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This beer, which is banned in Kansas, smells just like weed

Aroma is one of the key components of any beer, but one whiff of a new release from New Belgium Brewing Co. and you might get contact high. Or at least, you may think you could.

The Hemperor HPA, which is now available in Texas, is a pale ale brewed with hemp hearts then dry-hopped with Simcoe hops and an experimental variety known as HBC 522. That combination produces an unmistakable smell -- you know the one -- like walking through a music festival or downtown Denver on April 20. (If you don't, maybe you'd liken it to a skunk or burnt popcorn.) My bartender was very proud to point that out recently when I purchased a pint.

Both hemp and hops are part of the cannabaceae plant family, which also includes marijuana. That's why cannabis (for clarity, that refers to both hemp and marijuana plants) has long been an attractive ingredient for beer brewing. Federal laws, however, have made it difficult to use.

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Dad and Dude's Breweria in Colorado, for example, had planned a nationwide roll out of its General Washington's Secret Stash IPA in 2017 after securing approval from the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. The beer is brewed with dried cannabidiol, or CBD, a derivative of hemp. But the brewery's plan went up in flames after the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency classified marijuana, hemp and all their derivatives as Schedule I substances and the TTB sequentially reversed its approval.

New Belgium skirted the law by utilizing hemp hearts, which do not contain CBD or tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive ingredient in weed otherwise known as THC.

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"This beer has been over two years in the making, most of the time spent learning and reacting to laws that really suppress this crop's usage," said Ross Koenigs, New Belgium's research and development brewer, in a statement. "Flavor-wise, this is the beer we wanted to make, but due to misinformed laws governing the use of industrial hemp, we had to take a creative and long-winding road to get to this point."

So, no, The Hemperor won't give you a case of the munchies, even if it smells like a burning joint and tastes tannic like resin. Luckily in Texas, it's 100 percent legal. (Find it on draft and in six-packs of 12-ounce bottles.)

In Kansas, it's a different story. The beer is banned there, says New Belgium.

"Because the beer had a trace of hemp in it, it is not allowed in Kansas, and the registration request was denied pursuant to an opinion issued by the Kansas Attorney General," said Rachel Whitten, spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Revenue, in an interview with The Cannabist.

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New Belgium is relying on a little help from its friends in the Lone Star State to help change the perception of hemp. The brewery has partnered with the Willie Nelson-founded GCH, Inc. to support a campaign called Hemp 4 Victory, which aims to reform regulation to include industrial hemp as a leading agricultural crop and dismantle the taboo surrounding it.

"Hemp has such a diverse set of benefits to the environment, to industry and to American farmers," said Micah Nelson, son of Willie Nelson, in a statement, echoing other industry experts and advocates. "This campaign will bring attention to the spectrum of products and businesses that will improve when industrial hemp is free to thrive in the U.S."

And since $1 from every barrel of The Hemperor sold will be donated to the campaign, you can stone two birds with one joint. Or rather, one beer.