Skip to main content

Samuel Adams’ 28-Percent ABV Utopias Beer is Illegal in 15 U.S. States

utopias beer
Samuel Adams
The Sam Adams name has adorned a lot of beers over the years, but none so rare as the Utopias beer. The 10th release of this special-edition brew is out this year, in the same familiar ceramic decanter bottle modeled after the copper brew kettle at Samuel Adams Brewery in Boston, Massachusetts.

Utopias — which has only appeared in odd years since it was released in 2002 — is, in many ways, Sam Adams founder Jim Koch’s masterpiece. He compares it to ports, sherries, and cognacs to describe its complexity, depth of flavor, and pedigree.

Recommended Videos

At this point you’re probably just wondering what the hell is so special about this beer. Well, in short, everything.

samuel adams utopias beer
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Utopias is an uncarbonated, barrel-aged beer, bottled at 28 percent ABV. It’s a blend of malts, hops, and yeast strains. Koch used two-row pale, Munich, and Caramel 60 malts; Spalt Spalter, Hallertau Mittelfruh, and Tettnang Tettnanger hops; and several strains of yeast, including one typically used for Champagne. They even add in a little Kosmic Mother Funk.

The component beers of the blend are aged in ruby port, carcavelos, Aquavit, and muscat (newly included this year) barrels; some parts are aged in ex-bourbon barrels from Buffalo Trace. Some of the components are aged as many as 24 years.

The final, bottled product is equally as complex and weird as its recipe. We tasted notes of vanilla and maple, tons of nutty cacao-like flavors, and dark fruit. It’s a truly amazing beer experience, but we have to disagree with Koch on one point: the serving temperature.

Koch wants this served at room temperature, but given the diversity of flavor activity assaulting your palate from the first moment it touches your lips, we think that’s better left to veterans. Start by chilling it just a bit, so that the earthier flavors will be more apparent. As it warms in your glass naturally, it will brighten and open, gradually exposing you to its final form.

So where do you get it? Well, that’s the problem.

It’s on sale at varying times and with varying availability in November nationwide — and only in select states. Unfortunately, Utopias is well over the limit for alcohol content for beer sales in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont, and West Virginia.

If you’re planning to get your hands on some, you should know that Sam Adams has only produced 13,000 bottles this year from the 68 wooden casks they decided to empty. The bottles retail for $200 each, but if you’re planning to indulge with this rare release, you should plan to pony up another $30 for the special glassware.

Jim Koch designed the glass with George Riedel a few years ago specifically for this beer, and we must say, it was a better experience than a wine glass or brandy snifter. And if you’re ready to pony up $200 for a beer, what’s a little more for the right vessel to enjoy it?

Clay Whittaker
Former Digital Trends Contributor
5 classic cocktails tequila makes better, according to a master distiller
Who needs whiskey or vodka when you have a bottle of Mexico's finest on hand?
A bottle of The Lost Explorer alongside two cocktails

Tequila makes everything better, including a classic cocktail. The Manual recently caught up with master distiller Enrique de Colsa to get some advice on which cocktails could use a tequila twist the most. We’ve stuck to five classics, many of which you may be familiar with. Whether you’re finding standard sips a little boring or are in a bit of a tequila phase at the moment, then these five mixes should help liven things up.

De Colsa made his name as the head distiller for renowned tequila brand Don Julio. After taking a sabbatical, he created a lowland tequila blanco for The Lost Explorer. The spirit is created in small batches, at a dedicated facility, and works well in all of the cocktails that the Maestro Tequilero is suggesting below.
Curious Penicillin

Read more
Cocktails to make with Eli Manning’s team up with Knob Creek
Make use of your high-end bourbons in these cocktails
Knob Creek

New Orleans legend Eli Manning recently teamed up with Knob Creek for a special bourbon release named Bold Pick -- making that an obvious choice of sipper for watching the game this weekend. But as well as drinking your bourbon neat, you can also enjoy it in cocktails.

The key to working with high-quality spirits is to remember that they don't need a ton of other ingredients to make a great drink. You're looking to highlight and emphasize the best flavors of the spirit, not to cover it up with a boat load of liqueurs, syrups, or other additions. So if you want a drink to make the best of a fine rye or bourbon, then look for a simple and classic recipe. Knob Creek has a couple of suggestions for minimal, elegant cocktails that will bring out the best of your spirits and make a drink worthy of those high-end bottles -- the always popular Manhattan cocktail, and the classic sour inspired Scofflaw cocktail.
Knob Creek Scofflaw

Read more
Serve up a healthier Super Bowl with these grass-fed beef recipes
Mini taco cups and bite-sized crispy steak and potatoes? Guaranteed crowd-pleasers.
Verde Farms taco cups.

Throwing a big Super Bowl party? Looking for easy yet crowd-pleasing recipes? From nachos to tacos to bowls of chili, many Super Bowl recipes feature beef. While beef is delicious and readily available, for this Super Bowl, why not upgrade (both in flavor and health) to grass-fed beef? Verde Farms, a brand that sells 100% grass-fed organic beef, reached out to us with some great Super Bowl recipes.

If you're one of those meat lovers still hesitant about grass-fed beef — don't be. The grass-fed at Verde Farms is lean but remains juicy, with a distinct grassy flavor that's present but not overwhelming. In fact, we sampled Verde Farms and found it to be a perfect replacement for grain-fed beef, the meat most common in grocery stores.
Mini Taco Cups
Verde Farms mini taco cups. Verde Farms
Ingredients:

Read more