Homegrown Hemp Ale
C'est What Durham Brewing Company

Beer Geek Stats | Print Shelf Talker
From:
C'est What Durham Brewing Company
 
Ontario, Canada
Style:
Herb and Spice Beer
ABV:
5%
Score:
81
Avg:
3.44 | pDev: 12.79%
Reviews:
23
Ratings:
27
Status:
Active
Rated:
Sep 12, 2015
Added:
Apr 28, 2003
Wants:
  1
Gots:
  0
This cream ale-style brew has the nutty flavour of toasted hemp seeds.

21 IBU
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
 
Rated: 4.14 by beerdrinkr from Canada (ON)

Sep 12, 2015
 
Rated: 3 by Jotora from Canada (ON)

Jan 09, 2014
 
Rated: 2.25 by TheBeeraholic from Canada (ON)

Jun 16, 2013
 
Rated: 3 by PaFbird from Pennsylvania

Jun 13, 2013
Photo of kwjd
Reviewed by kwjd from Canada (ON)

2.87/5  rDev -16.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3
I had this beer a couple years ago as I was getting into beer and I just couldn't appreciate it at all. Well time to finally try it again. Had this on tap at C'est What. Pours a pale orange colour with a finger of head, nice lace down the glass. The smell is quite unusual, almost like grass and flowers, but not like hemp as much. Sweet flavour. Medium bodied carbonation. I'm still not a fan of this beer, but glad to try it again.
Jan 06, 2011
Photo of mooseisloose
Reviewed by mooseisloose from Florida

3.65/5  rDev +6.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Reviewed on 5/8/10 at C'est What. Arrived to me at my barstool (sans smokecloud) in an imperial pint with a very thin head. Colour is golden with a twinge of red. Not much smell to speak of but what there is is sweet like plums. Taste is along the sweet side, almost like plums and peaches with a hint of rhubarb pie. Really no bitterness to speak of. The sweetness builds a bit then fades into tangy clean finish. Mouthfeel has good carbonation and is enough to spark up the flavor if you know what I mean, but not overly so.
May 13, 2010
Photo of biboergosum
Reviewed by biboergosum from Canada (AB)

3.68/5  rDev +7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
This beer appears a slightly muddled medium golden colour, with a thin cap of wispy white head, and a small ring of lace bleeding onto the side of the glass. It smells faintly of sweet florals and hazelnut. The taste is sweet nutty malt, a bit of earthy pepper, and herbal, floral hops. The carbonation is on the low side, the body medium weight, and velvety, and it finishes sweet, soft, grassy, and herbal.

A nice inherently left of center ale.
Jan 30, 2010
Photo of MeisterBurger
Reviewed by MeisterBurger from Canada (ON)

3.2/5  rDev -7%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
I love it when friends leave beer in my fridge that I wouldn't have otherwise tried. Because even though this is brewed by one of Ontario's better breweries for C'est What, I can't help but think of it as little more than a novelty beer and I've passed it over countless times.

Anyway, pours a nice golden color with a tinge of green to it. The eggshell white head fades quickly leaving a film and then, in the end, there's nothing.

The aroma is sweet, like honey on lightly buttered toast, with notes of roasted nuts.

The taste is most unusual with almost a grassy butteriness to it. Has a very light fruity taste to it with a bright punchy finish that melts in your mouth before fading away slowly.

Mouthfeel is light and creamy.

A very light and refreshing beer and not a bad one, certainly something a little different, but really nothing I'd come back to unless my other options were incredibly thin on the ground.

I imagine the LCBO moves this product more because of the hemp connection than because anyone considers it a truly great beer.
Dec 01, 2009
Photo of mrmanning
Reviewed by mrmanning from Canada (ON)

3.15/5  rDev -8.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
On draught- Poured a medium amber/gold with an average one finger of white foam. In the nose, candied malts and fruits with a bit of earthy nuttiness. Tastes like sweet dried dark fruit and also quite earthy with a shard hop bite leading to the finish. Not too bad really.
Nov 16, 2009
Photo of IBUnit63
Reviewed by IBUnit63 from Massachusetts

3.55/5  rDev +3.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Snagged a 6 of this on our way into town at the Beer Store on Bathurst south of College. Something to have in the hotel; poured into one of those crappy hotel glasses (of course).

