The next big thing in hoppy beer is here. Say hello to The Hemperor HPA. New Belgium Brew-ing’s new year-round release off ers a mystical marriage of hops and hemp that fi lls the senses with a ground-breaking blend of herbal olfactory like no other beer on the market.
“Let’s face it, brewers have been trying to get cannabis-like aromas from hops for years, but it’s always missing a certain something,” said Ross Koenigs, New Belgium’s Research and Development Brewer. “The Hemperor HPA is pos-sibly the fi rst beer to deliver meaningful hemp fl avors and aromas.”
The Hemperor HPA showcases the game-chang-ing union of hops and hemp, plants genetically related that produce similar organic aromatic compounds known as terpenes. This ale is brewed with hemp hearts (the meat of the seed, minus the shell) and dry-hopped with Simcoe and experimental HBC 522 hops to create a dank, pungent hop aroma balanced by a sweet, mildly bitter fi nish. Federal law prohibits brewers from using hemp leaf and fl ower, so New Belgium brewers found a creative solution using other natural plant materials that perfectly emulate those hemp terpenes. The Hemperor HPA contains no THC or CBD.
“This beer has been over two years in the making, most of the time spent learning and reacting to laws that really suppress this crop’s usage,” Koenigs said of the beer that is currently banned in Kansas. “Flavor-wise, this is the beer we wanted to make, but due to misinformed laws governing the use of industrial hemp, we had to take a creative and long-winding road to get to this point. We’re happy with where we landed, and we’ll be working to change federal regulation so that one day we can brew The Hemperor HPA with hemp fl owers and leaves as we originally envisioned.”
The Hemperor™ HPA®
Malts: Pale, White Wheat and Midnight Wheat Hops: Nugget, Cascade, HBC 522 and Simcoe Yeast: Ale
Color: Light golden
Aroma: Herbal cannabis in a big way
ABV: 7%
IBU: 55
Special ingredients: Hemp hearts and natural fl avor
