December 13th - New Belgium Hemperor HPA

Just like that, we're over halfway home tonight on the 13th day of the blog.  This always seems like it's going to take forever to enjoy a beer, take some notes, put those notes into actual complete sentences and thoughts and at the same time make it semi-entertaining for folks who enjoy beer and just enjoy a quick and fun read in the evening.  Then, repeat that 24 more times during the busy holiday season.

Honestly, I guess it keeps me focused more on actually enjoying a beer instead of just mindlessly sitting down and doing something else while simply drinking a beer and not getting the entire sensory experience that a brewer may intend the end consumer to enjoy.

3 out of 5 ain't bad!

In any event, at the over-halfway point tonight is something that is right up my alley while, at the same time, stepping outside of the IPA comfort zone I feel I reside in lately, outside of the blog.  Well, maybe inside the blog too.  Normally, I shift my focus this time of year to stouts and porters, but not a whole lot has caught my attention lately locally, or otherwise.  This selection tonight, however, is something that it from the realm of the peculiar.  I got 2 of these in my local case club swap a few months ago.  Unfortunately, the drink by date was back in February, but with an IPA it should be fine.  

Back to the point, I've saved this beer simply because it's odd and I thought it would be something fun to review.  From New Belgium tonight is their new twist on the IPA style, The Hemperor HPA.  

screenshot from New Belgium's webpage

I'm not really sure what I'm going to get here beyond a hoppy beer that has some dank and/or resinous character to it.  I've experienced that before in some beers and they're usually pretty decent.  I'm not sure, however, that I've ever experienced something with hemp seed.

Before imbibing tonight, because I enjoy my job, I did my due diligence and found out a little more information regarding this beer and the hemp seeds that were used to make it.  First and foremost, there is NO THC or CBD in this beer to produce any intoxicating effects (there's still alcohol of course), so we're safe in that regard.  Second of all, it appears that there are some pretty interesting health benefits from eating the seeds including packing in some protein (9 amino acids in total) as well as omega fatty acids.  If you're curious as to some of those benefits, you can get some additional information here.  Not really sure if that comes through when they're added to beer, however.  My guess is just the flavors they impart will be present.

the tasting notes and what to expect, again a screenshot from New Belgium's website

Guess it's time to see what exactly the sensory experience is going to be like here tonight.

A cloudy golden with decent off-white head was poured from the 12 ounce bottle.  I experienced a pretty nice lacing in the glass throughout the sipping and note taking.  

I 'm going out on a limb here that the aroma has to be attributed to the hemp seed used that was used to brew this HPA.  There was also some sweet malts thrown in there too and some earthiness, I'm guessing, from the hops used in production.   

The taste from cold to warm changed slightly.  When it was colder the majority of the flavor was that of floral and earthy hops.  There was obviously some dank resin there too.  A sweet and sticky malt presence was there with some definite sweetness and lingering earthy bitterness.  As the beer warmed up, all I could taste was an overpowering orange citrus flavor that really didn't mix well with anything else in the beer, definitely not the hemp seed.  A bitter, dirty orange peel is the best way to describe it.  

I guess the novelty is there for someone who wants to give it a try.  I saw mixed reviews on Beer Advocate and Rate Beer tonight as I was making sure I was tasting what I was supposed to taste.  Some people clearly loved it because it reminded them of something specific while others described it as skunky and really not that good.  I'd tend to lean, heavily mind you, towards the latter.  I'll try an IPA that has nearly anything in it, but the two that I got from the previous case club delivery will be all that I need to experience from this small vein of the IPA style.