Utopias will be hard to find because of the small batch.
The high ABV makes it illegal in 15 states.
Seems counter intuitive to me. I drink beer because it’s low in alcohol, compared to hard liquor. Many of my friends drink light beer because it’s not very intoxicating.
Yeah, it’s really good, too.
Utopias won’t be available in Arkansas. I could easily drive to Texarkana and buy it in Texas. That’s a lot of trouble for a high ABV beer.
One bottle at a Halloween party and I’d ask my wife to drive us home. It’s not worth taking the chance of a DUI.
I am curious how it tastes.
I can’t even drink these 10% Belgian beers, for me the strong alcohol flavor pretty much masks all the flavors and textures I like in a beer. If it’s gonna be that strong, it’ll be whiskey or wine or a strong girly drink for me, thanks.
I’ll probably try it anyway though.
Seems like this can’t possibly be just beer, it must be fortified or distilled in some way. There’s a ceiling on how alcoholic beer can be; after a certain point the alcohol kills all the yeast and fermentation ceases. Even the hardiest yeast strains can only get you into the low teens.
Yeah but like bacteria versus penicillin, I betcha there are strains of yeast that evolved to tolerate being pickled.
I don’t know why they don’t just call it “heavy” beer. I think there was once a brand (marketed to bikers) with that handle.
Indeed, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a beer higher than around around 11%-12% ABV barleywine style beers.
Oops, I forgot the link. This article mentions the price. :eek: $210 a bottle.
It’s not like any beer I’ve seen. It’s too expensive for my budget.
It tastes wonderful, but not like any other beer you’ve had. If you attend the Sam Adams shareholders meeting they serve it in tiny little cups, but you can have as many as you want. They also serve it late into the tasting session, so most folks don’t have many, especially since the meeting is in the middle of the day.
You can’t drink it like beer.
They claim they have specifically bred a yeast strain that will survive, and that it is simply brewed. Back in the day I used to look forward to the GABF (Great American Beer Festival) in Denver every year because they would break out the Utopias, which they didn’t do very often.
It’s good, but the strongest resemblance to anything else is a shot of soy sauce. And I don’t think they had reached 28% back then, it was still low 20’s IIRC.
Pictures show decanters when I google it. Does it come in a decanter, or is that just the recommended way of serving it?
It comes in an “I Dream of Jeannie” style bottle, which changes slightly each year.
Trying to talk two friends into going in on a bottle. Only $70 each! A bargain!
Probably couldn’t drink a whole bottle anyway. A couple chugs! If it is nasty, maybe that would be too much.
[url-“Beer | Avery Brewing Co.”]Avery Brewing in Boulder has a few big beers in the 14-16% range. I once drank a bottle of their Nutty Professor without noticing that it was 15% until I was done. That made it the equivalent of about half a bottle of wine. Good thing I was in my living room, since moving around after was contraindicated.
No, it’s always been fermented. No distillation or fortification, or at least that’s what they’e always claimed.
This isn’t a new beer, and I haven’t heard anyone seriously challenge their claim that it’s fermented like beer and not distilled or fortified. You can get yeast from White Labs (one of the main sources of homebrewers yeast) that are claimed to ferment up to 25%.
At any rate–I’ve had it. My cousin bought me a bottle for my birthday about eight or ten years ago. It was solid. Not something I would pay $100 for (which is what I think it was going for at the time), but definitely an interesting drink and conversation piece.
Here’s another beer at 28% ABV by fermentation alone whose description very clearly states the “normal fermentation” process was used and no freeze distilling or anything like that going on.
To me, it tastes like Madeira. I don’t remember how dry or sweet it tasted. Very toffee like, with a madeirized aroma. Decent finish. Not hot at all, unlike the Avery ‘devils’ line listed upthread. Not as complex as an aged Thomas Hardy’s Ale or some of Boon’s dry lambics.
I was glad someone else was paying for the bottle. Very good, completely unlike anything I’d ever had in beer before, but in no way worth to me, 200 or so a bottle. Worth a try if they actually are pouring it in the Sam Adams tasting room.
I’ve had Brewdog’s Tactical Nuclear Penguin which was their first ice distilled beer at 32%. I described it as being like brandy. It was nearly 10 years ago and it was £6 for a 25ml measure.
Well at that price I doubt I’ll be seeking out. And I tend not to like the taste of most higher-ABV beers. But I do like some aged fortified wines. Another poster mentioned Madeira, which piques my interest.
There goes my idea of running out and getting a case.