Sam Adams Longshot Strawberry Lager (Dave Anderson)

I have often wondered by breweries don't release their own mixed 6ers.  I wasn't even sure why most variety packs seemed to come with only 3 different beers, though recently I'm starting to see them with up to six different beers.  That's an amazing improvement, in my eyes, though I'd still like to see that trickle down to the 6ers.  So, when I saw a 6er that had 3 varieties in it, it caught my eye.  And the varieties all came from a homebrew competition -- I'm all about supporting homebrewers, so long as they brew good shit.

Sam Adams Longshot Strawberry Lager (by Dave Anderson) is the first beer I tried from the Longshot 6er I picked up earlier in the week.  I've been having a whole bunch of IPAs lately, so a fruit lager seemed a good way to mix it up:

Vittles:

Fruit Beer

5.5% abv

Score:

Appearance: 8/10

Aroma: 18/25

Taste: 24/40

Mouthfeel: 7/10

Style: 5/5

Drinkability: 6/10

Overall: 68/100

Impression:

The aroma was very appealing, dominated by a strong smell of strawberries.  I could smell something citrusy, as well, and there's a faint toffee hint in the background.  However, the taste was disappointing.  It certainly has strawberry flavor, and I could taste the toffee as well, but the two flavors just did not jibe.  Part of the problem for me is that the strawberry flavor is very prominent, but it lacks any sweetness to cut the acerbically bitter edge.  The strawberry flavor just isn't as palatable without at least a degree of sweetness to offset it, and it kind of jars on the tongue.  When I smelled this beer, I really wanted to like it, but the taste just doesn't pan out.  I'm not saying this needs to be an overly sweet beer, but as it is, it's not well balanced.  I would not buy this beer again.

If I had bought a 6er of this brew, I would've been very upset, so I'm glad there's only one more of these beers in the 6er.  My husband can have it.  Or I'll cook with it.  I have yet to drain-pour a beer, and I'm not about to start throwing money down the drain now.

Cheers!