Sam Adams Utopius

steveland?

Mighta gotten the name wrong but a mate of mine works in McHughs and they got a bottle in.

It's in a bronze case thing and costs €130 or so... they sold one a few days after getting it in and then got another one in...

My question is: would you pay €130 for a bottle of beer?

We have a €400 Balthazar of Labotte and a €125 Methuzala of Sangre Del Torro in work and no-one's bought them (would be great for a wedding, you'd only have to pay corkage on one bottle )

What makes it so special...

Would it not go off?

noby

That's the 25% beer isn't it? Wasn't there someone on here looking to buy that recently?

Personally, no, I wouldn't pay that for a bottle of beer.

Blisterman

I would, if I wanted it that badly.
It's no different to an expensive bottle of rare wine.

rubadub

Blisterman wrote:

I would, if I wanted it that badly.
It's no different to an expensive bottle of rare wine.

hmmm most older wines actually taste nice. I wonder if there are any reviews on this 25% stuff. Sounds like an overpriced gimmick to me. Most beer past 12% is vile.

Blisterman

I read some reviews which said it tastes more like whiskey than beer. I suppose it's more desireable for the rarety and novelty, than the taste.

Blisterman

Took 4 years, but I finally had it yesterday.

Kinda muddy brown colour. Doesn't actually look that nice. No fizziness at all. Smells more similar to port, than any beer I've smelled.

But the flavour, my god! It's delicious. Quite sweet, but in a nice way. Big taste of vanilla fudge off it. Very complex flavour off it, but very nice. Alcohol flavour is fairly strong, but the strength of the other flavours keeps it in check, and it's well balanced. It's definitely for sipping rather than swigging. (And it should be, for the price of it.)

Would I pay for a bottle of it?
No, since you'd have to drink it all at once, and it'd be a bit of a waste. If I could keep it like a Whiskey and only have a small glass from time to time, then yes. But apparently it doesn't keep like that.

Well worth trying if you get the chance. In case anyone's wondering, where I got it, I tasted it, along with loads of other great beers at the International Beer Challenge tasting session in London yesterday. Sadly, it's a once off.

mayordenis

Blisterman wrote: »

Took 4 years, but I finally had it yesterday.

Kinda muddy brown colour. Doesn't actually look that nice. No fizziness at all. Smells more similar to port, than any beer I've smelled.

But the flavour, my god! It's delicious. Quite sweet, but in a nice way. Big taste of vanilla fudge off it. Very complex flavour off it, but very nice. Alcohol flavour is fairly strong, but the strength of the other flavours keeps it in check, and it's well balanced. It's definitely for sipping rather than swigging. (And it should be, for the price of it.)

Would I pay for a bottle of it?
No, since you'd have to drink it all at once, and it'd be a bit of a waste. If I could keep it like a Whiskey and only have a small glass from time to time, then yes. But apparently it doesn't keep like that.

Well worth trying if you get the chance. In case anyone's wondering, where I got it, I tasted it, along with loads of other great beers at the International Beer Challenge tasting session in London yesterday. Sadly, it's a once off.

Man you hold a grudge?
4 years of thinking to yourself I'm gonna stick it to those philistines - fair ****s to ya.

BeerNut

Blisterman wrote: »

If I could keep it like a Whiskey and only have a small glass from time to time, then yes. But apparently it doesn't keep like that.

Really? Samuel Adams Triple Bock does, and offers a similar experience for a fraction of the price.

Blisterman wrote: »

Sadly, it's a once off.

What do you mean? It's illegal in the UK AFAIK, because they won't guarantee the ABV, but it shows up here from time to time.

Blisterman

I mean the beer tasting was. I don't think it's illegal in the UK. No one there mentioned it.

They did say that Shepard Neame, who import Samuel Adams to the UK, don't import Utopias, but they didn't say why. I assume its because of lack of demand.

BeerNut

Blisterman wrote: »

I don't think it's illegal in the UK.

And you're right too (I just checked with a couple of UK beer merchants). Wonder where I got that impression?