Samuel Adams LongShot Mile High Barleywine

Samuel Adams LongShot Mile High Barleywine

Ben brewed this ale to mark his 100th batch of homebrew. The beer is rich and malty, with a hint of caramel and plum. Brewed with citrusy American hops and a blend of six varieties of malt, the sweet and dark fruit notes in this beer linger on the palate.”
3.5
299 reviews
Boston, United States

Community reviews

3.5 Originally reviewed: 6/4/10. 2nd offering from the LongShot series that I’m trying. 12oz bottle poured into a goblet. Pours a dark sweet-tea-looking mahogany. A good-sized beige head rests on top. Disappears to just a thin sheet and ring around the edge. Some pretty sip rings lag behind. Scents of toffee, molasses, caramel, and some hop oils. The body is moderately thick, with a decent carbonation backing. Light bubbly play on the tongue. Some dark fruits noted in the flavor, like fig and raisins. Sweet toffee aftertaste. Bitterness is moderate. Slightly drying on the backend. This was pretty good. Not as bold and in-your-face as most American BWs, but good. I like this take.
3.4 (bottle - 12 oz) Clear copper pour with a thin white head. Slightly hoppy and floral aroma with some light caramel hints. Very malty and sweet at the start with a rather spicy and hoppy finish. Nice bitter bite at the tail end.
3.0 aroma, dark fruity old malts, cereal type malt, color, meduim hue, taste cereal malt on the front then dark fruits rasisn plum, overall, not bad, needs work, somewhat good example of a english barleywine, needs age?
3.7 sample at Coles Barleywine Competition. Caramel copper pour. Rich malts, touch of cherry, sweet flavor>slight hops burn, burnt sugar. pretty balanced. Decent
3.6 Pours a chestnut brown color with a soapy off-white head. Aroma of hops, caramel, and dark fruit. Solid lacing! Slightly weak flavor with dark fruit, caramel,fig, raisin, and a slight hop ending. Really nice beer!
3.5 12 oz. bottle as a trade bonus. Pours a hazy, deep amber color with a big, frothy beige head that leaves a good deal of lacing in the glass. Aroma of caramel malts, plums, brown sugar, cookies, figs, raisins, and a hint of soap. Flavor of caramel malts, rum bread, toasted sugar, plums, raisins, dates, graham crackers, and some citrus peel. Medium-bodied, with moderate carbonation and an initially fruity, then malty mouthfeel. Dark fruit and booze linger in the aftertaste. Good barleywine.
3.8 Bottle, best by 8/10: Muddy orangey brown with a thin tan head, plums and brown sugar in the aroma, thick bodied with mellow carbonation with a dark fruit ending, starts and ends sweet. Not a barleywine that could handle serious aging.
3.4 (bottle 6/11/10). Clear deep amber color. Large off white head. Aroma and flavor of moderate sweet malt, with light dark fruit, hops, and alcohol. Avg duration. Light alcohol finish. Slick texture. Moderate carbonation. Good lacing.
4.1 Serving glass: Poured from bottle into Snifter. Appearance: Beautiful magenta red with very wispy head. No lacing. Aroma: Caramel, plum, cherry, alcohol and a nice blast of citrus hops. Taste: Fairly sweet malts with caramel, plum, dark fruit, citrus and molasses. While there is quite a bit of hoppy citrus flavor, there really is not much hop bitterness - just a twinge of spice and bitterness at the end. Palate: Low carbonation, full smooth body, quite warming. Overall: Not much bitterness for an American Barleywine, as it seems more like an English Barleywine with a lot of citrus. However, this is possibly the most approachable Barleywine I have had.
