The new brew is called Hop Hash.

Brewers decided to throw a sticky SweetWater signature on this hopped up concoction, promising to deliver the dankest double IPA around. After scraping the hop pelletizers clean in Yakima, WA, brewers used bricks of the pure hop lupulin – a very concentrated form of hop resin also known as hash – to cook up a brew that would deliver a pungent punch to the palate.

I’m intrigued by the idea.  It’s actually a bit odd to me that no one has thought of this kind of concentrated-resin approach, especially considering that hops belong to the, ahem, Cannabaceae family.  SweetWater is no stranger to the implied parallel, to be sure.

“It’s always fun to be able to experiment and offer something that’s truly unique,” said SweetWater Founder and Big Kahuna Freddy Bensch. “We’ve literally been toying with this concept since our days back in college. As IPAs continue to dominate, we’re excited to take the style to the next level using the dankest hop hash we could get our sticky fingers on!”

Emphasis mine.  We get it, Sweetwater. We get it.

Juvenile 420 humor aside, I’m still curious to see if this is a helpful brewing technique or a marketing gimmick.  The Southeast is still lacking in a true signature douple IPA, so all new entries are welcome at this point.