Samuel Adams Double Agent IPL - Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams)

AlCaponeJunior

Texas

4.19/5  rDev +10.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Golden to tan and clear, some rising bubbles, a good head and good lacing.

Aroma is pungently hoppy, smells like an IPA. Spicy, citrusy hops dominate the aroma, complimented by a little bit of maltiness.

Taste is again bold and hoppy, very nice! Spicy, citrusy (grapefruit, lemon peel, orange peel), with a good balancing slightly sweet maltiness, bready and grassy, delicious!

Drink is off the charts. I just got done with school and I'm thirsty, it's all I can do to keep from chugging it!

I would happily buy a twelve pack of this. Next time I'm in the grocery store, I'll see if they have sixers or twelvskies. Great job on this one!

Serving type: bottle

01-22-2013 22:08:44 | More by AlCaponeJunior

jbarletto

Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev -7.7%

05-18-2013 14:41:00 | More by jbarletto

chasmandocharles

Pennsylvania

3.75/5  rDev -1.1%

05-17-2013 22:02:09 | More by chasmandocharles

brenty0man

California

3.75/5  rDev -1.1%

05-17-2013 05:33:41 | More by brenty0man

smakawhat

Maryland

4.13/5  rDev +9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Poured from the bottle into a pokal glass.

A real nice bronzed body, nearly crystal clear with nice rising pinhead carbonation in the middle, lemon hues at the bottom. Head is frothy white and three fingers with very good retention settling to a nice island and some swiss cheese like bubbles. Really nice looking beer here.

Nose is soft citrus lime and wonderful chewy zesty hop front. Hints of spritzy character, and a wonderful aromatic citrus of lemon lime and hinting tropical notes. Not much else though, but very enjoyable.

Palate hints with a noticeable thick sweetness of malts, but the lime hop bitterness comes in to balance it out. Still borderline syrupy and hinting towards fussel boozy character, but the beer feels bigger than it's five percent abv hints at. Sharp aftertaste on the finish with a hint of crispness as well, with the hop angle rolling along nicely on the palate.

This is a real enjoyable beer, glad I picked this up.

Serving type: bottle

05-16-2013 22:58:55 | More by smakawhat

JoshFrierson86

Arkansas

3.5/5  rDev -7.7%

05-16-2013 12:40:15 | More by JoshFrierson86

ChrisKayler

Virginia

3.91/5  rDev +3.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Drinking this one after a great day at work. Kanye West - Runaway.

Glass: Samuel Adams Perfect Pint #properglassware

Appearance: Really quite a good looking beer. Perfectly clear, ranging from yellow in the thinner parts of the glass to orange in the thickest part. A solid stream of bubbles is coming off the nucleation point on the bottom of the glass. With a relatively mild pour, about a half of a finger of bright white head was produced, quickly dissipating to leave only a small rim around the glass.

Smell: Great smell of citrus with a bit of pine. Definitely more towards piney than fruity. While the scents are great, the intensity of lacking.

Taste: Hmmm, interesting, for sure! Hops dominated the smell and they certainly dominate the initial taste. However, they quickly fall off from citrus to pure earthiness, eventually fading to a more bready malty lager taste. I like the initial sip, and the aftertaste, but the earthiness in the middle is not to my liking.

Mouthfeel: OIL!! This one leaves my tongue coated in hop oil. The kind that makes you want to stick your tongue to the roof of your mouth. Or, maybe that's just me. Medium body and high carbonation. I enjoy this aspect quite a bit.

Overall: A really new and refreshing beer. I'm glad I decided to finally try one of these. The appearance and smell are great (if a bit subdued), and the mouthfeel is perfect. Taste is my biggest complaint, and of course that is an important one. I love the initial taste but there is some definite funky earth stuff going on that I am not a fan of. I would easily drink this one again, but wouldn't necessarily seek it out.

Serving type: bottle

05-15-2013 20:25:31 | More by ChrisKayler

hit728

Connecticut

3.5/5  rDev -7.7%

05-15-2013 19:13:19 | More by hit728

Cylinsier

Pennsylvania

3.75/5  rDev -1.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

12 oz.

Pours a clear deep golden, film of a white head retains well.

Smells of grassy malts, grapefruit hops and hints of honey and citrus.

Dry malt flavor with potent floral hop bitterness, some honey and citrus notes.

Medium body with a light tingly carbonation.

Good flavorful ale-like lager, very enjoyable and sessionable. Would have it again for sure.

Serving type: bottle

05-15-2013 19:11:30 | More by Cylinsier

lucasj82

Indiana

3.25/5  rDev -14.2%

05-15-2013 01:42:31 | More by lucasj82

stephenjmoore

Maryland

3.91/5  rDev +3.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A- A crystal clear pale bronze body with a thick, frothy cream colored head.

S- Definite lager body, with some toasted malt aromas coming through. Hops come through nicely with floral, pine and citrus aromas.

T- Flavors do compare to an IPA and a lager. A moderate amount of piney and floral hops come through with some citrus flavors, with caramel malts and bready lager yeast flavors providing the backbone. Flavor is pretty good for a fairly light beer.

M- Light to medium bodied, medium carbonation, could put a few of these away pretty easily.

O- Pretty well done based on the intentions. This is a hoppy lager with some floral and tropical notes and it seems like that was the exact intention.

Serving type: bottle

05-15-2013 01:15:01 | More by stephenjmoore

Bills453

Ohio

3.5/5  rDev -7.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Appearance - golden. One finger white head. Nice lacing.