3.1 Name: LongShot Mile High Barley Wine Ale Date: April 17, 2010 Mode: Bottle Source: Hop City, Atlanta Appearance: clear dark amber, fine beige head, drippy lace Aroma: dry caramel aroma, light fruityness, lots of earthyness Flavor: sweet malt flavor, nice fruityness, touch of hot caramel, balancing earthyness Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 12/20 Rating: 3.1/5.0 Drinkability: 6/10 Score: ** /4
3.8 12 ounce bottle that pours a golden copper color that has a long lasting ivory head. Smells of toffee, caramel, and a hint of plum. Has a rich flavor with the flavor of hops, and sweet caramel. Pretty good beer, too bad it was a long shot and not a mainstay.
4.0 Clear amber, nice head. Good perfume. Rich sweet tropical fruits and light talcum when it warms. Rich full mouthfeel - loads of vanilla, caramel and a soaked prunes/sultanas rich sweetness. More sewwtness and a touch of oak at the finish. Really nice.
3.5 Bottle from South Bay Drugs: Poured as a dense mahogany and golden color topped with a frothy layer of head. The aroma is considerably hoppy with a delicate touch of honey and sweet malts. In the flavor, there is a thick presence of sticky syrup and oily malts that give off a taste of cough medicine. This is an alright barleywine but doesn’t bring a whole lot of flavor, but at least it packs a heavy ABV which catches only a little of my interest.
3.6 Nice crisp deep amber coloured body with some brownish/cola coloured highlights and a thin, fast-dying tan head. Aroma of nice strong alcohol, pit fruits, caramel, toffee and a bunch of nuts. Full-bodied; Strong pungent alcohol, oak, vanilla and caramel sweetness very potent. Aftertaste shows a lot of complexity with the oak and vanilla coming through the most with drying malt, light pit fruits and some deeper spice and nut flavours - very strong. Overall, a fairly respectable barley wine with tons of alcohol, some light nuttiness and a lot of complexities. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle from the six pack sampler purchased from Ye Olde Spirit Shop in Frederick, Maryland on 29-July-2010 sampled at home in Washington on 09-April-2011.
4.0 Pours mahogany brown with a tan head. Smells of dark fruit, some sweet malt, some cognac. Tastes of rich caramel, molasses, light spice, fruity with some sherry notes on the finish.
3.4 12oz Bottle Thanks to JohnGalt1. Pours out a dark amber with some red highlights topped with a small sand head. Aroma was sweet pit fruit, candy, brown sugar, caramel malts, and a little hop. Taste was full on sweet, malty, and rich with a little bitterness trying to round it out.
3.8 bottle - Pours dark amber with a small light tan head and an aroma of dark fruit and caramel malt. Sweetness dominates this full bodied brew with mostly buried alcohol and pleasant dark fruit notes joined by some mild hops bitterness. Very good brew.
3.7 12oz bottle poured into my Darkness glass...A dark mahogany body, semi clear. The aroma is a dark tope that rises a few fingers but quickly falls to only a ring. Very light lacing...The aroma is very sweet, lots of caramel, fresh bread crust, plums, and other dark fruits. A hint of alcohol balance on the back. Pretty darn good...The taste is on the sweeter side too, plums dominate with a touch of bitterness. Malty throughout, but a nice hop presence on the back brings about balance. The finish has tons of caramel, really first time I can recall that. I’d drink this again.
3.0 Deep amber pour with a thin white head. The nose is quite fruity - lots of sweet chewy/berryish esters. Fairly plummy and chewy with a lot of light orangey hops on the nose. Chewy palate with a lot of lingering toffee-like sweetness. A touch of light fruit. Sticky with a little bit of lightly metallic character on the back. I can’t really overstate just how much I hate their house ale yeast. It just completely dominates everything else. As it warms, the hops pick up a little bit, but it’s still a touch too sweet and a little bit unbalanced.
3.9 Bottle. Moderate malt aromas of roasted, cookie and caramel, cooked orange for the hops, light leather for the yeast with background notes of date, wood and brown sugar. Head is small, frothy, off-white with fair lacing and is mostly diminishing. Color is slightly hazy yet very sparkling, mahogany. Flavor starts moderately sweet and lightly acidic, then finishes moderately sweet and lightly acidic and bitter. Palate is medium to full, creamy with a soft carbonation. Kudos to Ben Miller! This is an excellent, smooth and well rounded Barley wine. Hides the 10% very well.
