Samuel Adams Imperial Line

No date from what I can see, but the label says "enjoy now, or age for something something something"

edit. It doesn't actually say "...something something something". I read the label, walked back over to my computer and I forgot exactly what it said, but I am close to the fireplace now and too lazy to get back up.

 

I kind of disagree. He's saying, whether you agree or not, that IIPAs aren't that hard to do well.
My thought in his quote is that he thinks of hops as an early stagegate in the progression of beer appreciation. Considering the elaborate range of beer, it's akin in my mind to spirits where preference tends to stick. Scotch drinkers and bourbon drinkers and Canadian whiskey drinkers and aged rum drinks and mezcal drinkers. Granted everyone drinks everything more or less but it's not really a stepping stone from Scotch to mezcal. Sours, stouts, pils, ales... I guess I drink them all –but I do that seasonally and without regard for how tough they are to make.

 

Utopias is every year. I'm pretty sure Infinium is discontinued. I was just wondering if there are any bottles lingering in your local stores.

And I understand that, but I just really have a problem with this quote: "There's a real purpose of the brewer's art, which is not to make strange, exotic, extreme. At the end of the day the purpose of the brewer's art is to make beers that give people pleasure." If a DIPA gives a lot of people pleasure, then what's his beef? And why can't the purpose be to make "strange, exotic and extreme" beers that give people pleasure (Utopias anyone?)? I'm probably one of Sam Adams' biggest supporters and defenders in craft beer convos with my friends, but this quote is just absurd, and he makes very little sense.

 

I'm quite fond of the Double Bock, and miss the Imperial Pilsner

 

I had this beer a long time ago and I remember it being like a meal, a double bock truly meant for monks.

 

I need to find this- their Scotch Ale was a favorite of mine in their variety packs because of the smoked taste of the malts; sounds like this might be a bigger version of that one.

 

9.5ABV and quite chewy. Great bock, but was just a bit too sweet for me. I've had others that didn't leave a stickyness on my lips and I prefer those.

 

I don't know anything about a 'line' or what not, but I had the Imperial White and thought it was pretty awful. Just a boozy phenol bomb in my opinion, and I was so excited too, since it's not a very common "style" and I live standard witbiers.

 

I'm not sure he is trying to step all over the extreme type movement with this quote, but I didn't read the entire interview, picking out of context, I would more take this as him saying it's a brewer's art to have a purpose to your experimentation that it has a direction and a taste goal, whereas I think that he's saying some breweries are just making extreme beer just as a gimmick to say "look how many IBU's we squeezed into this brew," in my opinion that is not art that's just trying to outdo one another by gimmicks, I could be wrong but that's what I took from the quote.

 

Good luck! It was discontinued quite some time ago. It remains one of the few bottles missing from my collection.

 

Of the Scotch Ale??? If what you say is true, the Shaolin and the Wu Tang could be dangerous!

But seriously, if this is true, BM me and lets work out a trade or something.

 

I may be wrong but I believe the Utopias is usually every other year. However, they did produce a 10th Anniversary version in 2012 (first release was apparently in 2002) which meant that it was produced in three consecutive years (2011 regular issue, 2012 anniversary issue and, again, 2013 regular issue).

As for the Infinium, thought that was only a one-time release in collaboration with Weihenstephan. From what I heard on the Sam Adams Brewery tour waaaaaay back, there were supposed to be either three different releases of brews OR a two year project (I've heard both versions of the story) with Weihenstephan but, to date, I am only aware of the one release, Infinium (2010?).