United States: Boston Beer updates its $150 a bottle beer

US craft brewer Boston Beer Co. has released an updated version of Utopias, its biennial beer, with a price of $150 a bottle, Associated Press communicated on December, 1.

The brew has an alcohol content of 27% and is banned in 13 states.

The limited release of the brandy-colored Utopias comes as more brewers take advantage of scientific improvements to boost potency and enhance taste.

“Just part of trying to push the envelope,’’ said Jim Koch, owner of Boston Beer.

Since the 1990s, craft brewers like Boston Beer and Delaware-based Dogfish Head have produced “extreme beers’’ that challenge old notions, and decades-old laws. In some states, including Vermont and New Hampshire, Utopias’ alcohol level exceeds the cap. But such specialty drinks are still classified as beer if they are based on fermented grain.

02 December, 2009