3.1 12 oz. bottle. Hoppy, yeasty aroma features pine and grapefruit from the hops and plum from the malts. Pours a clear, bright, brilliant copper with a small to moderate amount of bubbles rising at a slow to moderate speed. Small amount of taupe head. Produces decent lacing. Cloyingly sweet taste features caramel and, unfortunately, a metallic element. Red grapes, brown sugar, and birthday cake icing flavors. Citrusy, chalky, dry hops, especially in the finish. Sweetly vegetal finish: eggplant, acorn squash. Dark-pitted-fruit-bitter aftertaste. Medium to heavy body; filling. Lively and a bit oily in the palate. Overall, Sam Adams LongShot Mile High Barley Wine Ale is over the top and imbalanced. There are some good elements, but they turn into something of a mess when they congeal.
3.5 A - Pours a nice pretty clear amber-red color with a nice finger of off-white head. The head has pretty nice retention and leaves behind some nice lacing. S - Very strong aroma of carmel malts. Some elements of dark fruits and brown sugar. T - Starts off very sweet and malty. This is joined by some dark fruit flavors, including raisins, and just touch of hop bitterness. The finish has a hint of alcohol taste and there is a sweetness mixed with the alcohol taste that lingers for a while. M - Medium bodied with medium-low carbonation. Very smooth and just a touch of thickness gives it some body. D - Overall a very well flavors and balanced beer. Maybe not the most drinkable beer, with a 9.8% APV and the alcohol flavor, but at the same time, a very enjoyable beer.
3.7 The aroma is candi sugar, fruit, plums, caramel. Appearance is deep amber, clear and translcent, full off white head. The flavor is sweet upfront, fruity, candi sugar, caramel, some resin hops. The mouthfeel is relatively thick, (medium thick), syrupy. The finish is enduring resin and pine bitterness. Excellent. Sam should hire these Long Shot guys, as they seem to be doing better at creating new beers than Sam these days.
2.9 Reviewed from notes. Pours a fairly dark copper color--at least for the style--with very little head and almost no lacing. The nose brings forward a pretty good amount of booze along with some dark fruits, plums, sweetness, and some American hops. The taste brings quite a bit of alcohol heat as well and a good amount of malty sweetness. Dark fruits linger in the background. Feel is dominated by alcohol atop a medium body with low to mid-level carbonation. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 10-16-2010
3.5 12oz bottle. Reddish brown color - aromas of brown sugar, caramel malt, and some citrus. Flavor is rich and enjoyable - lots of malt and dark fruit flavors. This was a good year for the LongShot series - I can’t wait to try this year’s offerings.
3.5 Bottle from the internet. Brown pour with a small white head. Aroma is dark fruit, brown sugar, and malts. Taste is definite alcohol, lots of malts, caramel, an still more brown sugar. Hot finish.
3.5 Bottle courtesy Fratto. Pours a clear reddish amber color with a tannish colored head. Aroma is dry and dusty, lots of wood and clay notes. Dry raisin flavor that has a sharp sweetness as well. Finishes with a fruity goodness that lingers for awhile.
3.7 12 oz bottle: Pours a caramel brown with a nice tan head and continued CO2 release. Fresh and sweet taste with banana undertones. Floral and citrus aroma. Good cellaring candidate.
3.4 Bottle. Pours amber brown with a fluffy two finger tan head. Aroma of caramel, fruit and alcohol. Sweet flavor of caramel malts, brown sugar, dark fruit, alcohol and plums.
3.1 Pours a reddish amber with very little head. Strong apple notes (juice and fruit) along with pear, lavender and touch of honeysuckle...malts at the back. Bitter skin flavor (fruit, not human) right up front, with some tart juice and hops coming through...lack a bit of the malt backbone. Finishes rather quick, but then leaves that skin/pithy aftertaste.