Want To Buy A $150 Bottle Of Beer?

Sam Adams latest Utopia beer.

So you've decided to go and enjoy an expensive prix fixe dinner but need the perfect drink to get wasted on afterwards? Who wants wine when you can enjoy a $150 bottle of Sam Adams with a 27 percent ABV?

Available later this month, the latest Utopias craft beer from the Boston-based brewery is a "strong, rich, uncarbonated dark beer" that is "meant to be savored like vintage fortified wine or fine cognac" at room temperature in a snifter.

The first time that Sam Adams released a Utopias beer, back in 2002, it won the title of world's 'strongest beer commercially available' in the Guinness Book of World Records. Since then it has been surpassed by a number of other brews but considering that the average beer has an ABV of about 5 percent, the alcohol content of the latest Utopia is nothing to sneeze at.

So where can you find one to drink, or better yet someone buying one to laugh at? The new Utopias are sold only in the company's special ceramic decanters for $150 and can be found online here. Unfortunately at the moment the only retail operations selling the brew are in New Jersey. Road trip? [Via Eater]

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Garth Johnston in Food on May 18, 2011 6:42 PM

Comments [rss]

Keith Lawyer

You can get it at Draft Barn in Gowanus as well.

randomtransplant

I don't mind that beer this expensive exists, I'm just a little surprised its coming from Sam Adams and not Belgium, you know, that place where similar sounding brews have been created for hundreds of years.

At the end of the day, the only difference between this and Goldendrach seems to be that I actually know beer people who have tried and will recommend Goldendrach. Even the packaging seems to be 'inspired' by traditional materials.

westheyeti

Bar Great Harry on Smith had a bottle last week. Handing out 1oz pours for 15 biscuits. Yeah, I gave it a try, but I wouldn't go for a second round.

Mordicai

I bought a bottle of the Goose Island Bourbon County Rare, which set me back fifty bucks...so dropping a hundred & fifty isn't inconceivable.

BoogieDown

Holy crap! The owner of a bar we frequent gave my husband that beer to take home for free. We liked it and all, but had no idea what it was worth.

Mordicai

Note that the Bourbon County Rare is different than the Bourbon County Stout-- they may have given your husband the latter? Or maybe that is the nicest present ever?

For the curious, I liked the Rare, but I didn't think it was all that different than this year's Stout.

BoogieDown

Ah, yes, you are 100% correct. I knew he couldn't have been that generous! I really did like it, though.

Colonel_Ingus

It's nothing special. It takes like a decent sherry. Not like beer at all. Not worth the money in anyway.

nicemarmot

So here's what I can't figure out: how much beer are you getting for that $150?

Liz

24 ounces. But it can be resealed unlike usual beers. You can sip it in 2-ounce pours and enjoy it a dozen or so times.

Liz

It's being sold at Bierkraft in Brooklyn for more than that - $255 I believe. And the snarky title is obnoxious - would it be the same if it was a bottle of wine? Probably not.

Winexprt

The title didn't strike me as snarky at all considering 99% of beer doesn't cost anywhere near that price. Heck, most wine purchaced doesn't even cost a quarter of that! (I should know, I manage a wine shop in midtown). $150 for a bottle of flat beer is extremely unusual, wouldn't you agree?

Winexprt

Not snarky at all considering 99% of beer doesn't cost anywhere near that price. Heck, most wine purchaced doesn't even cost a quarter of that! (I should know, I manage a wine shop in midtown). So...that price for a beer is extremely unusual, wouldn't you agree?