INFINIUM by the Boston Brewing Company and the Weihenstephan Brewery

Well, they have done it.  INFINIUM is the result of a collaborative effort between the Boston Brewing Company (Samuel Adams) and the Weihenstephan Brewery. This collaboration was years in the making and a great deal of excitement has surrounded the release of this ale.  Essentially, INFINIUM is a beer champagne. Many “new” brewing methods were used and developed over years of trial and error to bring the 10.3% beer champagne to life.  I believe bottle fermentation takes place and they do something fancy with the mash process to get the alcohol levels up to 10.3 percent – probably very scientific and impressive.   I read in a Wall St. Journal article some months back that Jim Koch, owner of the Boston Brewing Company, was working with an old European brewery on some exciting innovations.  INFINIUM is the result of those efforts.

The Weihenstephan Brewery claims to be the oldest brewery in the world, a title that at least two other breweries I know lay claim to.  Originally founded by Benedictine Monks, the brewery has since been ‘secularized’ (sigh and frown).  The Weihenstephan Brewery adheres to traditional German purity laws, only malt, hops, yeast and water are used in brewing INFINIUM.  Shenanigans typically undertaken by the BBC are left behind – no cinnamon from ancient Asian civilizations or nutmeg or orange peel.

The bottle is all black with INFINIUM scrolled in an art deco fashion across the fat part of the base.  An orange/red/yellow thick foil covers the corked 750 mL bottle.  The cork is a composite with a half inch plug of solid cork that comes in contact with the ale.  The opening of the ale resembles opening a bottle of champagne, as a black wire secures the cork and needs to be untwisted.

The head of the ale resembles that of a champagne (I’m getting tired of drawing the comparison).  Thick at first, the head deteriorates to resemble the head of a pilsner.  The ale lacks a nose, honestly.  Some hints of pear and citrus can be picked up but unlike champagne, there is a serious lack of nose.  As you drink your glass (or flute) tiny bubbles ascend continuously from the bottom of the glass and slowly deposit on the surface of the liquid.  Like the bubbles of time ascending from the past and coming to rest in the present….

Sharp and very acidic overtones dominate the palate of INFINIUM.  My wife, after taking a sip, remarked, “This tastes like salt water.”  I think this comment gets at the acidic nature of the ale.  Although other beers, IPA’s for example, can be quite acidic, INFINIUM lacks the huge citrus domination that usually accompanies high acidity.  INFINIUM does possess a fair amount of pear, apricot, and passion fruit with very subtle hints of citric acid, almost undetectable.  This creation resembles a very acidic champagne that was made from the grapes of the Pilsner vine.  That’s really the best way I can describe it.

To be honest, I don’t like idea of INFINIUM although I think the product itself is rather nice.  Beer is beer is beer.  Beer is not wine and beer is not champagne.  Many times, brewers will venture outside of the traditional boundaries of beer and try to innovate, with disastrous results.  Barley wines, which are often quite fine, are a notable exception to that statement.  I’d rather have a 20 dollar bottle of champagne than the INFINIUM, so while it resembles a champagne, it doesn’t have the quality of even a 20 dollar bottle.  One reason I like the purity laws is that they force brewers into superior methods, ingredients and precision to make superior products.  When you toss in a variety of other nonsense, you cease to have beer and often have more of a bastardized brown juice with spices.  To conclude, I’m not connecting with the idea of bringing “American innovation” to traditional methods because it really doesn’t work or make rational sense when taken to extremes.

At 20 dollars a bottle, I doubt this beer will be a regular in the rotation of the HTNL nation.  But, for a toast on new years eve or if you need something to smash on the bow of a boat destined for the great beer city of OZ, the INFINIUM holds a bit more class than they typical neighborhood ale (though not considerably higher quality).  INFINIUM should be enjoyed in a group of 3 or 4 and I’d recommend only one glass per person.  I’ve had a couple glasses by this point and am developing a bit of a headache.  That’s what happens when fine products make their way into this poor man’s body.

Cheers and Happy New Year!

HTNL rating of 8.08/10