It may be utopia

I had the opportunity to sample Sam Adams Utopia beer - if beer is the right word. The decanter-like container held, I was assured by the friend who acquired it, a beer aged for more than twenty years, part of the time in old bourbon barrels. It is made with a proprietary yeast and is about 25% alcohol.

The taste was a subtle mix of beer (faintly) and whiskey, with the whiskey mainly noticeable in the finish. The aroma was that of old port, and the mouthfeel was lightly viscous, almost the consistency of light olive oil. Utopias is intense, syrupy, almost sweet.

We sipped it from shotglasses, which was just about the right size serving.

We enjoyed this on a patio on a lovely, early summer afternoon. I'd do it again in that venue, but I really think Utopia is made for a man with grown sons, who share sips with him before the fireplace on an evening before New Year's while the father reminisces of more dangerous, more intense times, of life more full.