Well, it shows a decent, clean body of a blonde-ish color. Solid finger of head with moderate retention and carbonation.

Scent does show off a little of the weird hemp deal. It also adds some good hop pininess. Malts are very light and lightly roasted. Good for a lager regardless of categorization here.

Shows a decent amount of robust flavor for a standard lager. Bouncy in its step; the raw-ish malts and the hop pine give it solid backbone without weighing it down.

For the decent level of flavor this keeps it crisp. Cleanliness persists on the finish.

Maybe it's not something I'll fall all over myself to pick up, but it works in a pinch. Decent stuff for style.
Aug 22, 2009
Photo of Genry
Reviewed by Genry from New York

3.77/5  rDev +9.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Decent pour from the 341 bottle into a glass mug, bit of a flat head, lots of bubbling. Head dissipates fairly quickly, leaving no lace. Golden in appearance, but with little tone besides that.

Smells like honey, caramel, with a bit of spice.

Taste comes thick with honey and hemp, but the sweetness is set off by bitterness from the malt. Crisp and light, and still manages to stay complicated - but in a good way.

Mouthfeel is light, smooth, and comes with some carbonation.

Drinkability? Good, but not the best. An interesting ale though, and I found the unique taste enjoyable. Will have again.
May 10, 2009
Photo of bobsy
Reviewed by bobsy from Canada (ON)

3.72/5  rDev +8.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Light gold pour with a frothy white head which says hello before leaving a film behind. Fruity, floral smell with nuttiness present. The initial taste is of sweet fruit malts and light floral hopping, but this soon transitions, and the nuttiness becomes more apparent in a surprisingly creamy finish. The body is a little lighter than I prefer, but the creamy flavours of the finish seem to obscure this somewhat. Despite this, I find the beer a little too light to last any substantial time, so it is both eminently drinkable yet at the same time probably not the best candidate.
Apr 25, 2008
Photo of iceball585
Reviewed by iceball585 from New York

4.25/5  rDev +23.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
A- Golden yellow color, semi-clear, thin white head that lowered to a thin ring around the glass

S- Caramel malts, sweet, earthy, honey, light fruity smell

T- Herbs (mostly hemp), fruity, light spices, sugary, toasted malts

M- Medium body, medium carbonation, smooth, very light herbal feeling

D- Worth buying again (the next time someone goes to Canada)

I wish this beer was more available in my area because I found it very interesting... and good. This beer has a surprisingly original flavor and auroma.
Mar 26, 2008
Photo of sulldaddy
Reviewed by sulldaddy from Connecticut

3.93/5  rDev +14.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5
This was the second beer I sampled while visiting the pub. The beer is 330 cl and arrives cold with a clear copper hue and minimal bleached white head that fades quickly to nothin. Aroma is grainy and husky malt with herbal and grassy hops mixingin in. Overall the nose is fairly mild. First sip reveals an average body and fine yet fizzy carbonation.
Flavor is crisp with caramel and toffee giving way to some general tangy sweetness and finishes with earthy and grassy notes, hops or hemp? Not sure. A nice clean easy drinking beer.
Sep 02, 2007
Photo of woodychandler
Reviewed by woodychandler from Pennsylvania

3.95/5  rDev +14.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Green, sticky, fired up nicely. No, wait! That was something else entirely in a totally different setting. Let me start over.

It arrived with a big, white head that had absolutely no retention. The color was a deep-gold/light amber and the nose was malty, but not exactly sweet. More toasty than sweet. The mouthfeel was light with a toasty, biscuity flavor on the palate. The finish had an unexpected sweetness to it. It was light and refreshing and definitely worth trying once. Say, what did they use to brew that beer, anyway?
Aug 24, 2006
Photo of gbarron
Reviewed by gbarron from Georgia

3.35/5  rDev -2.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
On tap, served in a full imperial pint glass.

