Sam Adams to sell $200, 28% ABV beer that's illegal in a dozen states

Sam Adams has announced the release of a beer with a three-digit price tag.

The brewery announced the 10th release of its Utopias, a limited release, extreme barrel-aged craft beer. The brew is 28% ABV, uncarbonated and described by Sam Adams as "reminiscent of a rich vintage Port, old Cognac, or fine Sherry with notes of dark fruit, subtle sweetness, and a deep rich malty smoothness."

The alcohol content is so high - more than five times higher than the brewery's lager - it is banned in the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, and Washington.

The beer is made with a blend of two-row pale malt combined with Munich and Caramel 60 malts and three varieties of German Noble hops - Spalt Spalter, Hallertau Mittelfrueh, and Tettnang Tettnanger.

68 wooden casks of the beer were created this year and 13,000 bottles will be sold nationwide for $200 a bottle.

"Utopias challenges conventional thinking about beer but it is definitely a beer - that's what's so exciting!" Jim Koch, founder of Sam Adams, told Fortune. "Utopias is brewed like any other Sam Adams beer, using four main ingredients and the traditional brewing process, but it's the yeast strains we use, as well as our barrel-aging and blending process that makes Utopias truly one-of-a-kind."