Samuel Adams Latitude 48 Deconstructed IPA - Hallertau Mittelfrueh - Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams)

BeardedRiker

Texas

3.53/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Now it's time to try a very German Latitude IPA, with the Hallertau Mittelfrueh hops.

This looks damn good. The head is frothy and creamy, off-white, and has decent retention. Yummy. The beer is an amber-copper color.

Hops are a bit citrusy and earthy. Not too strong. Sort of a sugary sweetness. Pretty phenoly. Graininess. I get some pine resin too.

A nice medium bitterness comes from the hops with a bit of lemon citrus. Pine resin adds sweetness. Grain and a pretty strong phenol flavors give it more flavor. Not bad but not great.

Light-medium-bodied with a lower medium carbonation. Pretty smooth.

Meh...not much special about this. A decent IPA.

Serving type: bottle

10-12-2011 01:07:33 | More by BeardedRiker

justintcoons

Pennsylvania

3/5  rDev -16.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A: Pours a clear amber with 1 finger of head that dissipates quickly. Low carbonation and good lacing.

N: Valencia orange, black tea, caramel and floral notes.

T: Citrus, floral, green tea, Fruity Pebbles, and caramel.

M: Medium bodied, creamy and dry.

O: This is not bitter enough to be considered an American IPA. This would probably make a better German Pilsner. Smooth, crisp and one of the better 48s.

Serving type: bottle

09-30-2011 18:28:32 | More by justintcoons

mactrail

California

3.68/5  rDev +1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

My favorite of the Deconstructed IPAs. Rich flavors without total hop overdose. Warm and even malty. Bitterness is the aftertaste, but the rich malt carries on well. Nice nose of flowers and the golden buds of Yunnan tea (sorry to be esoteric but it's a spicy, malty aroma). Less of the pine and turpentine and more deep mellow flavors. I will definitely look for this hop if SA or others give it star billing. Golden orange in the glass.

I recapped a 12 oz bottle and the next day it poured smooth and well carbonated, with nice lacing in the big tulip. Whatever you think of Sam Adams recipes, they are totally on top of the technical aspects of beer.

Serving type: bottle

09-30-2011 05:16:49 | More by mactrail

ikats

New Jersey

3.83/5  rDev +6.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Pours amber in color with nice off-white, sticky head. Aroma is full to the brim with wonder pine notes of Hallertau Mittelfrueh hops. I was never big of actually figuring difference between hop varieties, but now I have a name to put to the aroma, and I must say that I really like these hops. Taste is sweet (biscuity malty base), but hops are very subdued. You can feel them, but there is definitely no pronounced bitterness (as opposed to the East Kent Goldings hops for example). Makes it fairly smooth and very drinkable.

This is beer two of day one of the Latitude 48 series tasting. Enjoying it!

Serving type: bottle

09-27-2011 01:20:32 | More by ikats

northyorksammy

Ontario (Canada)

3.83/5  rDev +6.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A decent bitterness and drinkability. The bitterness is somewhat complex, lemony,pineapplely,spicey.Average mouthfeel. Cloudy yellow with a little retained head. Mild hoppy aroma. Sweetness slightly cloying. A median IPA, maybe better than others in the series, but interesting.

Serving type: bottle

09-18-2011 04:22:03 | More by northyorksammy

JamesS

Indiana

4.13/5  rDev +14.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured a great copper color with great head and very nice lacing. Excellent deep sweet malty aroma with a great hop hit at the end. Interesting taste, with great malt sweetness, slight caramel flavors, and a nicely decent spicy hoppiness. Went down quite well indeed, with just a bit of roughness from the hops.

Serving type: bottle

09-16-2011 18:51:16 | More by JamesS

Huhzubendah

District of Columbia

3.83/5  rDev +6.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

The beer appears clear and orange to copper in color, with a dense inch of off-white head. Plenty of lacing clings to the pint glass. The aroma offers hops, lemon zest, malt, pine. Decent flavor, with additional notes of toasted bread. Another balanced IPA, this one has a healthy malt presence. Lingering bitterness, with pine, toast, and dank hops. Medium bodied, with solid carbonation. Overall, a decent beer, but not a great IPA. One of the better beers in this series, in my opinion.

