136. SweetWater Brewing Company (Atlanta, GA) - 420 Strain G13

“This aromatic super-hybrid sticky IPA is first and foremost a phenomenally delicious and drinkable beer, with the added bonus of an olfactory experience that mimics that of the legendary G13 cannabis strain. The IPA base brew has a great body, good head and nice amount of haze at a pleasurable 6% ABV. To work with the malt bill, the brewers added some of their dankest hops, Columbus and Simcoe, plus two dry hop additions. To achieve the aroma, our brewers found the perfectly botanically-sourced, strain specific terpenes and married them with proprietary natural hemp flavor, both perfectly complementing the hops in the IPA.”

So, pot beer. I guess. Crisp and fruity up front, and then a slightly bitter finish with a hint of lemon. I don’t know what hemp is supposed to taste like, so that may be there and I just don’t know it. It doesn’t taste like pot—or at least it doesn’t taste like pot smells when you’re smoking it. I’m not sure that would be a good flavor for beer. The citrus is more pronounced on the second one, when the mug is slightly warmer. The finish is less bitter as it warms up, too. I like to read big, 1000-page novels sometimes for no other reason than that they are long and difficult; sometimes I like fiction to be challenging. I also like the flavors in beer to be complicated and challenging, and this one has a lot going on—some flavors are more prevalent when it’s really cold, and others stand out as the beer warms up. This is the most interesting beer I’ve tried in quite awhile.