Samuel Adams announced the early December launch of Infinium, a crisp, champagne-like beer. The sparkling beer is the culmination of a two-year collaboration between Jim Koch, brewer and founder of Samuel Adams, and Dr. Josef Schradler, managing director of Germany’s Weihenstephan Brewery, which is one of the oldest breweries in the world and a center for research about brewing and brewing technology.
“Dr. Schradler and I are thrilled to uncork Infinium, and introduce not only a first-class beer, but a new standard in the art of brewing,” Koch said, in a statement. “When I brewed the first batch of Samuel Adams Boston Lager in my kitchen in 1984, it challenged America’s perception of what beer could be. At the time, beer drinkers weren’t used to bigger, more flavorful brews that used high-quality, traditional ingredients and followed the age-old Reinheitsgebot purity law. Infinium continues to challenge people’s perception of beer in a very different way, making this partnership unique.”
Infinium is one of the first new beer styles created under the Reinheitsgebot, the historic German beer purity law, in more than a hundred years, the company says. The beer adheres to the rigorous standards of the law that states that all beer must be brewed using only four ingredients: malt, hops, water and yeast.
“It was exciting to work with [Koch] and the brewers at Samuel Adams to stretch the limits of Reinheitsgebot during the creation of Infinium,” said Schradler, in a statement. “This beer is truly a marriage of the German brewing heritage that our brewery has upheld for almost a thousand years, combined with new innovative brewing techniques that take beer beyond what anyone expected to be possible under the constraints of the purity law.”
Infinium pours a deep golden color with fine bubbles and has a fruity, elegant aroma, it says. Its crisp acidity gives it a dryness and tartness on the palate that is balanced with a smooth malt body, the company says. Infinium is packaged in 750-ml. cork finish bottles and contains 10.3 percent alcohol by volume. The beer will be available in select locations for a limited time beginning early next month for $19.99.
