Samuel Adams Debuts $200 Beer With 28% Alcohol Content

Beer connoisseurs, you may want to start saving up for this one.

Samuel Adams has just released a beer called Utopias, and it’s unlike anything else on the market. Utopias is a specialty beer released by the company every two years with a suggested retail price of $199 a bottle. Yup, you read that right, $199 a bottle.

Pricey Beer – Sam Adams’ $199 Utopias Release https://t.co/EkdmIBaSut via @AmericaCrftBeer @SamuelAdamsBeer #Utopia #BottleRelease #beer pic.twitter.com/thHEiL9DrQ

— Bevv .co (@BevvShop) October 28, 2017

Why the hefty price tag, you ask? Well, Samuel Adams pretty much invented the process of barrel aging, which is aging beer in a wooden barrel with the intention of making the alcohol take on the unique character of the wood and/or the flavor of what has previously been in the barrel. With Utopias, they took barrel aging to the next level. The beer was aged in a variety of barrels, including new Scandinavian Aquavit barrels, and a portion of the final blend was aged in Moscat (a type of dessert wine) barrels, which is a first for the beer. The result is said to “be reminiscent of a rich vintage Port, old Cognac or fine Sherry with notes of dark fruit, subtle sweets and a deep rich malty smoothness,” according to the craft beer news site Brewbound.

The process is also what accounts for the high alcohol content. For comparisons sake, the average craft beer has a AVB of 5.8%. The brewer suggests only sipping a 1 oz taste of Utopias at a time, for safety’s sake. The alcohol content is so high, it’s actually illegal in 11 states.

Sam Adams Utopias is illegal in 11 US states due to how high it’s ABV (28%) is. It qualifies as liquor in those states. pic.twitter.com/etJuuNPwnD

— 🍺King Kong Jong🍺 (@MahjongNucleus) November 1, 2017