If you are still looking for a special gift for a special beer loving someone for the holidays (or just want to treat yourself), consider an “extreme beer” gift.
And the most extreme and most special is the new 2015 release of Samuel Adams Utopias. The latest in a thirty-year journey of founder Jim Koch to redefine what beer can be, Utopias really challenges all conceptions of what beer can be.
Utopias has been released roughly every two years since 2002. The recipe has been tweaked and the alcohol level has inched up to the point where the 2015 edition – only the ninth batch ever – cocks in at 28% ABV!
It may not taste like any beer you have had before but it’s still brewed with hops and malts using traditional methods. Utopias begins with two-row Caramel 60 and Munich malts and Hallertau Mittelfrueh, Spalt Spalter, and Tettnang Tettnanger hops (finishes with 25 IBUs). It is fermented using two proprietary Samuel Adams yeast strains (including one traditionally used for Champagne). Added maple syrup provides the needed sugar to bump up the alcohol. But that is where normalcy ends.
Utopias benefits from special treatment. Sort of a Sherry-style solera system blends small batches with previous vintages going back as far as 1992. Also, the brewers employed a finishing process involving blending beer finished in a variety of barrels, a process adding complexity to the final beer. A lot of craft beers these days are aged in wood barrels but Utopias takes this to extremes. It undergoes a blending process combining batches aged in barrels previously home to Port, Cognac, Armagnac, Carcavelos (an obscure Portuguese fortified wine), and Buffalo Trace Distillery bourbon.
So, how does all this taste? First, newcomers to the brew will be surprised to find it is not carbonated. Also unusual for beer, Samuel Adams recommends Utopias be sipped and savored like you would a Cognac: a two-ounce pour at room temperature in a snifter.
The amazing thing about Utopias is it is so complex with so many influences new elements show themselves each time it is poured. Look for aromas of caramel, maple toffee, cocoa, raisin, molasses, dates, nuts, butterscotch, and even vanilla, ginger, cinnamon, tobacco and light smoke – and of course brandy, bourbon, Sherry, and Port from the barrel aging! As you drink it don’t be surprised to taste many of the same elements layered in your mouth, which will impress with luscious smoothness and a viscous intensity quality.
Naturally, Utopias is packaged in unique 24-ounce ceramic bottles fashioned to look like a traditional copper brew kettle. It is sealed with a basic crown cap but also a resealable screw cap. That combined with the high alcohol and lack of carbonation allow Utopias to be enjoyed over long period.
Here’s the one catch, though: that 24-ounce bottle retails at $200. This will prove an obstacle, as most will not be able to overcome. Heck, most of us would be unwilling to spend that much even on a great wine or Scotch. But, if you have the money or can get together with some friends on a bottle or even find it somewhere by the glass, it will be an experience I doubt you’ll regret.
NOTE: Featured image for this post is courtesy of Wikipedia. Please donate to this valuable source.