New Belgium The Hemperor HPA
The World’s Dankest Ale
Get ready: an exciting new offering that’ll change the way you think about hoppy beers is coming your way. The brewers at New Belgium have created a new style of IPA: The Hemperor HPA. With the popularity of hoppy beers, our brewers are always on the lookout for different hop varieties and the complexities and flavors new strains can bring. That’s where hemp comes into the picture. Without getting too nerdy, we found a unique way to recreate hemp terpene flavors in a beer, which complement the inclusion of hop flavors and hemp hearts (seeds) in a brand new, delicious way—not to mention this beer is extremely dank! The flavors and aromas are so unique that it’s a style unto itself, hence HPA®.
Get ready: an exciting new offering that’ll change the way you think about hoppy beers is coming your way. The brewers at New Belgium have created a new style of IPA: The Hemperor HPA. With the popularity of hoppy beers, our brewers are always on the lookout for different hop varieties and the complexities and flavors new strains can bring. That’s where hemp comes into the picture. Without getting too nerdy, we found a unique way to recreate hemp terpene flavors in a beer, which complement the inclusion of hop flavors and hemp hearts (seeds) in a brand new, delicious way—not to mention this beer is extremely dank! The flavors and aromas are so unique that it’s a style unto itself, hence HPA®.
3.3
173 reviews
Fort Collins, United States
Community reviews
Smell of this alone makes high. Aftertaste is more like like a strong hard hoot from an old pipe. Golden pour with OK head and good lacing. Caramel. Clean finish. Not a huge sense of an IPA here, just a Colorado weed smell beer. Tap at yard House DC
Well it smells like pot, that’s about the only good thing it has going for it, and I’m still on the fence about that even being good for a beer aroma.
The fresh and bright hoppy flavor I was hoping for is mostly muddled by the hemp flavor.
If you’re a pothead, this is probably the best beer ever. All I get from this beer though is “dead skunk in the road”.
Friday 1st Feb 2019; 7th Pre-Brugge Bier Festival International Beer Swap, De Bierboom. This is one of the many bottles that landed on my table for me to try, it is OK to take a decent sized sample (within reason) because there are so many beers to share. Golden body, wispy white head. Yip, Dank hops do rule the roost in both the aroma and taste, musty cobwebs came to mind as I sniffed and sipped my sample. Different, but not really 'my cup of tea'. scored objectively.
Yes, it is dank. Not sweet. Not bitter. Brass color. Unique flavor that I will enjoy again.
Pours a light bronze color. No head. No carbonation. Boring.
Aroma is very strong in what I guess is hemp. That’s about it.
Taste is bittersweet. Tastes sort of like bitterweed. I guess that’s the hemp.
Mouthfeel is medium bodied. Dry. Meh.
Overall it’s boring, but not bad. Very one dimensional. Very different. I’m not sure if I would recommend it but I would buy it again.
Light Amber with small head and a funky smell. Not a bad smell just odd and different than most beers. Taste is kind of the same thing with some minor hints of some herbs and spice. It is an interesting brew but that's about it.
$2.50 Bottle from beer run. Pop the top - skunky pot aroma seeps out immediately, along with some citrus and pine. Flavor is pine, orange zest, resin, tobacco, paper, light smoke. Earthy. Woody... guess that's the hemp. Kinda nice.
Bought a 6pk from Rite Aid Hudson NH. Initial crack of the cap lets off an awful scent of "skunked." Very offputting. Taste was a pleasant surprise of hops that was exciting. No head on the pour, which was different from other IPA style beers.
Light was the color, but tastes heavy with lots of skunky hops in a strong malt base and really has a pungent aroma. Not what I was hoping for but it might be good if I had been in the mood for something complex after a mountain hike through a beechwood forest. Nah, it was good.
Interesting herbal aroma in a golden amber pour. Hop forward balance with a sweet woody body and sustained bitter finish. Nice for a change - but would only have once.
Pours a slightly hazy golden with a nice head. Aroma is very dank, hemp. Nice malt backbone and a decent mouthfeel. Some pine and more dankness in the flavor with some bitterness at the end, interesting change.
12oz bottle. Pour is an oddly dark orange with minimal head. Aroma is certainly different than your standard hop-forward beer. There are piney northwestern hops, but also a dull nuttiness that isn't part of the malt profile. In the mouth are where the hemp notes appear. Now I'm picking up the 'dank' and herbal notes. Otherwise standard body and mouthfeel of an IPA. Interesting and good on New Belgium for trying something new.
