It takes 15 years of aging to make this; hence the high price. Honestly, I'm not big on barleywines; the highest alcohol content I've ever brewed was about 12%, and I usually prefer beers in the 6-8% range, because high-alc beers are always too sweet. But it sure would be interesting to taste this. Get it while you can; even with the high prices and 10,000-bottle release quantities, Utopias always sells out within minutes of arriving at your local beer store.
Goes back to the prohibitionist/puritanical attitudes that prevail even today. Some states feel the need to regulate a maximum alcohol content in beer; why? I don't know; in these same states you can still buy pure grain alcohol, if just getting hammered is all you're after. But there you go.
I got a line on a bottle (or more if the money were there). But like I said, I don't really like this kind of beer. But if you could get, say, 7 or 8 guys to chip in, you could each have a taste and satisfy your curiosity. About 20 a pop, that sounds about right to sample it.
In that situation it would be a modest investment to satisfy a curiosity so it would be worth it. I don't like beer enough to consider full price. for 150.00 a bottle that stuff better taste like a Dolphins playoff win
For $5 dollars you can buy a bottle of Cisco. 20%+ alcohol content. Liquid crack. Big bold letters on the side of bottle say "THIS IS NOT A WINE COOLER"
wow. i thought this beer that dogfish head made was expensive at 40 bucks for a 4 pack. there was no way i was buying that. then a miracle happened! someone at the store decided to open one up to give people a taste test before they bought it. i had a taste. best 40 dollar beer i never bought. 150 though? for something that probably tastes like crap? no thanks. i'll just go buy grain alcohol and a flame thrower and enjoy my evening.
Do you draw straws to determine who gets sloppy seconds I can see it now, a group of high school boys huddled around a campfire in the woods pushing and shoving for the next drink
There is a beer from Europe that is considered the best beer in the world. I can't think of what it is called, but I know it is about $130-$170 a bottle. And you never know when it is released. You simply have to call daily and ask if they have it. And You are limited to two bottles per purchase I believe. Sounds pretty similar to this.
Guinness is ok. I like Old Rasputin any day. If you have a beer store and you like stouts do yourself a favor and get Pike Entire Wood Aged Stout So good. Still $150 a bottle. Makes the $21 for http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/north-coast-old-rasputin-anniversary-bourbon-barrel-aged-stout/71101/ seem like so little.
AbsoLUTELY. Certainly, the many styles of beer - hundreds, if not thousands if you count sub-categories make it obvious that tastes and preferences are varied; but I swear, for me this is the ultimate expression of what beer can be. Yes, it is high in alcohol (close to or over 20%, depending on the twice-yearly batch!) but that's not the point. It's the 120 IBU (International Bittering Units) achieved by daily dry-hopping with fragrant hops during months of fermentation, resulting in a nose and a presence that makes it like drinking a glass of flowers. A glass of beautifully alcoholic flowers.
THat is so stupid it's hysterical. A state goes out of its way to ban a 20 proof beer while in that same state you can buy a bottle of Everclear off the shelf at 151 proof? Our country has become a bastion for idiots.
this why you should move to texas. you can buy a rifle and a bottle of everclear all on the same block......
I missread Nabo's post as well. 27% not 27 proof, which means this beer is 54 proof. Still I can guarantee you that there are liquors for sale in Ohio that dwarf this proof level that they have outlawed this beer for having. That is unless Ohio has outlawed Vodka's, Rum's, Whiskey's, etc. Just stupid.
Funny although not entirely true. I was shocked after moving to Dallas that I could not find anywhere to buy a damn beer. Went everywhere, grocery stores, 7-11's and no beer only to find I had moved to a dry county. A dry county in our day and age, and that was in Dallas Texas.
Yeah but you just have to be careful after drinking some of the everclear. All of a sudden the phrase "take another shot," might turn into your last...
Exactly. In every one of those states that ban high-alc beer, (with the possible exception of Ohio...) you can buy grain alcohol at about 180 proof or whatever. If people want to get hammered, beer is NOT the most cost-effective way to accomplish it. Especially since these artisanal beers are expensive as all hell.
