Just in time for New Year's Eve comes a beer that looks like champagne, in a sparkling wine bottle with a cork and metal capsule.
Infinium began hitting retail shelves early this month. It's available at about 20 stores in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky and less than a handful of local bars, according to Boston Beer Co.'s Web site.
Made by Boston Beer, maker of Samuel Adams beers, and Germany's Weihenstephan Brewery, the world's oldest brewery, the ale is expected to sell out soon. It's made both in Boston and in Germany, but not at Boston Beer's West End brewery.
The beer wasn't just created on a whim. Research for Boston Beer shows that 60 percent of American men would prefer to celebrate with beer rather than champagne.
The brewers say Infinium is the first new beer created under the German beer purity law in more than 100 years. Under the law, only four ingredients - malt, hops, yeast, and water - can be used.
"Frankly it was really cool and a huge honor," Boston Beer founder and Cincinnati native Jim Koch told the Boston Globe this fall. "Probably the most important brewery in the old world reached out to Sam Adams. I was like, 'Wait a minute. I was making beer in my kitchen 26 years ago. You guys were making beer a thousand years ago. Why do you need me?' "
Infinium comes with a high alcohol level - 10.3 percent, or more than twice that of a Sam Adams Boston Lager. The price also isn't beerlike; the suggested retail price is $19.99 for a 750-milliliter bottle.
So what does it taste like?
Infinium has "fine bubbles and a fruity, spicy aroma," the company says on its Web site. "The crisp clean malt character and delicate fruit notes in this beer are complemented by a slight citrus flavor from dry hopping with Bavarian Noble hops. Bottle conditioning adds another layer of complexity and light spice notes."
"Infinium is slightly dry with flavors of light caramel, pear and tart apple," critic Eric Pera wrote in the Lakeland, Fla., Ledger. "Infinium is just sweet enough to go well with dessert."
Not all reviews have been as positive.
"Its aroma is fruity though not strong, and it's just a bit cloudy in a glass. It tastes a bit wheaty, but not grainy," critic Marc Bona wrote in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "But the real kick in this ale is the finish - extremely tart. Not my cup of, er, tea, but try for yourself."