Samuel Adams LongShot Honey B’s Lavender Ale

Formerly brewed at Boston Beer Company
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Boston, Massachusetts USA

Serve in Lager glass, Shaker, Tumbler

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   update pic

Poured from a 12 ounce bottle into a Duvel tulip. Best before September 2011 notched on label. Appearance: Pours a clear medium golden color with a 1-2 finger foamy white head. Decent lacing. Smell: Mix of lavender, spices and a touch of alcohol. Reminds me of the way my local Fresh Market smells. Taste: Lavender and spices are strong up front followed by sweet grains in the middle before ending with a touch of bitterness from herbal hops at the finish. Aftertaste is bittersweet and similar to a pilsner. Mouthfeel: Light-to-medium-bodied with a good amount of carbonation. Drinkability: Below average drinkability. The flavor, while enjoyable, is not something I’m savoring. I wouldn’t want another. Overall: Pretty solid beer overall. I like that they went with something that is far different than most beers on the market. That said, I can’t see myself wanting to drink this again. It might be worth trying, but I can’t recommend seeking it out.

Picked up a six pack of three different longshot brews recently. This has a very floral aroma with lavender, citrus, and caramel malt. The pour is a golden-amber color with a pretty good lasting head. It’s a bit sweet going down. For whatever reason the honey really seems to stick out in the flavor versus the aroma where I can’t say I noticed it at all. With that said, I think the flavor has a lot of good things going on; lots of floral flavors, with a little citrus, light spicy hops, and some grainy notes. I can definitely see the Boston Lager influence here with of course the addition of honey, flowers, and light spicing. This is a solid effort. It’s far from spectacular but I enjoyed it.

Bottle: pours a nice light yellow color with a thin white head. The lavender gives it a "clean" smell I also get a little bit of the honey and as it warms some malty sweetness. There is a little bitterness from the hops up front, but this is very quickly stomped out by the sweetness, and you are left with the lavender on your tounge afterwards.

12 ounce bottle opened 4/11/11. Pours a clear pale golden color with a medium sized fizzy white head. Decent head retention and lacing. Aroma of honey, lavender and grainy malts. The taste is fairly strong lavender notes, caramel malts, honey and a bitter almost metallic hop note. Medium bodied.

Aroma is heavy lavender with a hint of vanilla. Nice but not to my personal liking. Appearance is clear light apricot with medium white head. Taste is lavender forward. Very malty. Vanilla present. Honey thins things out a bit but this is a very malty beer. Some citrus but no tartness, almost cloying. Palate is medium+ and lacks a crispness that would make this beer very good. It is too heavy right now. Overall not bad. A homebrew recipe that needs tweaking IMO.

Well points for originality and what seems like everything but the kitchen sink heaved in. But overall I just wanted it to end as I drank it. Floral + oranges in the noses. Roses/lavender/basil taste, a bit much maybe. Look is clear and gold (nothing special). Okay but will not seek it out again.

Aroma: Light malty, honey aroma with hints of perfumey lavender. Appearance: Gold with thick, white head. Taste: Light sweetness backed by a light sourness. Palate: Medium body, light carbonation, slick texture, decent, but slightly sour, finish. Overall: Light, refreshing beer, but no depth or body. Good to quaff while grilling.

12 oz bottle from Premier Gourmet. Pours amber in colour, decent head. Nor particularly memorable, but definitely some lavender in there. Not bad.

12oz. Bottle: Aroma of caramel malt, lavender, some grain, and some cereal. Poured amber in color with a medium-sized, white head that diminished but lasted throughout. Slightly cloudy. Sparkling. Flavor is medium sweet. Tastes of malt, lavender, spices, caramel, cereal, and grain. Medium body. Average texture. Average carbonation. Medium sweet, grain, lavender, caramel, cereal finish.

Purchased at Hyde Park Wine & Spirits in Cincinnati, OH; enjoyed on a lazy Sunday nursing my mosquito bites the day after a friend’s wedding. Appearance a cloudy gold with a prominent, frothy white head, tiny carbonation bubbles rising to the top. Aroma very floral and lightly soapy, I guess that comes from the lavender pedals, citrus hops, small touch of honey, and a small presence of malt, pretty nice overall. Taste is rather sweet, the honey comes out more in the mix, above average carbonation. It definitely tastes floral too, not too much where it feels like you need to pluck the pedals from in between your teeth, but it’s noticeably in the balance; a bit of spice in the back end. I can’t say I’m a fan of it, definitely unique, probably wouldn’t purchase again.