Craft beer legends Young Henrys have joined forces with Byron Bay clothing label Afends to brew one of Australia’s first legal hemp beers, and the first to use brand new water soluble hemp oil technology.
For many people, hemp is little more than a cannabis variety which is utilised in manufacturing a number of products, including clothing, food, and building materials. But now, it’s set to be the latest addition to your Friday afternoon drinks, with Young Henrys recently releasing one of Australia’s first legal hemp beers.
With both Young Henrys and Afends sharing a desire to ensure sustainability and eco-friendly products are at the heart of what they do, the pairing was a natural one, and one that has resulted in a intriguing new addition to your local.
“It’s been a really fun and challenging road to releasing this beer…and 12 months since we first started experimenting with hemp in beer,” Young Henrys co-founder, Oscar McMahon. “We’re stoked to be sharing a brand new way of using hemp in beer that tastes bloody incredible.”
“Neither Afends or Young Henrys claim to have all the answers. We’re like-minded souls from different games who see that things should be and could be different…in both our industries and in the world in general.”
“We wanted to shine a light on the positivity of hemp as a health food, as a textile, as a building material and as a beer ingredient,” he continued.
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“We have made this beer together with the help of some incredibly intelligent heavy hitters from the hemp and science world to show there is more substance to this concept than just some middle finger rebellion.”
“If we can get a few more people interested in hemp, its uses and products and start more people questioning why this incredible plant is not more widely used in our society, then this beer will be a success. Question everything. Serve the people.”
Of course, even the artwork of the beer’s label is a tongue-in-cheek attempt to get the public to question everything.
With Aussie law stipulating that any label on a hemp product cannot reference anything except the seed of the hemp plant, artist Marcus Dixon drafted a rather playful label that references the constant battle of regulatory red tape the folks at Young Henrys and Afends had to undergo to bring this exciting product to the people.
The Hemp IPA features a blend of crushable hemp and hops, resulting in a “big sticky number” that features intriguing aromas of citrus, tropical and stone fruits. Biscuit and toasted bread flavours are said to bring balance to the resinous vegetal notes from hemp oil and hop hash.
With Daniel Schultz of Halcyon BioScience spearheading the hemp oil side of things, he managed to help create a water soluble hemp oil that uses 100% natural water soluble technology
“The organic hemp oil used to make this hemp beer has retained all the goodness and character of hemp thanks to an innovative natural process that allows it to instantly dissolve into beer or other beverages, without any chemicals or heat,” Schultz explains.
The water soluble hemp seed oil is added during the period of ‘dry hopping’, which is when hops are added after fermentation to give the beer its powerful aromas and flavours. At the same time, Hop Hash – a by-product of the pelletizing process – is also thrown into the mix, turning the Hemp IPA into one of the more sustainable brews out there.
If you’re keen on giving the new Young Henrys & Afends Hemp IPA a try, it will be available on tap and in cans from selected venues and retailers around the country from October 24th.
