[url]http://www.realbeer.com/library/beerbreak/archives/beerbreak20020214.html[/url]

THE 48 PROOF BEER


- Sam Adams is giving away a trip to Boston and a chance to sample Utopias with a brewer at the Sam Adams brewery.

Those wild and crazy guys at Boston Beer Co. have done it again, brewing a beer so strong they label it 48 proof, using terminology usually reserved for spirits. Sam Adams Utopias MMII, which goes on sale this month, is in fact 24% alcohol by volume, making it the strongest commercial beer in the world.

The previous strongest was Sam Adams Millennium, a one-time batch brewed in 1999, at 21%.

To create the beer, Sam Adams' brewers used two-row, caramel and Vienna malts, then all four types of noble hops, leaving the beer spicy enough that some call it "fiery." The beer was aged in scotch, cognac and port barrels from February 2001 until late last year. The aroma has a "distinctive smell of cinnamon and vanilla with subtle hints of floral, citrus and pine."

"At a time when light beers are growing in popularity - we wanted to introduce a rich-tasting and unique beer that would rekindle interest in the other side of the beer spectrum," said Boston Beer founder Jim Koch, whose own brewery recently rolled out Sam Adams Light.



Utopias MMII is packaged in a copper-finished brew kettle designed to look like larger kettles used by brewers. The suggested retail for the 3,000 24-ounce bottles available is $100. The Millennium was priced at $200 when it first shipped in 1999, with a few bottles commanding $1,000 in Internet auctions before sanity prevailed.

Because we knew you'd ask, here's where Utopias will be available: Chicago, Denver-Boulder, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Detroit, Boston metro area, New York, Hartford (Conn.), Rhode Island, Long Island, Burlington (Vt.), Springfield (Mass.), Monmouth-Ocean City (N.J.), Albany (N.Y.) metro area, New Haven (Conn.), Augusta-Waterville (Me.), Portland (Me.), Stamford-Norwalk (Conn.), Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Sacramento, Washington D.C., and Baltimore.

And also because we knew you'd ask: Samichlaus, first brewed in 1980 by Hurlimann in Switzerland, was long the reigning strongest beer at 14% abv. A lager, it was brewed on St. Nicolas Day (Dec. 6) each year and released exactly one year later. Hurlimann raised a major ruckus when it quit brewing Samichlaus, but fortunately the Eggenburg Castle brewery in Austria has taken over production and shipped the beer each of the last two Decembers.

Sam Adams surpassed Samichlaus in 1994 with its Triple Bock, which included maple syrup as an ingredient. It was fermented with champagne yeast and finished at a hefty 17.5% abv. For the arrival of the millennium, Sam Adams and Dogfish Head in Delaware both went after the record. Dogfish Head released its World Wide Stout, fermented with seven different yeasts, in December 1999 with a record 18.1% abv.

Millennium, which was the talk of the Great American Beer Festival a couple of months before, was then shipped to the public a few weeks later.

Their millenium brew was the absolute worst taste that has ever been in my mouth.  I think the only reason I tasted it was because of the alcohol content.  Since I am in Beantown, though, I guess I'll have to give this 48 proof brew a try.

BTW, I was a sophmore in college when the Millenium brew came out.  It was $5 a bottle in Boston and easy enough to get...probably had to do with the taste.

Edited to correct that it was $5 a bottle.  I think they were in four packs for $20.

...I can't believe I was actually drinking miller ice last night at a party.

My stomach and taste buds were even more shocked.

And I don't even LIKE most beer! However this one sounds interesting, I'd give it a try if someone were to send me a bottle of it. [:)]

Robby

Bath water has more kick than the beer in Oklahoma! [>(] Actually beer here is considered non alcoholic. [BD]

I recall drinking a German beer called EKU 28 back in the early 80's that was 14% alcohol. It was moderately dark, but very sweet and had a good overall flavor. I also remember that stuff knocking my best drinking buddies and I on the floor many times. :)

Why pay $100 for a 24 ounce bottle of Sam Adams when you can get a 40 ounce bottle of Red Bull for $2? [%|]

you have to remember that what americans call beer is piss compared to what other countrys call beer ie (germany etc.)

OK, settle an argument for me.  I believe that beer(same brand) is lower alcohol percent in different geographical regions; namely Florida.  My buddies don't agree.  Anybody know for sure?

48 proof beer? [>:/]

I thought you couldn't get a beverage to ferment past 16% alcohol or so?  At that point, the alcohol is concentrated enough to kill yeast...or at least halt it from converting sugar into alcohol & CO2.

They must somehow distill it, or remove water without removing the alcohol (freezing it?)

IMO, if you distill a beverage, it can't be called a beer.

I don't know about Florida, but I know that beer has a lesser alcohol content in Oklahoma than it does in Texas. It's even stamped on the top of the can, though I can't remember what it is since it's been since sometime in highschool since I drank any Oklahoma beer.

We're at war, so...

[img]http://www.camo5x.com/images/Camopic.jpg[/img]

...drink up, stay tactical.