Rosa Hibiscus Ale - Revolution Brewing Company

    Rosa Hibiscus Ale is a Herbed/Spiced Beer brewed especially for summer by Revolution Brewing Company in Chicago, Illinois. The brewers brag that 12 pounds of hibiscus flowers are added to the brew as well as orange peel. This is one of the more unique brews I have ever seen.

    Rosa pours a beautiful pink-hued bronze, thanks to the flowers no doubt. A slightly pink head forms with good retention, though it settles down to a film after a while. There is some major lacing going on with this one!

    The beer's aroma is that of sweet, but light, bready malts. There is definitely a flowery scent to the ale, and an almost wine-like tartness. This is already seeming like a great summertime ale!

    The beer is light to medium bodied, though a high level of carbonation fills out the mouthfeel to keep the ale away from the watery side. The carbonation feel like much smaller bubbles than usual, and what results is a light and refreshing drink. Revolution's summer ale has an alcohol content of 5.8% ABV, so it won't slow you down too much out there in the heat!

Lucky bees!

    Rosa Hibiscus Ale's flavor is light and sweet. In the beer's aroma, the malt was in front of the flowers. The opposite is true for the beer's flavor. The flowers give a mix of fruit (grape, raspberry) and vegetable flavors to the beer, while the sweet malts keep things bright and summery. Just as it smelled, the beer tastes somewhat tart. There is just a slight bit of orange peel flavor at the very end of each drink.

    Ok, I think Revolution is up to something with this beer. I've never had a beer that tastes so much like a summertime flower garden. In fact, the beer kind of reminds me of nectar. So much so that I'm slightly curious if Revolution Brewery is secretly growing Beer Hibiscups in some hidden field somewhere and harvesting the plants' sweet, sweet nectar and canning it. That would explain why Rosa only comes out in late spring every year. I say we find this field, and take a few..."transplants" for ourselves!

    Rosa Hibiscus Ale is a summery flower garden in a glass. The only thing keeping this ale from being my favorite summer drinking beer is the tartness, as it gets cloying after a while and I don't really want to follow one Rosa up with another. Still, this brew is truly one of the most unique beers I have tried, and is definitely worth sipping if you can find it in your area!

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