Serving type: bottle

09-13-2011 01:54:05 | More by Huhzubendah

Vonerichs

Illinois

3.53/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Amber body with two fingers of white fluffy head and moderate lacing.

Smells of lemon zest, orange, and caramel malts.

The hops are slightly bitter. Lemon and orange are the dominant flavors. It's also pretty sweet.

Mouthfeel is thin and carbonation is light.

Overall, this was a slightly better than average IPA.

Serving type: bottle

08-25-2011 02:02:00 | More by Vonerichs

woodychandler

Pennsylvania

3.53/5  rDev -2.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

I was visiting The Foodery (N. Liberties and I saw that they had singles and sixes of Lat. 48 in bottles and asked if I could purchase singles. "Why would you want to do that?" was the reply and I must have been dumbfounded because the counterman went on to explain that one sixer equaled the SA Lat. 48 Deconstructed series and I could have one of each of the bottles that construed the series by buying one sixer. Deconstructed IPA? Color me SOLD!

From the bottle: "Hop Variety: Hallertau Mittelfrueh; Growing Region Along the 48th Latitude: Hallertau, Germany; Samuel Adams Latitude 48 Hallertau Mittlefreuh IPA is brewed with only Hallertau Mittelfrueh Hops, a traditional variety of Bavaria's Hallertau in Germany. The hops are added at three points during the brewing process - bittering, late kettle, and dry hopping. Hallertau Mittelfrueh hops contribute a soft bitterness, along with delicate lemony citrusy and resinous pine notes, balanced by a slight sweetness and full body from the five different malts."

I am a sucker for AIPAs and the very thought of this series set my mouth to watering and my Hop jones Monkey that lives on my back to chattering in a tone that I had not heard before. I am regressing to an earlier, uglier time, thanks to these bottles. The CANQuest (TM) weaned me off of the hop kick and now I am right back on that pony. Dang!

I am about to enter another dimension. A dimension not only of smell and taste, but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of imagination. Next stop, the Hoppy Zone! This was my first of the six.

My pour netted me a finger of dense light-tan hops with good retention. Color was a deep copper with NE-quality clarity. Nose was odd - very sort and slightly lemony citrus, but it also had another aspect that I simply could not place. Mouthfeel was thin-to-medium and the flavor on the tongue was lemon candy-like. Think Lemonheads. It was very sugary sweet and the bitterness was not at all what I had expected. Suddenly, I felt upside-down and my worries of adult-onset diabetes kicked in and the monkey shut his yap! This is not what I want to have happen when I am drinking an AIPA, lemme tell you. In the interim, some lovely sticky lacing that would eventually need a jackhammer to remove began to form. Finish was still sticky sweet with the lemon citrus as the dominant flavor and I completely missed on anything remotely like pine.

Serving type: bottle

08-20-2011 23:04:26 | More by woodychandler

afdempse

Maryland

4.2/5  rDev +16.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Light brown color - looks like iced tea. Thin layer of foam that barely covers the beer, and scant lacing down the glass.

Some pine in the nose, but not much else. Flavor of slightly earthy malt that plays nicely with the resiny noble hop flavor. Bitterness is very smooth, with a faint citrus tang.

Finishes mildly astringent, but dry and not bracing. Bready malt and caramel notes in the breath. Carbonation on par for style.

I found this beer to be very drinkable and probably enjoyed it the most of the beers in this series.

