Hemp Hop Rye - O'Fallon Brewery, O'Fallon

I won this "Sample Only" bomber of O'Fallon Hemp Hop Rye at an O'Fallon event last month and have waited patiently to crack it open. I knew very little about this beer prior to prying the cap off. At the O'Fallon event I was told that this beer will be the new flagship brew that will start rolling off of the specialty bomber line in O'Fallon for distribution this spring. This beer starts life as a Rye beer that has toasted hemp seeds added during the brewing process. It sounds like a novelty beer, and O'Fallon has been lackluster in the past, so I was anxious to test this new flagship bomber....

The Hemp Hop Rye is, basically, just another Rye beer at first. You'll notice that dry grainy scent and flavor, paired with bitter hops for a little bite. The hemp component is quite subtle. I'm not an expert on what toasted hemp seeds taste like so I had some difficultly finding their flavor. What I finally attributed to the hemp seeds is the rich earthiness of this beer. It's not overpowering but it is rich in the sense that it isn't fleeting. This Rye has all of the standard flavor and texture of any other Rye beer, but it has just a little extra flavor on top.

Is it enough to set it apart from the crowd? Not really, this was a pretty solid Rye beer with a flavor exactly like what I was expecting but without the wow factor of toasted hemp seeds... If you're going to add something different to your beer there should be a more tangible (tastible) result. The O'Fallon Hemp Hop Rye lacks that in some regard, but it isn't a failure by any means. If you're looking for a solid Rye beer that doesn't rock the boat too much, I'd suggest trying the Hemp Hop Rye.