Sam Adams $200 Beer: The Starship Enterprise of Brews
Boston Beer Company Founder Jim Koch on the Samuel Adams Utopias beer.
The Boston Beer Company (NYSE:SAM) has been at the forefront of innovation among craft brewers since day one. It should come as no surprise that the company features a special high-end brand called “Utopias.”
The unique brews is aged in used spirits barrels—some being 22-years-old. Only 15,000 bottles are sold during each release, which occurs every two years since 2002.
“Utopias is kind of the lunatic fringe of brewing,” Jim Koch, Boston Beer Company founder tells FOXBusiness.com. “It’s kind of the Starship Enterprise of beer. It has taken beer where no beer has gone before.”
While the average beer has about 4-6% alcohol by volume, Utopias, at nearly 30% is one of the stronger commercial beers on the market today. Koch places the beverage among some of the finest spirits and says the taste usually comes as quite a surprise to drinkers.
“It doesn’t taste like what people think beer is. It really pushes the boundaries out and the flavor profile is kind of… if you can imagine a space between like a vintage port and a fine cognac and an old sherry, that’s where Utopias lives. And when people taste it, the normal reaction is ‘wow, this stuff’s amazing’”.
Koch said the company is deliberate with how much of Utopias they allot during each release.
“We have to ration it, we have to allocate it,” he said. “We sell every single bottle that we can make for $200 a bottle. Now that’s innovation in beer.”