Serving type: bottle

08-19-2011 04:20:45 | More by afdempse

albertjr21

New York

4.1/5  rDev +13.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 5 | overall: 4

And now review # 4 of 6 for the Deconstructed Series. Enjoyed on 8-18-11 in a Samuel Adams Perfect Pint. Appearance is a rusty orange amber color under a hefty sudsy head. Aroma takes on a full and resinous sweet candied pine and citrus blend. Really flavorful pine and lemon citrus dominates the palate from opening to ending with an even bitter balance and a friendly bitter cling. Very nice malt support for the hops on stage. Nice to know that everything bitter I'm tasting is from a single noble hop.

Serving type: bottle

08-19-2011 03:28:52 | More by albertjr21

adam42381

Florida

4/5  rDev +10.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 12 ounce bottle into a New Belgium globe. Best before September 2011 notched on label.

Appearance: Pours a clear medium amber color with golden-orange highlights and a 2 finger foamy off-white head. Excellent head retention and nice lacing

Smell: Nice mix of grassy hops and malt. Smells similar to a pilsner.

Taste: Sweet herbal notes with lemon up front followed by fairly sweet malt in the middle before ending with bitter hops at the finish. Aftertaste is fairly bitter with a touch of sweetness.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied with a fairly high amount of carbonation.

Drinkability: High drinkability. You could knock back a few of these with no problem.

Overall: Good beer overall. I love the way different hop varieties can change a whole beer. This tastes nothing like the other Deconstructed beers and that's the point. This doesn't really taste like a traditional IPA (at least not what I'm used to), but I really like this one and definitely recommend giving it a shot.

Serving type: bottle

08-18-2011 21:47:20 | More by adam42381

Phyl21ca

Quebec (Canada)

3.78/5  rDev +4.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Bottle: Poured a light copper color ale with a nice large foamy head with good retention. Aroma consists of light dry hops with some light floral notes with a semi-sweet caramel malt base. Taste is also a mix between some semi-sweet caramel malt that are overshadowed by some dry and slightly astringent hops. Body is about average with good carbonation. Interesting experiment with more citrusy notes then I would have expected even though it is not the dominating flavour.

Serving type: bottle

08-18-2011 18:09:32 | More by Phyl21ca

OneDropSoup

Pennsylvania

3.65/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured into a tulip pint: Transparent light copper with some brassy, gold highlights under three fingers of dense, sticky head. Beautiful color, nice composition. Lookin' good. Head drops slowly & lumps, leaving tenacious patches of lace.

Smell at first was strongly Hallertau, with that combination of field greens or arugala, pepper, & a little sulfur. Love that smell, same as with their Noble Pils. Sadly, I went back for a second whiff a half-minute later & found it had vanished. In its place is a much sweeter, orange candy character with a sweet tea background. Not bad, but way sweet & I miss that peppery zing.

Sweet citrus up front that drops to a lightly pithy bitterness, ends with a little bite & rounds back up to caramel sweet & kind of lemony. Where's my Hallertau?! Still getting hints of tea leaves, a dry tannic quality.

Pretty crisp at the start, but the sweetness in the end makes it feel a little thick, sugary.

I feel robbed! I was so loving that Noble hop character & then it just disappeared. Definitely wasn't bad after that, but a little on the sweet side & not too distinct from many other East Coast IPAs.

Serving type: bottle

08-16-2011 23:29:49 | More by OneDropSoup

nppeders

Minnesota

3.3/5  rDev -8.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

appearance - reddish coper, real clear. nice lacing again

smell - hay, grass, maybe a little lemon. tough to get much aroma out of this. Caramel creeps through.

taste very grassy hops. finish's with caramel, and a punch of bitterness. mouth waters with bitter sweet sensations. Floral and resinous as it warms.

mouthfeel - medium carbonation, and light to medium body.

overall - pretty good english ipa coming from the hallertau hops. I could drink more of this. This hop stands alone better then I expected. Not a crazy citrus punch like american C hops, but enjoyable, yes.

Serving type: bottle

08-13-2011 19:16:03 | More by nppeders

RonfromJersey

New Jersey

3.6/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Deep copper body with extremely good clarity, topped by a level five fingers of slightly beige densely packed bubbles. Mild lacing.

