Americas Hemp Ale

Poured from one of their growlers, day after purchasing. Poured a rusty color with very little head, beer was clear. A unique faintly smokey, salty sweet aroma. The taste too was different, somethign approaching smoke with a bitter body and a clean mild finish. A very dry, not intensely flavorful beer. Somewhat oily in the mouth. Interesting, but not exceptional.

Now this is different! The story behind how it was brewed is most interesting. This is another niche beer that one needs to sample. Nice color, nice malt taste, a little on the bitter side, but that’s OK. While I’m not a hemp ale person, this was still PDG (pretty darn good!)

An interesting drink, now called Hemp Stoned Ale because, besides the sterilized hemp seeds, they toss a 1000F granite rock into the mix. This all produces and oddly bitter aroma, somewhat nutty and grassy, somewhat mineral-like. Its haloed yellow/amber body neither adds to nor detracts from the brew. The flavor is a sweet malt that tastes like it was burned rather than roasted. Add to that some bitter almonds, some weeds, and a handful of dirty pebbles, and you have an idea what this tastes like. Not as good as it is interesting. A fun kind of a drink.

<font size=-4><a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp?PlaceID=3856>America’s Brewpub, Aurora, IL<font size=-1>

Mostly translucent gold with a thin foamy off-white head. Odd f’ing aroma that intrigues me - hair braids, hemp bracelets, sweaty shirts and bitter hops. Much creamier than expected. Part cream ale, part hippie. Ropes, crème de cocoa, evaporated milk, vanilla and dandelions. Carbonation is lacking and it’s a touch sweet, but points for originality.

served in tall pilsner glass. nice browinsh pale color. tastes maltiness at first with just enough balance at the finish also some nuttiness that the menu attributes to the hemp as well as some carmel. not very bitter. quite good. i definately recommend this one.

Had this on draught in Aurora, Illinois. Dissapointment might be the word I would use to describe it, if it weren't such a good beer, which it is. Thick head, pale golden color, effervescent. I detected nothing resembling marijuana in this beer.

Sampled at Great Taste of the Midwest '03. No aroma to speak of. No hemp or marijuana aroma at all. Yellow with white head. Not spectacular in appearance. Bland ale. Hints of apple or pear. There's nothing about this beer that suggests anything resembling hemp.

On tap, GABF 02: Hazy orange color, sweet/sour malt aroma, stale veggie note that I’m assuming is the hemp. I still haven’t meet a hemp beer that I really liked.