Beer - Sam Adams Infinium 2011

Pour - 750mL poured into chalice glass

I’ve heard a lot about this beer for a long time and never actually thought I’d get my hands on one believing them to be discontinued and all the existing ones gone or prohibitively expensive for what it was. Sam Adams did the initial release back in 2010 as a sort of beer-drinker’s champagne for NYE apparently and the packaging reflected this idea. So this week when I found out about a beer store in my city I’d never been to before and saw these babies on the shelf for $8.99 and the original retail closer to $20 I snatched one up and decided to give it a try. After talking with some other beer geeks I heard some disappointing things about it not holding up well after about 6 months on the shelf meaning this baby would have lost its lustre about a year ago but thought to myself “eh, I paid nine bucks for it, I’ve poured more expensive bottles down the drain.“ And so here is my review of this 2011 release.

The pour is a cloudy amber color with about two fingers of white head that disappears quickly, much like champagne bubbles. It is very pretty but a bit richer than I was anticipating. I let the head subside then gave it sniff and was surprised to get such heavy Belgian-style notes from it: cloves, anise, sugars but no discernible booze. There’s also a dough-y bread/yeast scent just sort of hovering over everything else. I wasn’t really sure what the taste would be like. I thought maybe sweet and light like medium-dry champagne but I was way off. At first you get the wash of carbonation over your tongue almost like a club soda, then this tart bitterness and an ever so slight sweetness on the tip of the tongue. It’s pretty malty and grainy with some spices that just don’t mesh particularly well and are wholly indecipherable. After the drink there’s a rather unpleasant after-taste that hangs around and forces you to drink more just to get rid of it. It’s easy to see what this was supposed to taste like but whether the fault lay with the brewery for releasing a “meh” beer or me for buying a bottle that was a year and a half old is hard to say. All told it wasn’t a terrible experience or one that I regret but I can’t say I’d recommend everyone go out and find one. If the opportunity presents itself, go for it. The idea of a champagne of beers that isn’t Miller High Life is an interesting one, and with rumors of a 2013 release coming I’d like to hope they manage to put it together perfectly.

Listen to while you drink it: The Pogues - Very Best of the Pogues

Rating: 71