Collaboration beers have been all the rage in recent times. The process generally involves one dynamic micro getting together with another like-minded craft brewer, usually in another country, to create a beer that is a hybrid of their experience, interests and aspirations.

Infinium takes collaboration onto another level. Not only is it a joint effort between award-winning brewers on two continents, it’s the combined effort of breweries founded a whole millennium apart.

The publicity cites more than a thousand years of brewing heritage has gone into creating the beer. Well, that’s certainly true on one side.

The brewery at Weihenstephan was established in the year 1040 and is recognised as the oldest working brewing site in the world. On the other side we have the Boston Beer Company, better known as Samuel Adams, founded only in the 1980s.

But forget age. It’s what each party brings to the table that matters.

Weihenstephan is known for its technical brilliance. Although totally commercially and professionally run, it is part of the University of Freising and home to an internationally renowned brewing school.

Its Hefe Weissbier is often suggested as the epitome of the style and has scooped up countless major awards as a result.

Sam Adams is a more thrusting company, one that has successfully managed that rare balancing act of producing interesting, tasty beers that also have mass market appeal.

It is also a pioneer in the production of ultra-strong beers, a process reaching its pinnacle in the much-lauded Utopias, a stunning brew at 27% ABV that encroaches on the world of fortified wines and spirits.

Beautifully Packaged

These two great brewing minds, thinking alike, have developed this beautifully packaged beer in a Champagne bottle, with a price tag to match. At 10.5%, Infinium is modestly strong by Sam Adams’ standards, but a significant leap upwards for Weihenstephan.

Both companies now brew the beer independently, Sam Adams for the USA, Canada and Mexico, and Weihenstephan for the rest of the world. The two products vary in that the American version is bottle conditioned, whereas the beer from Germany has experienced its second fermentation in a tank prior to bottling.

The aim has been to create a Champagne effect inside, as well as outside, the bottle – I’m told a Champagne yeast is used at one stage in the process, although other production details remain a secret – and, in that respect, based on a Weihenstephan-produced sample, the collaboration has been remarkably successful.

The resounding pop of the cork and the excessively noisy pour would please any maker of sparkling wine. Extravagant carbonation fills the mouth with a barrage of popping bubbles, lightening the texture of the beer and lifting to the nose aromatic notes of delicate caramel, subtle vanilla and a grape-like fruitiness.

In Champagne terms this would not be described as brut. It’s a rather sweet, frothy beer but not at all cloying or heavy. It’s as clean as a beer can get, with a crispness that makes it pleasingly refreshing, especially for a brew of this strength.

However, anyone looking for a lot of bang for their bucks will not find it here. Don’t expect deeply layered malt complexity or a rainbow of hop flavours. Instead you have refinement and class, attributes that underscore the credentials of both brewing parties.

If you fully recognise the skill and knowledge that have gone into creating this beer, you’ll appreciate it very much.