No Chugging

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Introducing the $150 bottle of beer.

Samuel Adams has unveiled Utopias, a very special brew that is aged for 15 years and that Sam Adams’ founder Jim Koch has dorkily called the “Starship Enterprise of beers.” Utopias is said to taste something like cognac, or perhaps maple syrup. (Check out a video of some bros tasting an earlier version of Utopias, which comes in a fancy schmancy gold bottle that still requires a can opener.) I use the phrase “is said” because, even though I’m a fan of Sam Adams, I’ve never had the pleasure—and at $150 a bottle, I probably never will.

Some math: If you had 99 bottles of Utopias beer on the wall, you’d have $14,850 worth of beer. You probably wouldn’t want to take one down and pass it around with just anybody.

This sure ain’t moonshine we’re talking about, and yet, because Utopias is a whopping 27% alcohol by volume, it is banned in Georgia and 12 other states. Don’t even think about driving through Hazzard County with a bottle of Utopias in your car, not with Rosco P. Coltrane on the job.