Reply #54: Sam Adams Utopias has been around for a while, and it's high-alcohol

[piedmont]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Adams_%28beer%29

"Samuel Adams Utopias, which went on sale in February 2002, was claimed to be the strongest commercial beer in the world. The 2002 release contained 24% alcohol by volume, which has increased in subsequent vintages up to 27% ABV in the 2009 release. Utopias was preceded by Millennium, a single release brew made by Sam Adams in 1999, at 21% alcohol.

Utopias is made with caramel, Vienna, Moravian and Bavarian smoked malts, and all four varieties of noble hops: Hallertauer Mittelfrüh, Tettnanger, Spalter, and Saaz hops. The beer is aged in scotch, cognac and port barrels for the better part of a year.

The beer was packaged in a copper-finished kettle designed to resemble those used in the brewing process. 8,000 twenty-four-ounce bottles of Utopias were produced in all, with a suggested price of US$100 a bottle. The beer is considered by some to be more comparable to brandy, sherry, cognac or port than to other beers.

Because of legal restrictions, Samuel Adams Utopias is not offered in the states of Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington, or West Virginia. <10>

Utopias is still being made and have been released in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2009. Samuel Adams produced just 12,000 bottles for the 2007 holiday season.<11><12> Most recently, 53 barrels (approximately 9,000 bottles) were released in November 2009, at a suggested retail price of $150."