Friday, November 9, 2012

  Most expensive beer: Utopias Beer sets world record (VIDEO)

BOSTON, MA, USA -- The 10th anniversary edition of Sam Adams ultra-strong Utopias beer it's 27 percent alcohol and sells for $160 to $190 per bottle (the bottle is just 24 ounces), setting the world record for the Most Expensive Beer Commercial Available, according to the World Record Academy: www.worldrecordacademy.com/.

  Photo: The 10th anniversary edition of Sam Adams ultra-strong Utopias beer is out with 27% alcohol. The bottles are beautifully shaped like a brewery's copper kettle. ( enlarge photo )

The Guinness world record for the largest beer tankard measures 5.87 m (19 ft 3 in) tall, has a diameter of 2.03 m (6 ft 7 in) and can hold 12,910 litres (2839.8 gal) of beer. It was created by the Meraner Altstadtvereinigung (Italy) and was presented and measured in Meran, Italy.

Guinness World Records also recognized the world record for the most varieties of beer commercially available: 2,004 - at Delíríum Café, Brussels, Belgium.

  The tag on the bottle, written by Sam Adams founder Jim Koch, say this year's version is blend that mixes new beer, made with dark malts and German hops, with some 20-year-old batches of the brewery's Triple Bock, the super-strong beer that predated the first release of Utopias in 2002.

  The beer also spent time in bourbon and port casks.

  "As a result," Koch writes, " ... Utopias invokes the flavors of rich vintage port, fine Cognac or or aged sherry, while feeling surprisingly light on the palate."

  So what does that $170 bottle taste like? Definitely not like any other Samuel Adams brew you've had before: this uncarbonated, dark beer rivals a fine port and cognac. The aromatics alone aren't what you typically find in a brew; the woods from the barrels give it a vanilla, maple, ginger, and cinnamon, The Daily Meal reported.

  Sam Adams reports distributing fewer than 20,000 of this year's version.

  The Utopias brew — the oldest naturally fermented beer — is something of an accomplishment for Koch and Samuel Adams.

  "The Utopias brew was how we began to push the boundaries of beer, and we'll continue to do that," Koch said. "We're going to change the notions of what beer is, and what beer could be."