August 28, 2005 - #50 of 365
Brewer: The Boston Beer Company
Beer: Samuel Adams Utopias
Style: Crazy-Ass Barley Wine
abv: 25% (yeah, that’s right—25%)
Background: Copper-plated brew kettle replica bottle (#02795) from the store. You can’t get this stuff for less than $100 a bottle.
Appearance: Pours reddish-brown with no head (no carbonation). Leaves thick legs on the side of the glass.
Aroma: Smells like a very nice cognac. Wait, I’ve never smelled a very nice cognac, but I’ve had mid-range ones, and this smells better than those. Also very sweet: maple syrup, caramel, vanilla.
Flavor: My first sip was too big and almost made me throw up; it was like taking a shot of thick and sticky rum. In smaller amounts the alcohol and the sweetness are more contained, though it’s still pretty sickeningly sweet. Maple, caramel, and oak are the most pronounce flavors, with alcohol coming in at the end to mop everything up. Overall, like a very sweet rum mixed with cognac and fortified wine.
Notes: Definitely for sipping. It does what it was meant to do—it shows the other extreme of the beer spectrum (the first being crappy pale lagers), and it gets points for that. I, however, can’t stand rum.
Rating: 3.4
Beer: Samuel Adams Utopias
Style: Crazy-Ass Barley Wine
abv: 25% (yeah, that’s right—25%)
Background: Copper-plated brew kettle replica bottle (#02795) from the store. You can’t get this stuff for less than $100 a bottle.
Appearance: Pours reddish-brown with no head (no carbonation). Leaves thick legs on the side of the glass.
Aroma: Smells like a very nice cognac. Wait, I’ve never smelled a very nice cognac, but I’ve had mid-range ones, and this smells better than those. Also very sweet: maple syrup, caramel, vanilla.
Flavor: My first sip was too big and almost made me throw up; it was like taking a shot of thick and sticky rum. In smaller amounts the alcohol and the sweetness are more contained, though it’s still pretty sickeningly sweet. Maple, caramel, and oak are the most pronounce flavors, with alcohol coming in at the end to mop everything up. Overall, like a very sweet rum mixed with cognac and fortified wine.
Notes: Definitely for sipping. It does what it was meant to do—it shows the other extreme of the beer spectrum (the first being crappy pale lagers), and it gets points for that. I, however, can’t stand rum.
Rating: 3.4
posted by Mr. Swiderski at 3:49 PM
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