Beer lottery winner, Ralston Kwan

Photo courtesy of Ralston Kwan.

The winner of the LCBO’s recent beer lottery, Ralston Kwan, isn’t even a beer drinker.

In early January, 1,675 Canadians entered a lottery for the opportunity to spend $114.95 on an old bottle of beer. 

“I’m not much of a beer fan,” said Kwan, a Ryerson continuing education hospitality and tourism student.

The 24-year-old read about the lottery in Toronto Life. “When I heard about it, I realized it was a limited opportunity, and I had to try to get it.”

It’s the same process that the LCBO uses to offer rare, limited-edition wines. “Given the very limited availability of this product, only one order per customer will be accepted and allocation will be limited to one bottle per customer,” the LCBO said in a press release. 

The beer in question, Utopias, is a product of the popular Boston Beer Company brand Samuel Adams (named after the American revolutionary). Like many aged alcoholic drinks, what makes Utopias unique has less to do with its ingredients, and much more to do with its production: possibly one of the most intricate processes that a beverage has ever been through.

After blending a variety of beers (some of which have been aged over 16 years), a portion of the concoction is aged, “in hand-selected, single-use bourbon casks.”

The company’s website says some of the brew has also been stored in casks traditionally used to hold sherry, brandy, cognac and even Portuguese muscatel. Even the bottle is distinct – shaped like a copper-finished brewing kettle. 

The beer is produced every two years, and there are currently 9,000 bottles available worldwide. The LCBO, the only Canadian liquor board to offer Sam Adams Utopias, snagged 70 bottles of the rare brew.

The lottery system and a limit of one per customer ensured that everyone had an equal shot at adding a bottle to their collection.

Arguably the rarest beer in the world, Utopias is also one of the strongest with 27 per cent alcohol content.

“It’s more like a cognac than it is a beer,” Kwan said.

Though Health Canada gave the OK in December, Utopias is actually banned in 13 states in the U.S., including Georgia, Oregon and Washington.

A few people have pressured Kwan to give it a taste, but he’s saving the beer for a special occasion.

“My 25th birthday is coming up in May, so I may try it out then. Or maybe my parents’ 30th anniversary.”

Kwan divides his time between Ryerson, his job as an IT recruiter and satisfying a developing taste for rare alcoholic drinks.

“I’m getting more into wine. The French Auxerrois 2007 is nice, and I also enjoy the German 2007 Studert-Prüm.”

It may not be a conventional lottery win, but Kwan is still excited by the prospect of possessing something only 70 people in Canada will get their hands on.