Hemp Beer? Hemp is Getting Attention Everywhere!

This article was taken from The Mansfield New Journal.

It's not often a beer makes me want a salad, but this new one did. The beer is Hemp Hop Rye, from O'Fallon Brewery. It was introduced in bottles this spring. I hadn't tried many O'Fallon beers, and the unusual ingredients caught my eye when I saw it on the shelf. So, I took a chance.

I've never seen a beer brewed with hemp seeds before, but it actually was the rye that made me pick this one up. Not long ago I tried Red's Rye PA from Founder's Brewing. I liked the dryness of the rye malts, the hint of whiskey flavors and the heavy levels of hops in that Founder's ale. I figured another rye beer might be a good thing.

And it was good, but on a completely different level.

O'Fallon bills this one as a "smooth and flavorful everyday beer that isn't overwhelming."

That sums it up accurately in my book. There is very little bitterness, and not much hoppiness. Cascade and Hallertau hops are used, but not at an intense level.

If you want a beer that goes all kung fu on your taste buds, this isn't it.

If you want a beer that tickles your taste buds, however, this might do it.

Let's start with the aroma. If you've ever been to an outdoor music festival or a rock concert, you know what marijuana smells like. I half expected the aroma of this brew to have some of that character, but it did not. It's a lightly scented beer that smells like beer, although perhaps a bit nutty.

I detected nothing in the flavor of this beer to remind me of that marijuana scent, either. The rye character was not as strong as I expected, but that left room for the hemp seeds to assert themselves. It ends up being a refreshing, subtle beer that would pair well with a light afternoon lunch, perhaps involving a fresh crisp salad with a lot of cucumber and some shrimp. The toasted hemp seeds add a pleasant, nutty flavor to this beer.

Hemp Hop Rye could be an everyday beer for some, although my everyday beers tend to be higher up on the boldness ladder. A drinker who likes a steady diet of smooth amber ales might find this one to be a nice change of pace.

About those hemp seeds: The connection with marijuana means O'Fallon brews this under close scrutiny. THC -- tetrahydrocannabinol --is the chemical in pot that makes smokers high. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that O'Fallon must submit samples of seeds to the federal government every time a new shipment comes in, to make sure there is no THC in the beer.

I certainly did not feel high after drinking mine, and at 5.5 percent alcohol by volume I didn't feel particularly buzzed, either. I did get a bit of the munchies, though -- if suddenly thinking, "This beer would be awesome with a fresh salad" counts as munchies.

Steve Goble is a copy editor and a beer snob. You can discuss beer on his blog at MansfieldNewsJournal.com/beer, or by following him on Twitter at Twitter.com/brewologist.