Sam Adams Utopias - Previously Opened?

To me it looks like a left over spill from the bottling line. If it was leaking you would see leaking close to the crown.

 

I'm no expert. You may be correct. It may also be that another bottle broke near this one, and that mess in the pictures is from the other bottle's leaking/breaking. Generally, by weight, there is a little more than an ounce of weight per ounce of beer, plus the weight of the bottle and cap. I can't tell you how much the bottle and cap should weigh.

 

Since it has the official Sam Adams crown and the crown doesn't appear to have any stress from opening then attempting to re-close, I'd say you're safe, OP. It would be pretty hard to pry it off, then re-affix it without the crown showing some signs of duress.

Plus, as @MadcatStolper notes, there doesn't seem to be any residue up directly around the crown from where the leaked liquid would had to have originated.

 

Looks like something else leaked on it and made it's way on the bottom threads.

 

It is hopefully just leftover from the filling process. Others are saying it looks like something else leaked on it, but I'm failing to understand how that could be possible as those threads were supposed to be completely covered and sealed before you opened it.

 

Awesome gift. Does your girlfriend have a sister ?

 

I think you are fine - it looks like a little bit of residual spill from the filling line - as others have mentioned the cap looks completely intact and my guess is they had a little splash of excess beer that wasn't washed of the threads before adding the crew cap over the top.

I had a whole bunch of bourbon county that was a bit sticky this year and it was the same issue - a bit of a spill on the bottling line.

Your bottle is totally fine, and the cap will seal the contents completely - just wipe it off with a damp towel and enjoy!

 

So the new vintages come with the Sam caps? My 2011 was a solid bronze/goldish color.

 

I've seen this on 2 older bottles of Utopias - it's normal.

 

Yeah I'd say you're fine because the cap doesn't look tampered with. I don't think that residue is uncommon on beer bottles, but because Utopias is some pretty sticky, syrpuy stuff, it stains easily rather than just drying...so it's more noticeable from something like Utopias especially with the white surface you're seeing it on.

I've heard great stories of Jim Koch being very reachable for customer complaints - you might send a note with the pics just to get his opinion and for piece of mind.