Brewery Web site: http://www.flatrate.net.au/~hempbeer/hemp/home/hemp.html
Fonated by: Our Australian friend Sheldon
About brewery
Burkes Brewing Company is small independent brewery from Australia. Managing Director (and head brewer ? ) is Ben Burke. He is also The Man behind this strange beer. Other people working in the brewery are Jen Burke (wife ? ) as Company Secretary and Garry Wheelhouse as Marketing Director. Brewery do not brew anything else than Burkes Hemp Filtered Premium Ale. Beer is distributed by Coopers Brewery Ltd.
History
In November 1996 Ben Burke (former winetaster etc) got strange idea to make total different beer. He saw TV document called Million Dollar Crop and Klik! He got idea making hemp filters and use them in beer brewing. In October 1996 small local brewery made some prototypes of new kind of beer. It was a success. Burke contacted Coopers Brewery Ltd and they liked the beers and promised to distribute it.
Future
Ben Burke is trying to develop other hemp things to different food beverages.
Brewing Process
Brewing this strange beer is just normal (for lager). Finest ingrements etc used… blah blah! (I wonder is there ANY beer where is used worst ingrements only. If so please send picture of label to Link: , please!). Some hops are added and beer filtered using HEMP FILTERS made by CUNO Filtration Systems. Yes, they say its legal! Same kind of filtering is used in Finland when making Sahti (I think!) . (but not with hemp!)
Beer tasting
Bottle we got from our Australian frield Sheldon was half empty, because of bad transportation, so we could not taste it properly. We tasted only taste of moonshine! We wait comments from other beer tasters. (comment by RTP Maki)
I remember it being "quite good on the first few sips, very clean and unique, funny sort of grassy/wheaty bitterness, but I got tired of the taste by the third or fourth stubby, like it was becoming too bitter or soapy or something". So I dont think tts not amazing, but its okay. I would probably buy six-packs, not cases, of Hemp beer. (Comment by Sheldon)