High Harvest Hemp IPA
Wild Rose Brewery & Taproom

 

 

 

Appearance is very hazy almost murky, bubbly and lemon yellow in color with some lumps of sediment, pouring with three fingers of white rocky looking head that has an amazing retention to it that leaves a quilt-like patchwork of lacing.

Good amount of aroma to it tropical citrus zest, floral hop notes and hints of lychee on the back-end. Juicy with a lot of orange flavor forward with both the juice and the bitter pith flavor expressed as well as light hints of an exotic, tropical flavor of lychee, guava and pineapple.

Body is medium/ light with a highish carbonation present though it still has a smooth almost creamy mouthfeel, medium sweet bready malt with oatmeal hints to it and faint spicy note a little like a rye.

Nice hop finish, faintly dryish astringency and mildly bitter with a lightly weedy hop flavor to it, but with much more floral hop notes to it then I was expecting, giving me a vague impression of geraniums that lingers on the aftertaste.

Much better then the gimmicky hemp IPA I expected, complex but easily approachable, actually lands fairly close to a NEIPA in my opinion .

This brew won the best IPA award at the Alberta beer awards this year. A bit strange considering they don't even market it as a proper IPA (rather, a "strong pale ale"), but so be it.

This was a pretty successful seasonal of theirs a while back, so they released it full-time in their standard packaging. Makes sense, as this is objectively a very good beer. The smell and taste are exceptionally fruit forward, probably due to the hemp used in the brewing process. The bitterness is toned down a knotch from their mainstay IPA, and honestly I feel they'd have had even more success if they marketed this as a NEIPA, as this was launched back when NEIPAs were the big meme beer style among Alberta brewers.

Nice smooth feel in the mouth, and remarkably sessionable for the 6% ABV tag. Again - echoes of NEIPA. Definitely a solid introduction to their core lineup.

 

 

 

A- Pours a muddied golden color from the troubled waters of the Bow River! The head is soapy, three fingers thick and with decent retention....it is off white in color with citrus juice hues lingering in the bubbles themselves. The carbonation looks to be aggressive in nature, albeit a little difficult to see, while the lacing is quite nice too....a medley of artwork clings all around the inside of my glass. A well to do looking brew!

S- Plenty of citrus zest and juicy bitter hops instill their character upon my nostrils, with lots of underlying tones of dry grass, dusty grain, unmalted barley kernels, hemp and a real 'direct from the farm' quality overall. To help balance things out, I am getting some sweet caramel malts, and some smooth bready yeast. I like the smell of this!

T- The flavors follow suit, but when it comes to the fruit, the citrus, which is definitely there (orange, grapefruit, lemon), is complimented by some tropical flavors as well (pineapple?, mango)....none of it is overpowering in the sense of one flavor over the other, but like a fruit punch! A sweet malt profile is balanced out well by bittering fresh hop cones and some dryness on the finish.....grassy would be the best descriptive.

M/O- Creamy medium body and the carbonation is rather smooth. I am slowly coming around on IPAs and I appreciate the character of the citrus blended with the caramel/bready sweetness of the malt. The drinkability I feel is good, but not great.....wouldn't want to be burping up this hop/hemp flavor all night. Overall a decent brew and I would drink again!

 

 

 

First batch they canned is over carbed.

473ml can

Appearance - Pours a hazy apricot with four fingers of foamy white head.

Smell - citrus and tropical hops, orange, pineapple, mango, passionfruit, bready malts, and earthy yeast.

Taste - Very fruit forward with the citrus and tropical hops and notes of orange, pineapple, mango, and passionfruit. The bready malts and earthy yeast help to finish the brew off.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Finishes off-dry with a lingering bitterness.

Overall - A tasty IPA that demonstrates the quality of this long time Cowtown brewery is made of. This is up there with as one of their best beers. This brew definitely reminds me of summer. A true stand out of a beer.

 

 

Easily the best effort from Wild Rose in a long time. Hazy, juicy, and full of nice citrus flavors. My palate lacks the ability to determine what, if any, benefits the hemp adds to the mix. Nonetheless, this is a dandy addition to the Alberta IPA scene.

 

650ml bomber poured into tulip 18/4/17

A murky as can be looks like OJ with some bubbles, thumbs width of loose foam falls fairly fast but manages to leave plenty of random lace

S juicy tropical notes sweet orange, lemon, guava, over ripe pineapple and mango, some spruce and yes there's some dank notes in there not sure what hemp flours doing but there's some earthy herbal notes hiding in there too

T slightly more spruce and some lemon rind, but most of the juicy tropical notes are still there, still dank, still solid

M medium weight, softens up quickly, nice bitter bite, a little grit, guava and pine linger

O I really liked this one start to finish, well rounded, fresh as can be, if your within the distro for this stuff don't miss out

This beers so fresh its from the future, a 4-20 bottling date and its only the 18th today? I don't think I've smoked enough dope recently to lose a couple days, or have I?..........