Sam Adams Utopias MMII
Sam Adams Utopias MMII
A Steal at $200.00 per Bottle
Yesterday, I took a ride over to one of my favorite liquor stores, which is a supermarket-sized place that sells nothing but liquor, wine and beer (and also has a fair cigar selection). In short, definitely my kinda place. The vodka selection alone takes up approximately 2/3 of the average sized supermarket aisle! But I digress.
While there, I took a peek at the high-end stuff that is kept refrigerated under lock and key. Predictably the locked cooler contains mostly Champagnes (there is a separate lockup for high-end things that don’t need to be refrigerated, particularly those that apparently are popular with shoplifters). Anyway, I saw the bottle pictured above and marveled at the idea of a bottle of beer costing $200.00.
When I arrived home, I searched for this expensive bottle of suds on the net in order to learn a bit more about it. I found it here, but the price was not $200.00, but rather was $499.00 a bottle!! Holy Budweiser, Batman!! That’s almost five hundred bucks for a bottle of beer, albeit very fancy schmancy beer. Here is the seller’s description of what must the nectar of the Beer Gods:
Sam Adams Utopias MMIIâ„¢ is the only beer (domestic or import) brewed with a fine selection of Noble hops, Hallertau Mittelfrueh, Tettnang Tettnanger, Spalt Spalter and Czech Saaz. The brew is then aged in port, scotch and cognac barrels. The brew uses: 2 Row Harrington, Caramel and Vienna Malts. The aroma offers the distinctive smell of cinnamon and vanilla with subtle hints of floral, citrus and pine. Sam Adams Utopias MMII offers a rich taste that is surprisingly light on the palette, featuring a smooth, lingering finish. Samuel Adams Utopias MMII, the strongest beer in the world to date, has 24 percent alcohol by volume and is 48 proof.
At $200.00 per bottle, I probably should run back to the store and buy a case of the stuff. On second thought, that would be a pretty pricey investment, and an “investment†it would have to be, because, as much as I believe that life is too short to drink cheap whiskey or beer, I think I might choke drinking a case of beer at two hundred (or five hundred!) bucks a bottle (even if it does contain “Hallertau Mittelfrueh, Tettnang Tettnanger, Spalt Spalter and Czech Saaz†hops).
I think what I’ll do is go back to the store, explain to the guy that I am an upscale lush and ask the if I could get a small brown bag with the bottle so that I could drink it in the parking lot.
where can i find a bottle of the utopia? I have been looking since last year when i saw your advertisement in the paper. I live in hastings mich. please let me know,
chuck jordan
Comment by charles jordan — November 21, 2004 @ 2:19 pm
Hey you big dumbass a store in michigan has it for $185 a bottle so if u did go get that case u got fucked
Comment by Nate P — January 11, 2005 @ 6:48 pm
Nate –
I hope you were smiling when you wrote that. Otherwise, I would have to question your manners.
Comment by Jim - Parkway Rest Stop — January 11, 2005 @ 6:52 pm
I actually have a bottle of Utopia that I am willing to sell. It is from the 2003 collection, bottle #2321. If interested shoot me an e-mail and an offer to js3407@yahoo.com.
Comment by Jonathan S — February 11, 2005 @ 12:16 am
Junk at the best.
For $750 I can fly to Germany and get THE BEST.
Sam Adams shot themselves in the foot when they pulled Golden Pilsner off of the shelves.
SCREW THE AMERICAN BREWERS, AND THEIR FAST BUCK GARBAGE.
Comment by Tim — June 17, 2005 @ 9:05 pm
It sold originally for $100 a bottle..its just the resellers that jack the price up 85-500% over normal retail.
Comment by jake — February 18, 2006 @ 12:39 pm
I was lucky enough to have a 1oz. drink of Utopias at the Cellebration of Suds in Atlantic City. I absolutely loved it!
I love microbrewed beer and have tried over 200 different brews and even brew my own beer,Utopias is nothing at all like any of them.
Served at room temperature it has no carbonation at all. You could give it to any beer drinker and they would have no idea at all that they were drinking beer.
But as the guy that own the liquor store I digress. The main reason for writing is that if you look around you can find it much cheaper than any advertised price I have seen.
I just bought a bottle about an hour ago for $137.oo and I went to the liquor store to order it, and there it was sitting on the shelf. 🙂
Don’t even think of it as beer. Think of it as a once in a lifetime experience.
Comment by Jessie Green — March 24, 2006 @ 8:25 pm
The pictured utopias above is 2001-2 MMII. witch you cannot purchase in stores. 3000 were produced, i myself have 3 bottles. the 2005 edition orignally retailed for $99.00 stores have now increased the price to 150.00 of witch 8,000 were produced.. 3 editions of utopias were crafted 2001,2003 and the last and final 2005 edition. The rare most sought after is 2001 marked by MMII.. and they all slightly taste diffrent due to the age. the bottles are also slightly diffrent to each year as well..People and retailers are driving the price for these up.. after 06 you will never see one on a retail shelf again… or so boston
Comment by chuck — April 2, 2006 @ 11:58 am
I have 6 bottle of Utopia. I have read that they were released in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009. I have one from every year. The ones I have an issue with are the 2001 and 2002. On the bottom of each bottle it shows the year from 2003 on up…the 2001 and 2002 do not have a year stamped on them. The 2001’s state that there were only 3000 bottle made and I have #498..fine. The second one (2002 ???) has #3854 on it….I have no neck hanger to tell me the year for that bottle. Is this a true 2002 bottle? If they only made 3000 bottles in 2001 is this a real 2002 bottle since the number is higher than 3000. But then again..on my 2003 bottle..the neck hanger says they only made 8000 bottles and mine has #8396 on it…I have tried contacting Sam Adams directly…through both email and phone..that’s a joke..nobody there cares about my question…since they have never bothered to return phone calls or emails…does anyone on here have a good history of these and no why the bottle numbers are higher than the run numbers…thanks for all help in advance!!!!
Comment by Jeffrey Wolfe — January 23, 2010 @ 12:49 pm
Obviously the one you were looking at online was probably an older bottle and not the same year as the one in the store….
The 2001-2002 are hard to find now and gaining value
Comment by Pete — August 2, 2012 @ 10:55 pm