DON'T HAVE TO SMOKE IT !!!

A funny thing happened on the way to the liquor store.... I walked past the pot shop. Well, after I got to the liquor store, I saw a very unusual beer. And I thought I'd passed the local pot shop, but here was a beer that belonged there - I think. It is called The Hemporer, with an emperor on the label, a big pot bud on his head for a crown and a necklace of leaves. Fascinating, I thought. I needed to check this out.

I thought a thorough investigation was needed, so I bought a six-pack, just to be sure.
As you can see, they call it a HPA - a HempPaleAle. It's made by a brewery called New Belgium, a very respected craft brewer out of "Fort Collins, Colorado & Asheville, North Carolina. " Colorado, at least, is the land of the legal pot that you can, after all, get it in many shapes and flavors: candy, cookies, brownies ... why not beer? (Except for Kansas, where they outlawed The Hemporer)

As you can see, it says it's 100% employee owned. Which is very cool, although I know of no further information. This beer is described by them as "a new kind of beer blending hemp with hops for complete sensory domination." Legally, hops and pot can not be combined, but this hemp (which is a cousin of pot) has no active ingredient in it. It's worthwhile to watch their information on this:

!https://www.newbelgium.com/thehemperor?gclid=CjwKCAjwsJ3ZBRBJEiwAtuvtlG-1qBlAaNnHfywVKK1LqJ9ReM1lA-M4p8zVqPCigGpKEMZZlygCMxoC4mcQAvD_BwE

And now to the pour. Opening the bottle and pouring the beer made everyone agree that: it smelled like pot. As the glass sat on the table my wife would ask, "Is that still that pot beer?" and I'd say, "It's the hemp beer!" But, according to the above New Belgium info, it's "Dank" beer. It does pour a nice color of brownish/red with a small head and lite carbonation.

It tastes like a very solid pale ale with a hint of that "something else." You could taste slight carbonation and it felt smooth on the tongue. The first taste was very pleasant and smooth, then it kinda disappeared for a second before finishing strongly. It settled in very nicely.

I don't know where it disappeared to, but it consistently did. That's new to me. It is not a drink-all-day beer at 7 % alc, but it does go down smooth. Would I recommend it? Yeah. It's kinda unique, but also a solid ale besides. Give it a shot and live dangerously.

Cheers to all & all Hail #beersaturday