, and my mother claims she can smell chicory. Taste somewhat sweet. Leaves a long aftertaste that is reminiscent of gooey chocolate. Not bad, but this wasn’t really my favourite beer.
12 oz. bottle, thanks Poisoneddwarf- Pours a beautiful dark tan chocolate colored three finger head that looks like it’ll stick around. The aroma is chocolate, molasses, figs, other dark fruits, sweet and rich. The taste is less sweet, noticeably more hops than the aroma leads on, but very rich and velvety, I am glad this is only 12 ounces, not sure If I could finish a 22 oz. bottle, sticky and very full bodied. Overall, this is a good dessert beer, but I like my Impy Stouts more complex, less syrupy.
Best before August of 2012.
A: This is an absolutely stunning beer in my snifter, pitch black body shows off a beautiful thick dark tan head that lingers for a while.
S: Slight milk chocolate, but the raisin flavor takes the aroma and I’m not a fan of that.
T: The raisin flavor is much more tame in the body and balanced really well. On the intro mild roasted malts and some raisin flavors mingle which lead to some milk chocolate notes. The finish becomes a nice blend of roasted malts, dark chocolate, and raisins. This is done well.
M: Thick and velvety, this is how a stout should go down.
O: I’m not a huge fan, but I appreciate this for what it is. This is a solid Russian imperial stout with a lot to like.
Bottle. Poured a black color with an average frothy brown head that mostly lasted with excellent lacing. Moderate to heavy roasted coffee, chocolate and alcohol aroma. Medium to heavy toasted chocolate malt flavor with a heavy dark sweet and small alcohol bite finish of moderate duration. Medium to full body with a smooth texture and flat carbonation. This is a solid beer.