Sam Adams Utopia

start drinking and the answer will follow..............

 

Haven't tried it but it's meant for after dinner sipping and should be served at room temperature. For ~$100 a bottle you might as well drink it however you like beer.

 

For the most part I look at the Utopias as a Uber-Barleywine. Although I haven't had the opportunity to taste it in person yet, everything I've read/heard about it more or less relates it that way. And as such with "regular" barleywines/strong ales it's more of an apartif (sp?) than a meal beverage. Some lesser strong ales aren't so bad paired with stronger flavored dishes (beef and such), but generally are too overpowering for anything other than rich deserts. Now that I think of it I still have a bottle of 1986 J.W. Lee's Harvest Ale down in the cellar aging away to perfection. Ya gotta love a bottle-aged strong ale.

I'm very curious as to what your take on it is as it's the new high water mark for the genre. I'm a big fan of the SA Triple Bock & Chocolate Bock, but have yet to try the Millennium Ale so this should be interesting to hear. Not to mention the bottle itself is pretty freakin' cool too.


P.S. DMAX, I just noticed you're in the DC area too. Care to share some of that Utopia? JK of course.

P.P.S. Here's a "review" I found online that'll give you a basic idea what to expect from it: http://www.ratebeer.com/Beer/samuel-adams-utopias/12228/

 

Anyone know what the shelf life is on canned beer?

 

About twenty minutes at my house.

 

Even less if there's beer pong involved. And if it's cans of Guiness...fuggidaboutit!


On a related note I had a few Eku 28's over the weekend. It's not quite a strong ale in the same way as a SA Triple Bock or the like, but it's an Eisbock and clocks in at 11%abv. so it's pretty potent stuff.

DM, did you get a chance to try the Utopia yet?

 

I don't know about cans, but a couple weeks ago we were in my friends basement drinking a few brews (mostly his dads, yes, we're that lazy), and I can tell you that Millenium Edition Budweiser has since gone bad, even if it has been refrigerated for the last 6 years. Not undrinkable, but definitely not a first or second brew, save it for later in the night.

 

Sounds just about as I expected from it. Probably more of a drink you'd want to share with others or drink over a period of time as you did. There are other farrrrr less expensive brews of this genre that are a better drink than spending $100 on a bottle of Utopia, but I guess it's more for the experience than anything.