What would Samuel Adams drink?

One wonders what founding father, populist, and rabble rouser Samuel Adams would have thought of a beer priced at $150 per 24 ounce bottle.

A story in Wednesday's Washington Post presented details of the Boston Beer Company's latest iteration of its Utopias beverage: 27% alcohol by volume.

More power to brewery president Jim Koch and his brewers for such an achievement. But is it beer?

I don't mean to single out Koch, a pioneer in our craft and business. Indeed there appear to be quite a few brewers and beer lovers evincing an unseemly envy of wine and spirits. There's a puerile braggadocio: mine is bigger, hoppier, stronger than yours.

Not to mention pricier: blogger Alan McLeod's take on that, including to a blizzard of readers' comments.

So, maybe it's time for a latter day Samuel Adams to lead a new Boston Tea party. If I want whisk(e)y, I'll drink whisk(e)y. If I want wine, I'll drink wine. But those wine barrels and spirit casks, in our fermentation rooms? Dump them overboard! Let's get back to the democratic, non-elitist, incredible pleasures of good ol' beer.

Koch's best line in the piece: "It's not rocket science, but it is 'grain surgery.' "

In other news, Boston Beer Company's stock lost 25% of its value yesterday.