Jim Koch, the Samuel Adams founder who coined the term“extreme beer” in the 1990s, has taken the concept to a new level with the 2009 Utopias.

It's the world's strongest beer, with a wallop-packing 27 percent alcohol by volume that makes it illegal in a dozen states. At a suggested retail price of $150, it's likely the most expensive brew to hit the shelves this holiday season.

Just 12,000 of the unique, ceramic-and-copper bottles, er, decanters shaped like tiny brew kettles were produced. This is the first year Utopias will be available in Texas, and a limited number are expected to go on sale in Houston this week.

“You treat it like a fine cognac,” said Erika Schermerhorn, spokeswoman for the parent Boston Beer Co.

That means serving the uncarbonated beverage at room temperature, with 2-ounce pours in a snifter. And, unlike other beer, you can save the rest for later.

“Once you open it,” said Schermerhorn, “you can put it away and then go back to it years later.”

The Utopias is brewed with a variety of yeast strains, including one commonly used in the production of champagne, and malts and Noble hops. It's a blend of liquids as well, said Schermerhorn, including some remaining from a batch of Samuel Adams Triple Bock. Brewed 16 years ago, the Triple Bock was billed as the first “extreme beer” at 17 percent ABV.

The Utopias was aged and finished in wooden containers such as Scotch whisky barrels, single-use bourbon casks, sherry casks from Spain, and muscatel and port casks from Portugal. According to the company, this aging process “enhances the distinct cinnamon, vanilla, and maple notes” and gives the beer “a level of complexity not seen in earlier releases.”

Since the Triple Bock, Samuel Adams has released a series of high-alcohol beers: Millennium Ale in 2000 (21 percent ABV) and Utopias in 2002, '03, '05 and '07.

Utopias gets an A rating on the respected BeerAdvocate.com site. Reader comments to the Chronicle's Beer, TX blog were mostly positive about the earlier incarnations as well.

“I've had previous releases of Utopia and although you would expect it to be whiskey-hot with alcohol, it is surprisingly smooth and drinkable, and very definitely tastes like a beer (maybe a beer liqueur),” Paul Hightower wrote. “It is malty, sweet and a bit complex, and one could enjoy a full snifter of it if the pocketbook would allow.”

Local homebrewer Mike Heniff agreed that it's “certainly very interesting and a few sips now and then are very enjoyable.” But, he added, “in the end all three of the Samuel Adams high alcohol beers don't seem much like beer.”

A couple of other readers recalled the Triple Bock badly, however, with one calling it a “fiasco.”

And the whole notion of “extreme beer” doesn't have universal approval.

In a New Yorker magazine article last fall, the author and Brooklyn Brewery brewmaster Garrett Oliver was quoted as saying he found the term “irredeemably pejorative.”

“When a brewer says, ‘This has more hops in it than anything you've had in your life — are you man enough to drink it?,' it's sort of like a chef saying, ‘This stew has more salt in it than anything you've ever had — are you man enough to eat it?' ”

The makers of Samuel Adams contend that “extreme beer” is more than just clever marketing.

“It's about redefining the way people think about beer,” said Schermerhorn, “and pushing the boundaries of what beer can be.”

That seems to be a driving philosophy for Koch, who has grown the Boston Beer Co. into the largest U.S.-owned brewery (now that both Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors are under foreign ownership).

“As brewers, we continue to challenge ourselves to experiment and explore new flavors and brewing techniques in the Barrel Room year after year, and what continues to energize us is that our beer quest hasn't changed,” Koch said in a statement. “It's my life's work to elevate people's thinking about beer. … Today, Utopias is our best example of that quest.”

ronnie.crocker@chron.com