Samuel Adams Millennium
Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams)

 

Sampled at the Tasting to Sink all Sea Shepherds. Thanks Dylan for bringing this, I had been looking forward to trying it for a long time.
A: Pours dark brown with copper glints, completely still as expected from such a high ABV beer.
S: Smell of caramel, fudge, dried fruits and booze. Alcohol is dominating and makes the smell deep and intoxicating.
T: Decadent taste! Chocolate, fudge, vanilla, caramel first come to mind. Then comes a huge alcohol kick which highlights flavors of soaked fruits, cherry and plum. The booziness in there is actually very welcome :-p Finishes on chocolate and fudge and a delicious sweetness in the front of the tongue. Absolutely no trace of its age, neither on the nose nor on the palate.
M: Medium to high bodied. Actually a bit light to support the alcohol and flavors (lighter than Utopia's). Still, the beer remains highly drinkable for what it is.
O: Great beer, not very subtle, the kind of beer one would hate to love! It has a great mix of flavors, and is far more drinkable than Bruery stouts, for instance. It's somehow very different from Utopias also, but it's a lovely beer!

 

 

Drink on Superbowl Sunday 2016 16 years old and amazing

Samuel Adams (MMM) Millenium (1999) [Bottle #703/3000]. I finally got to check this one off of the "bucket list!" The beer was served chilled to 55°F & after the cork was surgically removed, the beer poured up into a port glass without much effervescence or any discernible head over a deep copper red body with a slight chill haze. The aromatics of apple brandy, bourbon vanilla, caramel flan, French cider & molasses chips. The flavor started with a rich salted caramel character that gives way to a defined toastiness from the Vienna malt gently balanced by a spicy, Noble hop bitterness that created a lovely warming but never boozy or cloying finish. The worldly experience was not unlike drinking a fine Hors d'âge brandy. Thanks to an old friend for the opportunity. Cheers!

Bottle 2466 as far as we could tell. Cork mostly broke apart, so bottle was poured through a sieve. Very reserved nose. A faint woody character, plenty of maple, and some oxidized booze scents. The taste is full but reserved. Maple forward. Booze is incredibly mellow at this ABV. Raisins, caramelized/brandied figs, brown sugar, overripe pineapple, and biscotti. The mouthfeel is quite thin. No carb. Like an after dinner drink. Not terribly oxidized on the whole but some sherry notes. Very unique experience.

Cracked at 16 years old. Color is dark amber with no head or lacing (as expected with no carb). The smell is like a brandied fig. The taste is creamy barrel age, like a smoother utopia. The feel is pure bliss, smooth all the way. Absolute fantastic to try my original white whale.

 

 

 

This beer was pretty good I thought.

 

 

 

 

Opened with five different vintages of Utopias with the crew. Not all the Utopias were finished but this was. We expected this to be tame and maybe not on the same level as the recent Utopias but we were mistaken, this blew everything away and was possibly the best beer Ive ever had. Amazing palate of vanilla bean, candy apples, marshmallow, and a lot of port, almost bourbon like flavors. Some bottles of Utopias were nearly disgusting drank beside this. Seemed way more developed or integrated. Kind of subtle at fist but just awesome. Thick rich mouthfeel, amazing long finish. Im only taking points off for the look as its not what one would expect. We drink some great beers with this group and this has been the best, way better than M a couple years back and pretty much all other barrel aged American whales weve opened. Thanks again to Jeff for getting this.

Reviewing the infamous Millennium (MMM) from the Boston Beer Company out of Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts.

Score: 88

1999 vintage bottle. Forgot to write down the bottle number (out of 3,000). Served in a snifter and enjoyed on 04/25/14. Review is from iPhone notes.

