The holiday season has arrived, and with it, the pressure of buying gifts. If you want to relieve that stress and maybe buy a present for that someone special, the JP-based Samuel Adams Brewery recently released its annual batch of barrel-aged Utopias beer.
This year’s beer is a blend between Utopias and the brewer’s Kosmic Mother Funk, a Belgian-style ale barreled-aged for at least nine months and up to two years in Hungarian oak tuns or casks. The Utopias beer has been aged in bourbon casks from the Buffalo Trace Distillery and also aged in port casks from Portugal.
When a Gazette reporter tested the beer, he was struck by a rich, sweet aroma emanating from the glass, similar to a cognac. The taste was like the smell, comparable to a fruity bourbon.
But be careful with the level of consumption. The Utopias has 28 percent alcohol by volume and could soon have sugar-plum fairies dancing in your head.
Sam Adams, which has its test brewery at 30 Germania St., brews less than 15,000 bottles of the beer and it retails for $199. For more information, visit samueladams.com.
Samuel Adams’ barrel-aged Utopias beer. (Courtesy Photo)