Samuel Adams Utopias

Rating #1000! Woohoo! I wish I could remember that thread a year ago, where they talk about what happens when you become a beer god. It involved something with girls swooning over you, free beer everywhere you go, and being able to rate a beer with 100% accuracy by just looking at the bottle. Those haven’t happened yet, but I hope they will kick in by 2000 ratings. 1.5oz handbottle from iowaherkeye generously served about 6 people at tasting at PP bottle shop. I remember Sean savoring the 2mm in his glass (his second sample and the last from the bottle: the greedy bastard!) when someone said they didn’t get to try, so he offered a taste, frantically saying "Don’t take too much!" In all truth, I was the greediest with the most in my glass. The smell is awesome. Ryan said it smells the same as fresh despite the handbottle. I guess you hope for that from a 27% flat beer. Aroma is like concentrated brown sugar and brandy. Very sweet, which I love. Some throat burn. Kind of like sipping brandy. This is an awesome beer!

Tasting at PP C-bad, thanks to wetherel! Test tube sampler of Utopias. Dark amber hue. Nose is bourbon, light fruits, maple syrup, oak. Taste is sugary sweet molasses, brown sugar, anise, dark fruits, and maple syrup. Thick smooth texture with little carbonation. Great taste profile, much smoother than 27% abv, maple and brown sugar dominate, very liquer-ish in nature.

Thanks again to gregmcq on BA for the rest of his 2003 bottle. This one was opened and tried about two months ago but I’m just now reviewing the very last bit of the bottle. Its just as amazing as when it was first opened though. Pours murky golden brown and has amazing legs when swirled. Smell is amazing brown sugar, nuttiness, booze (bourbon), raisins, caramel. So much going on here I love this stuff. Flavor is much of the same with a huge booze component (again mostly bourbon) that works well with intense caramel, nuttiness and some raisin.. Syrupy smooth and warming in the belly. I just love this stuff and wish I had another bottle to sit on for a while. Not really very beer like but one of my absolute favorite alcoholic beverages I have had to date.

GABF 2007. Cquiroga warned me to have this at my peril, as it ruins your tasting glass and taste buds for a while. He was right. After having a few samples, I couldn’t get the oily, vanilla smell out of the plastic tasting cup for about half an hour and a few pours of acidic beers. Pours a murky brown, no head. Smells like a shot of bourbon with fruity whiskey oak and imitation vanilla very strong in the aroma. Upon the first sip, I wrote "strong ass" in my notebook; I’m pretty sure I’m referring to the push of the body and alcohol, rather than any particular ass-like qualities in the beer. Port sweetness and syrupy feel with grapes and brown sugar. The finish is more syrupy than the middle as the beer leaves a film coating the mouth. This is definitely an after-dinner sipper. While you can tell it’s there, the alcohol isn’t obtrusive or detracting at all.

Bottle 2002. Pours a cloudy brown color with a minimal creamy off-white head that diminished and produced minimal lacing. Heavy complex aroma of roasted malt , maple sugar. Medium to full body with a thick texture. Good flavor with heavy complex bittersweet and heavy complex sweet finish of long duration with a nice alcohol burn. Great brew.