Add Infinium (To Your Beer List)

With its festive packaging and champagne bottle, Sam Adams dropped its latest boundary-pusher just in time for Christmas and New Year's Eve. Infinium will not replace sparkling wine as the celebratory drink of choice, but its complexity and risk-taking facets should turn a few heads.

A collaboration brew with Weihenstephan, Europe's oldest brewery, the parties set out to create a new style with Infinium. Dating back to 1040, they approached Sam Adams about teaming for a new beer.

Mission accomplished. I admit it took me aback at first. I expected ale that curved toward a dry, bubbly Brut, and Infinium burst through those narrow constraints.

Ruthlessly complex, At times, Infinium comes off as the younger sibling of Utopias. Scale back the tongue-coating thickness of Utopias' maple syrup, then let it tail directly into a bed of effervescence on the finish. Other dark sweet flavors, including a patch of toffee and cream, sweep in.

But to deposit Infinium in Utopias' shadow does it a disservice. This is a wholly different creature, which it announces whenever its cork pops. Utopias lacks carbonation, and one year after opening, still drinks fine. Even with its effervescent character, Infinium has few ties to Belgium's methode champagnoise champion, Deus.

First, Infinium has no extras, just the four essentials in according with the Reinheitsgebot of 1516 (Bavarian beer purity law). Only water, barley, hopes and yeast go into its production; the spicy textures emerge from those four. Several weeks of bottle conditioning with a secondary years create Infinium's nod to sparkling wine.

Infinium has a surprisingly limited shelf life for its strength (July 2011 - really). That makes it perfect for New Year's Eve and if that special someone also enjoys innovative ale, Valentine's Day.

Despite the dry hopping, there's only minor bitterness roaming through Infinium. It goes down sweet and smooth. There's a lot more going on here, and it all deserves individual exploration. Weihenstephan and Sam Adams brewed a beer that simply must be tasted. I could ramble, but Infinium's ability to slip past description merits fewer words and more sipping.