I recently decided to briefly take a break from my usual waist conscious choice in beer (Michelob Ultra) and truly wow my palate with some real beer. My choice in this matter was an offering from Samuel Adams Latitude 48 IPA. I would write my own review, but I found this and it blew anything I could compose out of the water:
Samuel Adams Latitude 48: A Smooth IPA for Your Drinking Pleasure - Samuel Adams Latitude 48 Ale - Epinions.com
Click the link for the full review
Samuel Adams Latitude 48: A Smooth IPA for Your Drinking Pleasure
Written: Jul 12 '10
Product Rating:
Pros: Good balance; Nice hop blend; Good aftertaste
Cons: Not easy to find; Not quite a classic
The Bottom Line: Samuel Adams Latitude IPA isn't incredible, but it is quite tasty in its own way.
Bryan_Carey's Full Review: Samuel Adams Latitude 48 Ale
New beer product offerings seem to be a regular part of business for some breweries and one company to which this statement certainly applies is Boston Beer, maker of the popular Samuel Adams lineup of beer products. Its latest offering is part of its Brewmaster's Series. It's Samuel Adams Latitude 48 IPA, a relatively smooth American IPA.
Beer Facts and Figures:
Samuel Adams Latitude 48 IPA pours to a copper color with a nose that offers caramel, floral, fruit, and herbal hops. This beer sports a nice head of foam and it maintains a small layer as you drink.
Samuel Adams Latitude 48 IPA has a memorable taste that offers up flavors such as caramel malt, earthy hops, grapefruit, and other citrus. The finish is slightly bitter, but not much, and is nicely balanced for this style. The beer is medium in body and slightly oily. The aftertaste is very pleasant and features the flavor of malty, toasted biscuits.
Samuel Adams Latitude 48 IPA is brewed using two- row harrington, metcalfe, caramel 60, copeland pale, and Gambrinus honey malts; Hallertau mittelfrueh noble, East Kent Goldings, Simcoe, Zeus, and Ahtanum hops; and ale yeast. The final analysis on this product shows an alcohol level of 5.8 percent by volume and 200 calories in a 12 oz. serving.
Final Thoughts:
Samuel Adams Latitude 48 IPA is a tasty American IPA from America's best- known craft brewing operation. This IPA is brewed using five different malts and five different hops. It takes its name from the 48th parallel of latitude, which is the approximate geographic location where the hops used in this beer are grown.
Samuel Adams includes Latitude 48 IPA in its Brewmasters Collection- a group that includes the likes of Sam Adams Cherry Wheat, Sam Adams Honey Porter, Sam Adams Boston Ale, and other favorites. Samuel Adams Latitude 48 IPA has been in production for several months now, but I hadn't seen it in stores until recently when it showed up as part of Samuel Adams sampler packs. Always a fan of the IPA style, I noticed this new product, purchased the sampler, and hoped for the best.
I certainly wasn't disappointed with my buying decision, but I did notice that Samuel Adams Latitude 48 IPA is a little different from the typical hop- bomb American IPA. This product is smoother than the average American IPA and in many ways, it reminds me of an English pale ale with some additional hops. You can certainly taste the hops in this beer, but they do not take their presence to extremes, like many American IPA are prone to do.
Speaking of the hops, they combine to create a tasty and memorable combination. Here, you have a beer that brings together five different hops, with each contributing either an earthy, citrusy, or floral character. You can detect these in the nose and in the taste. The flavor sensations dance back and forth on the palate, creating a memorable combination. There is also a solid malt backbone to this product, leading to a taste that is balanced.
Overall, Samuel Adams Latitude 48 IPA is a very good offering from Samuel Adams and it's a product I hope to find very soon in its own six- pack carriers. It isn't quite as complex as some of the super- hopped American IPA and not quite as memorable, but it is still very tasty in its own way and it's certainly a beer worthy of sampling.
