Samuel Adams LongShot Old Ale

Created by Don Oliver, California. Don says that the blend of distinctive malts in his brew "offers a rich and malty taste that doesn’t overpower. It’s a full-bodied, heavy ale good for a winter night by the fire."

3.6

301 reviews

Boston, United States

Community reviews

4.0 Bottle. Had this one when it first when it came out, and Im going off memory. Smelled strong, lots of hops and malts. Tasted very bitter with the hops, but lots of sweet body with the flavorful malt. Carmely and piney. Thick and grassy. Roasty and earthy. Lots of flavor and well balanced. Very good. My fav of all the longshots so far.

3.8 Reddish brown pour from the 12 oz bottle. Not much head. Malty aromas with sweet caramel. More sweet malts on the flavor as well. Caramel and dark fruits. Some alcohol in the finish. Pretty tasty.

3.8 Clear dark amber with tiny off white head. Sweet vinious aroma with caramel, dark fruits, port and malty notes. Sweet vinious flavor with prunes, plums, caramel and toasted malt. Warming alcohol in the end.

3.8 Bottle 12 fl.oz. Clear medium amber color with a small to average, frothy, fair lacing, mostly diminishing, off-white head. Aroma is moderate to light heavy malty, caramel, moderate hoppy, dark berry, sugar, alcohol. Flavor is moderate to heavy sweet and moderate bitter with a average to long duration. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft. (130608)

3.6 Reddish-brown and clear in look. Smells of maple and molasses and caramel. Taste is sweet and molasses like. Full body.

3.4 Bottle. Clear orange coloured with a small off white head. Aroma of dried fruits, alcohol, caramel and prunes. Sweet flavour of dried fruits, burnt sugar and liquorice with notes of alcohol. Warming alcoholic finish. Too alcoholic.

3.8 (Bottle 35,5 cl) Courtesy of boboski. Clear orangey brown with a beige head. Aroma of overripe fruit, burned caramel and alcohol. Quite a full body with plenty of burned caramel, overripe fruit and even some sherry accents. A little low in carbonation. The finish is dry. Very delicious. 130608

3.1 12 fl oz bottle. Pours clear and golden brown with a lacing tan head. Dry raisin/caramel malt aroma. Spiced flavour with a special malt base of dark toffee and dry raisins. Ends with the same lingering dry malt base and only a vague bitterness.

3.5 Clear brown with small off white head. Aroma of raisins, plums, roast and carmelized malts, and a hint of alchohol. Rich roasty flavors with raisins, molasses and maybe even a bit of bubblegum.Sweet malty finish with some alchohol warming.

3.8 Courtesy of Maniac. Pours a brown with copperish hues and dissapating tan head. Plum and rum raisin nose. Sweet and tart flavor balance nicely. Plum finish. Alcohol is well disguiesed. Enjoyable, especially for style.

4.0 One of the star turns of a very good night of beers at the Sydney RB Xmas 07 gathering. For mine, this slots somewhere in the family tree that leads to Utopias and Millennium. It was very sweet and sticky, with a healthy draft of turpentine woodiness. Bronze with a classic crema head. Thick fumes of coffee grounds, lacquer, turpentine and tokay. Lush and creamy body - perfect. Glorious wash of burnt sugars, oak barrel and figs. Superb. (Bottle courtesy of Linc at Sully’s 2007 Xmas gathering - thanks fellas)

3.2 Awesome tasting brew! Pours a dark copperish colour. Fairly large aromatic head. A kickass ABV that really pounds it into you. Oak, whiskey and sweet kona coffee is in the taste.

1.8 3-22-08 bottle shared with lb4lb thanks to ford9719 Dark red brown with no real head. Smell is below average sweet malt. Flavor is cough syrup and soy sauce. Not enjoyable.

2.8 *did not mind would not buy* aroma: smells of fruit pancake syrup and sweet cheap candy malts. smells like one of the avery sugar spiked high abv beers. app: looks great! nice ruby tones. flavor: buttery, warm, does have a sweet finish but not as sweet as i thought. its good. lacks magic and complexity. tastes a lil cheap. pal: thick! nice. very good! OA: nice but not great. its ok.

3.5 Reddish-brown and clear in look. Smells of maple and molasses and caramel. Taste is sweet and molasses like. Full body.

3.1 From Notes 12 oz bottle pours a nice ruby with a thick off white head. Flavor is sweet, strong, syruppy. Seems to need some aging.

1.7 bottle from ford9719. Thanks! Porus dark maroon with mostly clear body and a short lived tan head. Smell is soy and malt and pretty odd. Taste is tart, and old malt. Not sure this one aged so well. Definitely has that "soy" character strongly about it. A bit thin as well. Lingering awful taste. Drink this now before it gets worse!

