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key takeaways
- Uptopias 2025 is the 14th release of the specialty beer.
- With 30% ABV, it is one of the strongest beers ever made, making it illegal to sell in 15 states.
- Jim Koch founded Boston Beer Company and began brewing Samuel Adams in 1984.
Many business owners would be horrified if they learned that their product was banned in 15 states. This is a matter of pride for the gym coach.
“It makes me smile,” he said with a laugh at an event in Manhattan.
The founders of Samuel Adams could certainly afford this kind of notoriety over Utopias, the company’s special biennial release with an ABV closer to most ales than Boston Lager. This year’s batch has grown by 30%, making it one of the strongest beers to date. This is due to the high alcohol content in it illegal to sell In Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont, and West Virginia.
Credit: Boston Beer Company
During a tasting at Pete’s Tavern in Gramercy Park on Wednesday, Koch acknowledged that the company won’t gain much financial benefit from the limited-release specialty drink in a 24.5-ounce bottle. But, he said, it’s worth playing along with good wine lovers and pursuing wine-making methods — even if it breaks some states’ laws.
“We’re giving people something they’ve never had before,” Koch said. “A bottle of beer costs $250, but this is a beer that we’ve demonstrated can stand up to some of the greatest alcoholic beverages in the world.”
Connected: I was a judge for the Samuel Adams Food and Beer Contest
The beer, aged for 30 years in barrels, has aromas of vanilla and sweet wine, with a strong kick that doesn’t quite reach the full bite of regular ale. The product is not distilled – which would make it bourbon – and has been released since 2002, with every round coming with a different flavor profile and collectible bottles.
This willingness to push the limits of brewing, Koch says, marks a uniquely American characteristic in the global craft brewing ecosystem.
“(German brewers) talk about, ‘How do we make this beer the same way we made it 200 years ago?’ And that’s okay. But being an American, I’m like, so you haven’t had any good ideas for 200 years?” He joked. “Where is the innovation? Where is the creativity?”
Koch’s passion for craft brewing dates back to the early 1980s, when he began brewing batches of an old family recipe—known today as Boston Lager—in his kitchen in Newton, MA. At the time, he said, American beer was a joke, and he wanted to start a modest beer company that would challenge that perception. His first five-year plan for Samuel Adams included building a company of eight people and making enough money to pay himself $75,000. As soon as his beer hit the market, that trajectory changed quickly.
He said, “Fortunately, while I was wrong a lot, I was wrong a lot in the right direction.”
The coach’s biggest advice to new founders trying to grow their own business? You can’t be a copycat.
“You will get real business only if your product is either better than the alternatives or cheaper,” he said. “If you’re not, you’re not adding any value to the consumer.”
key takeaways
- Uptopias 2025 is the 14th release of the specialty beer.
- With 30% ABV, it is one of the strongest beers ever made, making it illegal to sell in 15 states.
- Jim Koch founded Boston Beer Company and began brewing Samuel Adams in 1984.
Many business owners would be horrified if they learned that their product was banned in 15 states. This is a matter of pride for the gym coach.
“It makes me smile,” he said with a laugh at an event in Manhattan.
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