Pleasant grassy aroma but it requires a really strong sniff to register anything.

Sweet malt beginning flows softly down the tongue. Soft bitter bite, not huge but firm. Light fruitiness, piney finish.

Medium aybe medium plus mouthfeel is a bit chewy.

Overall, a not bad IPA, in the east coast tradition.

Serving type: bottle

08-13-2011 00:48:53 | More by RonfromJersey

WastingFreetime

Wisconsin

4/5  rDev +10.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Looks exactly the same as all the others in the series so far.
Now here is a smell I can enjoy: Black pepper dusted on top of lemon and orange citrus, its very strong and masculine in feel. In fact, I think I feel my chest hair growing with every sip I take! :)
The grassy notes that others describe come across more in the flavor than in the nose for me. Underneath all of the hop flavor lies the same standard caramel malt and texture as all the other ones in the series so far, but this...this one I like a lot better than the others.

Serving type: bottle

08-11-2011 23:59:48 | More by WastingFreetime

Rayek

Colorado

3.63/5  rDev +0.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured; appropriately enough, into a SA Perfect Pint glass. Like other beers in the series, Hallertau has a brilliant amber hue. The cap on this one has a cream tint and falls to a patchwork film, while leaving good lace.

As I was expecting, Hallertau brings a pronounced, but not overpowering lemon, pepper and fresh cut grass aroma that's ever so slightly musty. It's bitterness is quite peppery and get's a touch metallic late. The bitterness level here is moderate and lets the toasted sweetbread malts come through nicely. The pepper bitterness lingers after each sip. The medium body is slightly dry and little bit puckering.

This hop's tendency to get metallic when used in large quantities is very apparent here. In lighter quantities, I like this hop a lot. Here, it's a bit too much.

Serving type: bottle

08-11-2011 03:09:59 | More by Rayek

Arithmeticus

Maryland

4/5  rDev +10.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Poured chilled in flared glass

A: clear copper orange; moderate head; decent carb action; very nice lacing
S: lighter smell than the other deconstructed beers; light, malty, carmelly
T: woah, very different tasting than the rest of the deconstructeds; orange, floral flavor dominates; mildly bitter; this puts a really nice curvature to the hops profile in the full 48 IPA

Excellent

Serving type: bottle

08-11-2011 00:28:42 | More by Arithmeticus

Slatetank

Pennsylvania

3.83/5  rDev +6.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

another real time review since I don't have a notebook handy, hope this stays put. Poured chilled into a a double walled tumber.

A deep copper color, the cap is a full 2 finger cap of rocky beige with tight beading. The clarity and retention are both good. The smell is very light, a nice herbal aroma emerges as it warms slightly with a mild pine accent. The delicate Hallertau is interesting in an IPA, but it is a familiar hop for pilsners and it almost tricks me into thinking that's is what I am about to drink based on aroma alone. Very interesting, yet not exactly bitter, moderate bitterness which provides a resinous body, the malt is somewhat sweet and adds a moderate creamy feel with the relatively high carbonation.

The taste is pleasant, with herbal and almost spiced hop flavors on first sip. The herbal taste is not quite grassy, but definitely has some floral elements. The taste has a slight fruitiness with a tinge of earthy twiggy flavor from the Noble hops, the malt seems to blend with the hop well, not really standing out except to give a little sweetness to the IPA, there is a mild peppery taste accenting the taste into the finish. Overall I like this but can't say this is what I think of when I think of an American IPA, but it isn't that bad, I like it well enough and think I admire Samuel Adams for continuing to do unique offerings. The Style is not necessarily their forte, but at least they will give us a chance to try Latitude 48 with several single hop versions. I recommend trying it if you enjoy hoppy beers or noble hops in general.

