Sam Adams fruitiness and other expensive beers

My friend Lance called and woke me up the other day. He was getting ready to start his work day in Kentucky and I was getting to hit the sack. Usually I get calls on my internet phone in the morning when my friends are finishing the American workday, but Lance's news couldn't wait. Sam Adams just released a Blackberry Witbier and it wasn't too bad.

Is this good news? I'll admit, I was all about some Sam Adams in college, but never a fan of their flavored offerings. Sam Adams Cherry Wheat tastes like you squirted some cherry flavor in a Sam Adams Wheat right before drinking. Complete flavor separation. Just thinking about their Cranberry Lambic pisses me off. It's not even a lambic. Talk about misinforming the public.

Lance is a HUGE fan of Sam Adams and this is not unjustified. The Boston Lager is a standard and their Black Lager is great. I told him that I didn't know what to think about a Sam Adams Blackberry beer but that I had seen a Sam Adams in Tokyo that he had never drank. He said, "Oh yeah? What?" I said, "Utopias." He said, "Oh," because he knows what Utopias is. He then declared that one day he would buy a bottle and drink it.

Would you spend 17200 yen on a bottle of Utopias? Have you ever drank it? My answers are no and no. What about Descutes Abyss for 5250 yen? TimE told me that he had drank it and that he had another in his fridge. I think that is what he said. Anyway, I've heard that it is great. But, at 5250 yen, is it 5 Paradox's good? Is it 2 bottles of Blanton's Single Barrel good? It is hard to justify that size chunk of change.