Beer Rumor Mill – Illegal Sam Adams Beer, The UK Beer Tax Rip Off And More!

Yikes! November already …and clearly the craft beer biz isn’t slowing down any time soon. But no worries, Rumor Mill is always on the case, keeping you plugged in into all the beer news and lifestyle that matters. Plus we’ve an all-important update on what we’ve been drinking lately and you don’t want to miss that.

Sam Adams Utopias Release Is Illegal In 11 States (Boston, MA) – We recently reported on Boston Beer’s biennial Samuel Adams Utopias release. On the only 13,000 bottles that were produced (each in specially crafted bottles that resemble copper brewing tanks) and that they were priced at almost $200 each.

What we didn’t report at that time was that Utopias’ high alcohol content (28% ABV!), exceeded the legal limits for beer in 11 states, many of the significant craft beer markets.

Craft beer fans in Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Vermont are reportedly going to have to travel out-of-state to hunt down a bottle of Samuel Adam’s uber-expensive Utopias. And we can’t help but wonder how many beer ‘utopians’ actually will.

 

Words To Drink By (Princeton, NJ) – “The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.”   Albert Einstein, theoretical physicist

 

The BA Agrees To Fund USDA Hop Breeding Program (Boulder, CO) – On Monday, The Brewers Association announced an agreement with the United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) to fund an experimental hop breeding program that hopes to develop more disease-resistant aromatic hops.

The UK’s Beer Taxation Rip-Off (United Kingdom) – According to the London-based TaxPayers’ Alliance, British beer drinkers are now paying 10 times more in taxes on their pints than their German counterparts. According to the UK Express, TPA chief John O’Connell said that “It simply isn’t fair to expect consumers to pay more and more for a pint of beer just so the taxman can rake more money in,” and we couldn’t agree more

What We’ve Been Drinking Lately (Rochester, NY) – Last night we hit up a new limited edition release from the Genesee Brew House, Genesee Brewing’s 20 barrel small batch division. Complex and surprisingly nuanced, Genesee Brew House Pilot Batch Dark Chocolate Ale is a decadent 7.5% ABV Scotch Ale brewed with  72% bittersweet chocolate form Hedonist Artisan Chocolates.

Got Something You Think We Need To Know About? Send Your Press Releases to: [email protected]