3.7 DELICIOUS! Very strong and malty. Nice head pours that sticks around for awhile. Dark red color with a great flavor of caramel, brown sugar and dried fruit. Nice.

3.1 About as tasty as a 10.6 ABV can be. Wouldn’t want more than 1 or 2.

3.4 12 oz bottle. Nice amber color with a big white head. A bit surprise Sam Adams made a regular beer this big. Lots of caramel aromas with a hint of raisins. Same flavors plus dark fruitiness (figs maybe?). Pretty good overall.

3.6 Found a six pack of the Samuel Adams 2006 AHC at Warehouse Liquors in Duluth, Minnesota. Pours a clear dark reddish brown brew with a thin off-white head that slowly dissipates to a fine film and ring top. Aroma of roasted dark caramel malt, some dark pitted fruits, raisins and a touch of plum. Taste is medium bodied, some light carbonation with flavors of sweet caramel malt, some raisins, dark fruits, a touch of molasses and some chocolate. Finish is semi-sweet, a good balance of dark grain malt and fruity character.

3.7 12oz bottle. Attractive deep red-amber color. Half inch frothy head. My bottle was labeled as best before June 2007, it is now late February 2008. Pungent malty alcohol aroma, but the malt blend really does a great job covering the taste of the alcohol. Heavy and rugged by most anyone’s standards, reminiscent of a Samiclaus or a really strong English ale. Lots of subtleties running amok in this one, from chocolate tones to an almost citrus fruit twang. Pretty cool beer, especially for Sam Adams.

4.0 Mar. 2007 - Wow, my second in the Long Shot series, and man they are good. Pour was dark brown with red highlights, nice two finger head which dissipated to a soapy layer. Nice lacing. Very faint aroma of sugar and dark fruits. Flavor...this is one complex beer...caramel base with touches of raisin/fig, toffee and some smokiness. Alcohol kind of shows with a burn at the end, but not unpleasant. Thick as molasses mouthfeel, full of flavor...the most flavorful of all the Sam Adams beers. I hope this one sticks around. Excellent!

3.6 12 oz bottle which says enjoy before June 2007. I’d hope this one would have more staying power than that. Poured a clear reddish-orange color. Head was sticky and yellowish-tan with decent retention and lacing. The aroma was both fruity and malty with mixed berries, raisin, and molasses notes. There was also a dash of sherry. Slightly sweet on the tongue and medium bodied compared to the bog-like thickness of the Kuhnhenn Fourth Dementia I just enjoyed. The flavor was malt dominated without a whole lot of hop presence. I tasted caramel, toffee, and raisin. The 10.6% alcohol was not overly strong in the flavor, but I did detect a meaty note, almost like a hint of salty bacon. Pretty good beer.

3.5 Malty and caramelly sweet. Alcohol is noticeable. Nice hop balance. Gets smoother as it warms.

3.6 12 oz. bottle. Aroma is pretty much entirely intense malt with a little sweet caramel and molasses. Tiny hint of alcohol as the beer warms up. Pours a deep reddish brown with about 1-1.5 fingers worth of wispy white crown. Below average retention and rather oily lacing. Flavour is sweet and malty, lots of caramel and low roast character. There is a hint of tart raisin and molasses. Medium-plus bodied with mild carbonation (a little too much for my liking so I swirled it a bit in my glass). Rather smooth finish, provided the rather high ABV content. Mildly creamy mouthfeel and low hop bitterness. Best beer out of the LongShot pack and overall a great beer. I’d definitely love to taste this on draught as I’m certain it would be better.

3.8 Not my favorite style of beer, but this is pretty good. Works well with some liver sausage on crackers. Quite tasty indeed.

3.9 Rich mahogany body with a minuscule off-white head. Graham cracker and biscuit nose. Grape esters and that of dark fruits. Semi-dry palpable finish.

4.0 Consumed 12-05-07. Mahogany/garnet highlights, frothy beige head, oily legs/lacing. Huge toffee/mollasses up front, followed by plenty of dark fruits, mostly plum. Very faint dark roast/smoky char-like character. No alcohol in aroma for me. Flavor on par with aroma. Big maly, residuel sweetness through and through. Candied plums through the middle, again faint dark roast in the finish. Chewy body, very soft carbonation, creamy mouthfeel. Well done, and IMO suffers from the SA bias. Would buy this often with no hesitation.

3.7 Dark amber pour with a small cream colored head. Rich, caramel malt aroma, some dark fruit and honey apparent as well. Very smooth mouth feel; dark, sweet malt base with some cherry and toffee touches that has a nice hop finish.