Utopias Release Years and Corresponding ABVs
2002 (Original release): 24% ABV
2003: 27% ABV
2005: 25% ABV
2007: 27% ABV
2009: 27% ABV
2011: 27% ABV
2012 (10th Anniversary): 29%+
2013: 27% ABV
2015: 28% ABV
Utopias 2013 Booklet
2013 Booklet Text: “When I first brewed Samuel Adams Boston Lager® twenty-nine years ago, my hope was to offer beer lovers distinct, full-flavored beer brewed right here in America. Many people had never had a beer drinking experience like that – there were few microbrews or craft beers available then. The taste of Boston Lager expanded the very definition of beer for many of those drinkers. Over the years, we have continued to push the boundaries of beer, with “extreme” beers such as Samuel Adams Millennium® and Infinium™. I’m proud to continue that tradition by introducing the 2013 edition of Samuel Adams Utopias®, a brew that continues to challenge the notion of what a beer can be. Served at room temperature, this uncarbonated brew has an alcohol content over 27%, and rivals the complexity and flavor of the world’s finest Ports, Sherries, and Cognacs. Pour an ounce or two into a glass and note the aroma. Take a sip and enjoy.
To brew this beer we began with the world’s finest, all-natural ingredients, including a combination of our two-row pale malt blend, Caramel and Munich malts that impart a rich, ruby-black color. A subtle yet distinct hop character from three varieties of Nobel hops – Spalt Spalter, Hallertau Mittelfureh, and Tettnang Tettnanger, adds to the complexity and balances of the sweetness of the malt and alcohol. During fermentation, we also use yeast normally reserved for Champagne.
This extraordinary brew is the result of complex and carefully timed brewing processes. With each batch of Utopias, we release a completely new brew. This year’s release is a blend of batches, some having beer aged up to 20 years in a variety of barrels. We aged a portion of the beer in hand-selected, single-use bourbon casks from the award-winning Buffalo Trace Distillery. This additional aging process enhances the beer’s distinct vanilla and maple notes. This release also spent time in Port casks from Portugal, which contribute elegant, dark fruit aromas. For the 2013 edition of Utopias we included an additional element of complexity and flavor by blending in a portion of our barrel aged Kosmic Mother Funk® (KMF). KMF is a wild ale that’s been aged in Hungarian oak tuns for over a year, creating bright fruit notes like cherries and plums and just a hint of sourness and earthiness.
The resulting release of Utopias has notes of dark fruit, a subtle sweetness, and a deep rich malty smoothness reminiscent of a rich vintage Port, old Cognac, or fine Sherry. We packaged your bottle of Utopias in a unique ceramic decanter modeled after the copper brew kettles used by brewmasters for centuries. We bottled only 100 wooden barrels of Utopias in 2013, to be enjoyed by a select group of beer drinkers.
How should you enjoy this one-of-a-kind beer? For many years, fine wines and Cognacs have been served in glasses designed to enhance their aroma and flavor: I thought that a brew as unique and complex as Utopias should be enjoyed in such a glass, so I turned to world-renowned glassmaker Georg Riedel for his help in designing the perfect glass. Georg and I sipped this unique beer from many different glass shapes and sizes to determine the design for the ideal glass, for a truly unique beer. We couldn’t package it with the bottle for fear of breakage, but I would like you to have one of these special Riedel glasses to help you enjoy the intense and nuanced flavors and aromas of this extraordinary beer you’ve purchased.
Just go to our e-store at www.samueladams.com . You can use the code below to receive a special edition glass with our compliments.*
I hope you enjoy sipping Samuel Adams Utopias from this glass as much as I enjoyed crafting this beer!
Cheers,
Jim Koch
Founder and Brewer”
Utopias 2015 Booklet
2015 Booklet Text: “When I first brewed Samuel Adams Boston Lager® thirty years ago, my hope was to offer beer lovers distinct, full-flavored beer brewed right here in America. Many people had never had a beer drinking experience like Samuel Adams. There were few microbrews or craft beers available then. The taste of Boston Lager expanded the very definition of beer for people. Over the years, we have continued to push the boundaries of beer, with “extreme” beers such as Samuel Adams Millennium® and Infinium™. I’m proud to continue that tradition by introducing the 2015 edition of Samuel Adams Utopias®, a brew that continues to challenge the notion of what a beer can be. Served at room temperature, this uncarbonated 28% ABV brew rivals the complexity and flavor of the world’s finest Ports, Sherries, and Cognacs. Pour an ounce or two into a glass and note the aroma. Take a sip and enjoy as your taste buds revel in layers of flavors.
To brew this beer we began with the world’s finest, all-natural ingredients, including a blend of two-row pale malt combined with cherrywood and peat smoked, Briess Extra Special, Munich and Caramel 60 malts that impart a rich, ruby-black color. Three varieties of Nobel hops – Spalt Spalter, Hallertau Mittelfureh, and Tettnang Tettnanger – plus English Goldings hops add to the complexity and balance the sweetness of the malt and alcohol. During fermentation, several strains of yeast are used, including one normally reserved for champagne.
This extraordinary brew is the result of complex and carefully timed brewing processes. With each batch of Utopias, we release a completely new brew. This year’s release is a blend of batches, some having beer aged up to 22 years in a variety of barrels. We aged a portion of the beer in hand-selected, single-use bourbon casks from the award-winning Buffalo Trace Distillery. We then take a portion of this beer and age it in finishing barrels. This additional aging process enhances the beer’s distinct vanilla and maple notes and adds subtle aromas of ginger and cinnamon. This year’s release also spent time aging in Madeira, Carcavelos, Cognac, and Armagnac barrels, which contribute elegant, dark fruit aromas. The finishing barrels add flavors of wood, molasses, spice, and tobacco. The resulting release of Utopias has notes of dark fruit, rich vintage Port, old Cognac, or fine Sherry.
Your bottle of Utopias is in a unique ceramic decanter modeled after the copper brew kettle used in our Boston Brewery. We bottled only 60 wooden casks of Utopias in 2015 to be enjoyed by a select group of beer drinkers.
How should you enjoy this one-of-a-kind beer? For many years, fine wines and cognacs have been served in glasses designed to enhance their aroma and flavor: I thought that a brew as unique and complex as Utopias should be enjoyed in such a glass, so I turned to world-renowned glassmaker Georg Riedel for his help in designing the perfect glass. Georg and I sipped this unique beer from many different glass shapes and sizes to determine the design for the ideal glass, for what some would call the ultimate beer. We couldn’t package it with the bottle for fear of breakage, but I would like you to have one of these special Riedel glasses to help you enjoy the intense and nuanced flavors and aromas of this extraordinary beer you’ve purchased.
Just go to our e-store at www.samueladams.com . You can use the code below to receive a special edition glass with our compliments.*
I hope you enjoy sipping Samuel Adams Utopias from this glass as much as I enjoyed crafting this beer!
Cheers,
Jim Koch
Founder and Brewer”
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