The Jew is also a lover of all things India and Pale and is a willing guinea pig whenever I have something odd to try. She graciously provided this Imperial IPA from Green Flash in San Diego, Ca for us to share. I have to say I was a little worried when I saw this sitting in my fridge. I've only tried one other beer from Green Flash, their "West Coast IPA." My tastebuds are still recovering from that bitter nuclear bomb, so when I saw IMPERIAL on the bottle my PT(IPA)SD kicked in.
This poured out a hazy coppery color with a one finger fluffy white head on top. So far so good as being true to style. The first wiff brought pine(obviously) but there was something that neither I nor the Jew could identify. It was this earthy, sweet smell, familiar and I couldn't place it.
I took the first sip and was pleasantly surprised. Bitter, yes but balanced, my tastebuds breathed a collective sigh of relief. I'm not kidding I could actually hear them exhale. This beer was good and was not overkill for an imperial but that smell was still bugging me. I smelled again, and again, and again, and suddenly it came to me. Weed, this beer smelled like marijuana. Not smoked marijuana but fresh in the bag green. Weird smell, even weirder that I recognized it. Has anyone else ever gotten that aroma off of a beer? Am I crazy or is this a normal thing? Let me know in comments!
Hops is actually a not-too-distant cousin of marijuana. Both belong to the family Cannabinacea and are originally from Central Asia. The only real difference is that hops does not have the psychoactive ingredient that marijuana has. Although some believe that real big IPAs can give one a more mellow drunk feeling.
ReplyDeleteSome beers can smell quite strongly of weed, especially if it has been slightly skunked. The sulfuric smells associated with "skunk weed" are precisely the same as the side effect of UV light on isomerized alpha acids.
The link to Cannabis makes a lot of sense. Thank you for the great insight! I've had a LOT of IPA's and this was the first one that I've really recognized that smell in. I've had some skunked beer too and this didn't seem to be the same. Learn something new every day! Thanks again.
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