A - medium amber, caramel colored. Perfectly clear with a slightly off white head of tight bubbles. Leaves good lacing and good retention.

S - sweet malt aroma with a mix of lemongrass, herbs and hard-to-place spice. Hops not really identifiable from the aroma. Some citrus.

T - very unique flavor. Best way to describe it is tangy and I assume this is from the hemp. Tart, tangy sweetness is predominant. Some grassy, herbal flavors. Malt is there but in the background, same with your common hop flavors of citrus. Weird twang here, not loving it.

M - average body, a tad chewy. Carbonation is average. Sweet finish.

D - Did not love the hemp flavors in this beer, which were extremely strong, but if that's your thing, then this is the beer for you.
Aug 21, 2006
Photo of Viggo
Reviewed by Viggo from Canada (ON)

3.07/5  rDev -10.8%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5
Pours a clear golden/amber, tiny white head forms, goes real fast, no lace. Smell is sweet and malty, some citrus/floral notes, little bit of caramel. Taste is sweet up front, decent malt though the middle, some floral/citrus at the end, very low bitterness, but a clean finish. Mouthfeel is light bodied with low carbonation. Decent for the summer, refreshing, but pretty unremarkable.
Jul 16, 2006
Photo of assurbanipaul
Reviewed by assurbanipaul from Texas

3.55/5  rDev +3.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
Pours a light copper color with a medium head. Strong, very distinct aroma that I can only describe as potpourri with orange rind and dry dog food.

Taste is sweet and very grassy, even "grassy" (if you know what I mean). Hemp flavor is quite distinct and identifiable. Unlike any other flavors I know, incomparable to any hops flavors, no other way to describe it other than it tastes like weed with a little toasty malt.

Mouthfeel is soft and clean, otherwise presents itself as a typical cream ale. An oddity that actually works, I could have a few of these.
Jun 22, 2006
Photo of biegaman
Reviewed by biegaman from Canada (ON)

3.46/5  rDev +0.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4
Poured off tap, on location at C'est What in the beautiful downtown Toronto. This is one I've put off for some time because I didn't expect much from the brewpub nor the style, however my expectations were well surpassed. Beer came in a completely transparent, shiney light copper colour; did not seem maleable and it did not lack any lustre (to make use of my grade 7 Science finally) But honestly, an actually quite attractive appearence. A lot of aroma really. Very spicy hops in the smell. Mouthfeel is great of tap, smooth and creamy. Quenching flavour, but certainly a good deal of taste. Hot damn, I like this alot. There is a peppery spicyness, wow. Impressed with flavour. Very. I don't know how well this would boad in the bottle, but off tap, along side my dinner - this was just the thing.
May 24, 2006
Photo of CAMRAhardliner
Reviewed by CAMRAhardliner from Canada (ON)

3.5/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
On the 6 pack box 'Although hemp grows like a weed, the nuttiness is limited to the taste so dont inhale just enjoy.' This beer is contract brewed by Durham and is described as a cream ale.

It pours a gold color with brass tones. The head is unimpressive and leaves small amounts of lace. The aroma is spicey with some wet grass cuttings and even lactic notes. The taste is also spicey with ginger and musty pumpernickel notes. Hops are light, this is a different kind of spicyness. Though Ive never tasted hemp, Im sure thats whats imparting these flavors. Malt flavors are light. The mouthfeel is rather full with an almost fibrous character and low carbonation. The finish is Herbal and gingery.

This is a decent beer with a unique flavor. Its more assertive than I was expecting. Pretty good, Though it could have more malt and hop character.
Nov 28, 2005
Homegrown Hemp Ale from C'est What Durham Brewing Company
Beer rating: 81 out of 100 with 27 ratings