The $165.99 Bottle of Sam Adams: Utopias

Is it beer? It tastes like a cognac. It's 'shelf-stable'  It's not carbonated. Could you even fermented to 27%?

I guess the answer is yes. Utopias is a whopping 27% that's right, 54 proof... that would be a mean game of quarters. But since it's $165 bucks you might be a bit more stingy with it. Sam Adams made a triple bock in the late nineties that came close at 18% and at $6 was a bit cheaper. That I do remember drinking in college but I also remember being surprised by it. Frankly it might have simply been the bottle or the oddity of it. This time around I had the opportunity to try it again and I can only wish that they'd relaunch it. But the Utopias was the focus of the evening. I do enjoy sherry and found the flavor to be in the same vein but what Utopias brings to the table as far as I can tell is that fermented undertone of malt. It has a very robust finish full of chocolate and nuts which points out the more myopic finish of grape, honey and raisin you get from sherry.
Whether the finish is worth the price tag is up to you.

Without trying it, I guess the only way to tell if extreme beer is for you is with the Dogfish Head World Wide Stout. I'm not saying the flavor is that similar but simply if you want to try a beer that is heading in this direction. They also make a 120 minute IPA and while the percentage is there, it might be way too hoppy to compare to Utopias.

If you're looking for speedy beer buzz Dogfish Head provides a few options: Olde School Barleywine at 15%, the aforementioned IPA and Stout and Forte at 18% (very fruity). Sonoran makes the 100 which comes in at 20%, Short's makes an Anniversary IPA that's also at 20%, Bristol makes the XXX Warlock stout at 18%,

Now there's also Tactical Nuclear Penguin from Brew Dog in Scotland. That's as of November the biggest beer at 32%. But that's made by penguins.

Tactical Nuclear Penguin from BrewDog on Vimeo.

Comments

[Christopher Lewis]

I bought a case of the '94 triple bock solely to sit on it. Broke open the case in 2005 for the first, and it still needed more time. This year (2009) its absolutely fantastic - nothing like 15 years of aging to mellow the sharp flavors. And I still have 20 bottles :-)