Random grab at a Mexican place no idea I’d be smelling the table of ganja. Murky not the prettiest pour. Nose is hemp heavy. Tastes of dank weed, light citrus, some florals, earth. Chewy palate some bitters. Ok and smelly.
A 12 oz bottle picked up at The Cellar in Odessa, TX, just right for a try. I lift it into a glass beer stein and see a medium yellow liquid with a rigorous white head. The scent, I have smelled dank before but this is the most refeerish ever, no complaint. I take a drink and get pine, field, a moderate hoppiness, lime and a small bitterness. Decent effort from a brewer I like.
Bottle. Pale gold with a white head with fair lacing. It has a dank aroma. Mildly bitter.
Tried this brew twice, and I know the seller. It was fresh off the truck and tasted skunked both times. I guess tying the brew to pot is a good way to get rid of old skunked beer, because people are falling for it, clearly. This is trash beer at a marked up price. Don't waste your money.
I had it a few months ago and now I can’t find it in any store and it’s all I want! Problem is I leave the country for an extended period of time. Good news is that it will probably be back on the shelf by the time I come back.
12 ounce bottle poured into a snifter. The beer is a clear gold with a white head of creamy foam. Strong marijuana and skunky aroma. Sweet and skunky taste. Lighter body and medium carbonation.
Hazy half orange and yellow with a small white head. Aroma is ganja hops and a touch of floral citrus. Taste is mildly sweet, mild citrus hops with dank overtones and medium bitterness. Active mouthfeel. Quite drinkable but nothing to write home about.
Not a fan of this brew. In a time when IPAs are going fruity and light, this dank turn is perhaps misplaced. Thick earthiness, not at all pleasant.
Draft. Pours gold with a white head. Mild hoppy base, some floral and hay-like notes, relatively mild bitterness, and a quick generic hoppy finish. Not bad.
12 oz bottle from Total Wine and More in Short Pump, VA The ale poured a clear amber color with a frothy white head and lacing. The aroma of hemp greets you yet not very strong. The taste has a stronger hemp rope like flavor. The hops seem to offer lemon peel and tropical fruit flavors. The ale has a medium body with average carbonation. Not sure this beer would ever be my "go to " ale. Could use more hop bitterness.
Looks nice. Aroma is lemon and grapefruit. Taste is mild bitterness. Texture is crisp. Interesting.
Sampled in a massive, multibeer taste test. Pours with a very sparse creamy head. Definite hemp aroma, and tastes of wet leather. I have no idea what hemp smells/tastes like, but others in our group said this tastes like liquid mary-joe. Nothing fancy to me.
Light amber pour, white head. Oh my does this smell like it's supposed to. Never really been a smoker but this matches the scent. Flavor is a mild pale ale.
Draft at Moo & Brew. Clear golden color white head. Earthy aroma. Sweet herbal taste lightly peppery. I tried four or five hemp beers on a recent trip through Central Europe and this is better than any of those.
Aroma is difficult to rate. I think it smells skunked but it’s probably supposed to. Not terribly off putting but I wouldn’t call it desirable typically.
Upon drinking though my slight distaste was set aside for a solidly drinkable beer. Not strong on hops, average really but still very good.
Bottle. Fairly clear. Dark gold color, white foamy head. Dissipates. Aroma is HUGE DANK. Very weed-like. Aroma filled the room as soon as the cap was popped. Floral leafy notes come through after the weed smell goes away. Plant-like flavor. Herbal. Weird.
This is an interesting one, yet I found it better than expected. Wouldn't quite call it an IPA. The base seemed like a lager, or a stronger beer that you would get at a stadium. But, add the hemp infusion and you have a twist with a flavor that works. Has a hazy goldish to medium orange appearance. Aroma of yeasty cannabis. Would recommend trying this at least once.
(Bottle) This...smells like weed. Uncannily like weed. Like the moment you take the cap off, it literally smells like someone is smoking some really dank weed right next to you...they passed it to you and you're about to take a hit. But instead you take a swig of this rather strange beer, and it might get you drunk, but it doesn't get you at all high. I find the aroma very pleasing...it's a very strong herbal aroma and it has that pleasant herbal smell of high-quality weed. Flavor is only moderately bitter, much less so than most IPA's, and I find the overall character is lighter and the finish cleaner. The alcohol content is well-masked; I would have guessed this at about 6%. I bought this out of curiosity but it was excellent and I would gladly buy it again. There are other beers that hint at the smell of weed but no one of them has gotten the aroma so spot-on as this one. That, and the fact that this beer is so well-balanced and pleasing to drink overall, makes this somewhat of a masterpiece in my book.