Serving type: bottle

08-10-2011 00:45:41 | More by Slatetank

WoodBrew

Illinois

3.9/5  rDev +8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I have always wanted to try a beer that had only the Sammy Lager Hallertau Hops and boy what a treat. The appearance was a rich copper without much head, but good carbonation. The smell had hints of grapefruit/citrus and not much else. The=is beer was dry to the taste copmapered to the others. It also came off the pallet clean. Pretty decent beer as a whole with good balance a subtle fruit and pine. Maybe not as good, but still very tasty!

Serving type: bottle

08-07-2011 23:06:24 | More by WoodBrew

JamnesCameron

Illinois

3.65/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Hop variety no. 5. Poured into my Le Cheval Blanc pint glass. Pours a clear, deep copper with a big, light tan head. Head drops slowly, leaving a nice rocky cap of foam and some lacing.

Aromas of a mild, earthy, spicy bitterness. Good caramel malt backbone.

Flavors of clean, floral, earthy bitterness, caramel malt. The weakest and softest in hop bitterness of the 5 varieties used in Latitude 48. Finish is very short, with a floral bitterness lingering lightly.

Mouthfeel is medium with thin bitterness, and a good level of carbonation.

Overall, not my favorite of the bunch, but a lot better than Zeus. Hop flavor is a little off for an IPA.

Serving type: bottle

08-06-2011 22:21:14 | More by JamnesCameron

Damian

Massachusetts

3.45/5  rDev -4.4%
look: 5 | smell: 2 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Drank from a 12 fl. oz. bottle
Enjoy before month notched-SEP
Served in a pint glass

The beer poured a crystal clear, deep, orangey-amber color. A two-plus finger tall crop of light beige froth topped the liquid. The head had excellent lasting power and it deposited a thick, drippy blanket of lacing along the top half of the glass.

Even though this beer is classified as an IPA, I could not detect any hop presence in the nose. I did however pick up some sweet, doughy and bready malts. A bit caramel-like. Slightly skunky. A small amount of orange peel was detectible as the beer warmed.

The flavor profile was far more impressive than the aroma. The Hallertau Mittelfrueh hops contributed a surprising amount of hop potency. A tart, lemony flavor came through strong. Somewhat herbal and spicy. The finish was crisp, bitter and refreshing. Piney and dry. For a single hop beer created from a noble hop variety, I cannot image much more complexity.

The mouthfeel was a bit disappointing however. It was thinner than anticipated. Frothy and somewhat airy on the palate with a crisp, sprightly effervescence.

Hallertau Mittelfrueh, or any noble hop for that matter, is definitely not a variety beloved by hopheads. For this reason, I applaud the Boston Beer Company for having the gall to include it in their Latitude 48 Deconstructed IPA series. Overall, a noble (no pun intended) effort.

Serving type: bottle

08-05-2011 04:48:19 | More by Damian

Tballz420

Minnesota

3.9/5  rDev +8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Dark copper to light brown colored, small cream colored head. Caramel nose with a touch of lemon and light bitterness. Caramel start, nice light hop presence in this version. Lemony, piney, light bitterness. Kind of a cool hop that i dont recognize from too many beers, although due to its ligth characteristics i could see it used in conjuction with other varieties, or in ligher summer type brews.

Serving type: bottle

08-05-2011 02:44:02 | More by Tballz420

Knapp85

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +10.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

This IPA poured out as a dark golden color, almost like a burnt orange. Couldn't really see through the glass either once the beer was in it. The head was about one finger in thickness and lasted for the majority of the time I was drinking it. The lacing was light but did show itself nicely on the glass. The smell of the beer was more mild than I expected it to be. The malts and hops worked well together here. The taste of the beer was nice and hoppy, the flavors of lemon zest came to mind along with some pine notes. The aftertaste was mostly malty and dry. The mouthfeel was medium bodied and tingles the tongue with each sip. Overall I thought this was a very enjoyable IPA. I'd consider drinking this one again one day if I come across it.

Serving type: on-tap

08-04-2011 16:40:59 | More by Knapp85