Smell - a small amount of hops I can smell. Not as strong as a pale ale, but definitely some hops. Some wheat too.

Taste - actually quite nice. Very refreshing. Hops aftertaste. Definitely not near the hoppiness I need for a pale ale, but I guess good for a pale lager?

Mouthfeel - average

Overall - actually surprised how much I'm enjoying this offering. Pretty delicious lager.

Serving type: bottle

05-14-2013 22:16:38 | More by Bills453

rainfairy

California

3.25/5  rDev -14.2%

05-14-2013 07:45:41 | More by rainfairy

mralbertson

North Carolina

3.75/5  rDev -1.1%

05-14-2013 03:40:22 | More by mralbertson

pstam87

Illinois

3.25/5  rDev -14.2%

05-14-2013 01:57:28 | More by pstam87

Arithmeticus

Maryland

4.38/5  rDev +15.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Poured chilled in fluted ale glass
A: crystal-clear copper; very good carbonation; one-finger head dissipates relatively soon
S: beautiful bouquet of roses and hops; very inviting; cannot be improved
T: delicious; it is all about the hops, which in this incarnation burst into an assortment of flavors; I pick out, aside from the grass and slight pine also tropical fruits--guava and mango; not boozy, so very sessionable; not very sweet; highly complex

Highly recommended; in fact, @buzzlitebeer and I plan to brew something like this as a model.

Serving type: bottle

05-13-2013 03:08:57 | More by Arithmeticus

Hopfenpeter

Maryland

3.5/5  rDev -7.7%

05-13-2013 00:53:18 | More by Hopfenpeter

gshackles

New York

4/5  rDev +5.5%

05-13-2013 00:09:51 | More by gshackles

fank2788

Connecticut

3.98/5  rDev +5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

12oz bottle served in a Sam Adams pint glass
Bright copper, clear with a two finger tall white head of a mix of fine and coarse bubbles. The nose is nearly all west coast hops, pine, grapefruit and floral not much of the malt in the smell. The taste is much like the smell with the hop flavors coming out front here the grapefruit really takes over. Along with the hop flavors there is a pretty good amount of bitterness on the level of a strong pale ale or weak IPA. Biscuity caramel malts are in there as well to provide a base but it is clear that the hops are the main focus here. The mouthfeel is interesting while the hops make one think of an IPA body is all lager. Light body with a nice clean, crispness that you just cant get in an ale. There is a good bit of carbonation in there that combined with the bitterness keep things tingly. The finish is a touch sweet with lasting bitterness that lingers on the tongue. Overall I'm a fan of this one, although it is kind of playing tricks on my mind. A good combination of a nice hoppy ale and a crisp clean lager.

Serving type: bottle

05-12-2013 00:23:23 | More by fank2788

alex_hart

Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev -7.7%

05-11-2013 02:31:07 | More by alex_hart

neenerzig

Ohio

4.1/5  rDev +8.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25

Poured out of a 12 oz bottle into my pokal glass. This beer pours a slightly cloudy/hazy but mainly clear deep medium to dark golden color with lots of little bubbles continuously rising up to the top of the glass. The fluffy looking white head is initially 1 1/2 inches when first poured before settling to a good solid 3/4 inch about 5 minutes after being poured. Head has good staying power, even after a few sips. Pretty decent lacing too. Aromas of citrus and pine hop notes upfront followed with some hints of slightly toasted caramel malt aromas. Has a nice pine and citrus hop flavor upfront with light to moderate bitterness. Do my tastebuds detect a hint of mango? I believe they do, and we like it! Rounded out with some notes of slightly toasted caramel malt sweetness on the back end. Good balance of flavors here for sure! Has a crisp, slightly sharp and somewhat prickly, light to medium bodied mouthfeel with moderate to heavy carbonation. Perhaps this is just a bot too carbonated for my preference, but other than that excellent drinkability here! The best American Pale Lager I have ever had, that's for sure! Quite an enjoyable and refreshing nightcap on this warm mid spring night here in Cleveland, OH.

Eric

Serving type: bottle

05-10-2013 03:45:53 | More by neenerzig

xShoWTeKx

South Carolina

4.25/5  rDev +12.1%

05-10-2013 03:22:22 | More by xShoWTeKx

tommyguz

Pennsylvania

3.5/5  rDev -7.7%

05-09-2013 02:22:15 | More by tommyguz

DuffDaddy

Florida

2.75/5  rDev -27.4%

05-08-2013 15:23:17 | More by DuffDaddy

Dope

Massachusetts

3.89/5  rDev +2.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Best before August 2013. I presume this to be around 3 months old.

A: Pours a clear amber with a big tall fluffy offwhite head. Head fizzes away slowly with great retention. Nice vertical streaks of lacing (don't see that too often).

S: Hmph, nice juicy tropical fruits. Don't often see a hoppy BBC beer. Mango, apricot and oranges mainly? Some caramel and resin too. Flowery.

T: More of the juicy tropical fruits but fairly subdued. Floral hops too. Mild breadiness and a little caramel sweetness. Primarily floral hops in the finish as well. Decent bit of bitterness.

M: Medium bodied and sticky. Not bad for a 5% lager.

O: Surprisingly good offering from BBC. I'm not surprised by them trying a hoppy IPL given the explosion of Jack's Abby in the last year or two. This certainly isn't a hoponious union but it's like the 60minute version. Balanced, smooth, drinkable. Not bad!

Serving type: bottle

05-08-2013 02:10:01 | More by Dope