This will be the third year where a buddy and I brew up a clone of Sam Adams Utopia. The first year's batch was a grand slam walk off home run. When we did U2 we fiddled with the recipie, adding more hops and some different specialty grains. U2 turned out pretty damned good but it's not as good as U1 so this year we are going back to the original recipie. We've won 'Best of Shows" with both but the U2 just isn't as good as U1. The U1 actually does better in blind taste tests than the real Sam's. It's a ridiculous grain bill, we'll be mashing in around 115 pounds of malt for around ten gallons of finished beer. Our starting gravity is close to 1.200 and we get down to around 1.026, close to 25% ABV. We turn it into a party, guys come from all over, we've had them come from as far away as NC and FL. Lots of guys brings their brew rigs and we'll have a bunch of guys brewing their own batches and kibitzing while Chris and I do the U Brew. It is a really fun day, we BBQ and everyone brings samples of their current/favorite brews. This year a few of the guys are talking about doing a Stein beer. As you can imagine, it's a homebrewers dream day. You should come by.
PTN
