TORONTO, ON – Samuel Adams has announced that the latest vintage of one of its most distinctive and anticipated limited edition releases will be available in Ontario.
Samuel Adams Utopias (28% abv) is an exceptionally strong ale that is described as being “reminiscent of a rich vintage Port, old Cognac, or fine Sherry with notes of dark fruit, subtle sweetness, and a deep rich malty smoothness.”
The brewing notes for the new vintage are as follows:
The 2017 Utopias release was brewed using a special blend of two-row pale malt combined with Munich and Caramel 60 malts that impart a rich, ruby colour. Three varieties of German Noble hops – Spalt Spalter, Hallertau Mittelfrueh, and Tettnang Tettnanger – balance the sweetness of the malt.
A portion of the beer was then aged in hand-selected, single-use bourbon barrels while the remainder was aged in a variety of barrels including Bourbon, White Carcavelos, and Ruby Port at Samuel Adams Brewery in Boston. New this year, Utopias was also aged in Aquavit barrels, a Scandinavian spirit with distinct herbal flavours.
Finally, the brewers created the final 2017 blend by sampling and blending barrel-aged beer including 24-year-old Triple Bock and 17-year-old Millennium, as well as previous Utopias vintages. After the blend was finalized, the brewers finished some of the 2017 Utopias in Moscat barrels, a wine known for its slightly smoky character.
588 bottles of Utopias 2017 will be released tomorrow (Thursday September 13th) at 9:30 AM via LCBO Online, where it will retail for $110.75 per 710 ml bottle, with a purchase limit of 2 bottles per transaction.