Appearance: The cork fell apart while opening the bottle and had to be pushed into the bottle to be opened. Bits of the cork were strained as poured. The beer pours a murky brown color with lots of fade and sediment floating. Not quite sure what mix of the sediment is old/dead yeast or cork residuals. No head off the pour. No legs or lacing. 3/5

Smell: Fiery, fusel alcohol followed by dark fruit, caramel, leather and wood. Kiss of vanilla too. Super boozy and alcohol forward, but behind that is a nice and big strong ale with some positive/fruity oxidation and sherry. 4/5

Taste: Fruity oxidation, leather, and a little green pepper towards the finish. Lots of caramel flavor, with a touch of vanilla that is extraordinarily muted side by side with Utopias 10th Anniversary. 4/5

Mouthfeel: Viscous and full bodied, virtually no carbonation. Drinks like an oily spirit. Sweet-leaning. 3.75/5

Overall: A good, not great beer. Utopias was better. This 15 year old beer is probably past its prime.

Cost: $900 for a 750 ml bottle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This one was in my cellar for 14 years. The cork was 100% saturated, basically just mush held together by the wax dip. The beer was the ugliest I've ever poured. Dirty, muddy, cloudy grey/brown with no head. However, it still had very soft maple, honey, caramel, molasses flavors and aromas. Totally hid the 20+% Abv. Drank like a very old Tawny Port. Very delicate, not heavy at all. Good, not great, but didn't live up to the hype in my head or the cost of the bottle. I think it's well past its prime. When I tasted it in 2000 at GABF, it was all power, a boozebully of a beer. Now it feels tired and worn out.

Catching up on some of my reviews. This was opened by a generous soul last summer at an epic tasting.

The opening of this beer was rather comical. The cork was so old that it started to crumble. Thus, in our current state midway through the tasting, we deemed it necessary to have one person take a vacuum hose to the top of the bottle, while another person chiseled away at the cork. Finally, we got it (but not without some cork particles in our glasses).

A: Pours a flat (as expected) deep brown with a few tan bubbles (that were most likely from the vigorous pour, rather than actual carbonation).

S: Intense rich leather, deep wood, salty soy sauce, dark chocolate, and cigar leaves. Smells kind of sweet though, with maybe some toffee.

T: Pretty much the same. Incredibly complex. And while this has some heat to it, it is incredibly smooth and does not interfere with the other flavors.

Overall, this is just a spectacular beer. Definitely the best Boston Beer Co. beer I have had.

 

 

 

 

 

Holy Santa Claus sshit. Thanks suitcase Jon for sharing this mega waleeee. I didn't know I was in Wales (all the signs said New York)

No head. Color is a clear copper. Looks like a liquor.

Aroma: maple syrup, oak, vanilla, bourbon, caramel and some other light spices. The nose is so complex and so inviting. A touch if allspice.

Taste: so much oak and wood. Then the maple syrup hits with some sweet flavors. Candied sugar and caramel with vanilla. The alcohol doesn't show at all. There is a hint of bourbon, but it is mainly oak.

Mouthfeel: is sweet and warming. Very smooth. Obviously low amount of carbonation. Ends with some sweetness on the palate.

Overall, this beer is incredible. One of the best liquids I have ever drank. So easy to drink. So complex.

 

I’m not normally this pithy, but I’ll simply say that this beer was sublime, and easily transcended the realm of beer and became something far more ethereal. I’d go into more detail, but my last bottle was drained in 2001, and I just realized that I’d never posted my comments years ago, so this just seemed like the time appointed by the Universe to rectify that omission.
I remember the beer being exceptionally smooth, with notes of bourbon, subtly charred oak, maple, and a definite sensation of sipping something more akin to a fine cognac.

 

big thanks goes out to GrumpyOldTroll, jbuddle, Sean9689, SpeedwayJim, AgentZero, dtmets84 for sharing in the greatest day of beer that i have ever been a part of. huge thanks to jim and josh for tracking down and providing this bit of unobtainium.

notes from 1/12/2013

this was my biggest want and personal whale - consumed from a utopias glass.

the beer poured fairly still as expected. maroon ornage with no head, no bubbles. smells of booze and caramel. tastes UNREAL. little slice of heaven in a glass. everything is well integrated. happiness. this one deserves a score of "7" on taste, but alas i can only give it a 5. josh says that it is liquiried caramel and he's spot on. this was THE highlight of a tasting that included dave, m, and others on that level. this was far better than what i expected and i expected a LOT.