Samuel Adams has released a new ‘extreme’ beer, Utopias 2025, with an alcohol by volume (ABV) of 30 per cent, making it illegal in 15 US states. The beer exceeds legal limits in states including New Hampshire, Vermont, North Carolina, Georgia, and Oregon. New Hampshire, for example, caps beer ABV at 14 per cent.
The brewer’s chief executive, Jim Koch, said the high strength “blurs the line between beer and fine spirits”. Koch, who co-founded the Boston Beer Company in 1984, said hitting 30 per cent ABV had long been a personal goal. The new beer is the 14th iteration of Samuel Adams’ Utopias limited-edition series.
A spokesperson for the brewer told The Independent: “In terms of how drinkers can find it if they live in one of those 15 states, we always say half the fun is trying to find Utopias near you!” The beer is bottled in individually numbered ceramic vessels and has a suggested retail price of $240.
Previous releases have received mixed reviews online. One reviewer on BeerAdvocate described the 2024 version as “strong but good”, while another on Reddit suggested that for the price, “you can get some transcendentally good vintage port or Madeira”.
The beer joins a list of extremely strong brews, including Scotland’s BrewDog Tactical Nuclear Penguin (32 per cent ABV) and German Schorschbräu Schorschbock (57 per cent ABV). Some, like Brewmeister’s Snake Venom at 67.5 per cent ABV, are fortified and debated as to whether they qualify as beer.
