Flat Earth Hep Cat Review

Name: Flat Earth Hep Cat
Style: Blonde Ale
ABV: 4.5%

It's been just about a year since I've had anything from Flat Earth Brewing, which is based out of St. Paul, Minnesota. Since I've reviewed a good amount of their products, I decided to grab a new product of theirs that I spotted while I was down in the Cities for the State Fair a couple weeks ago.

I give you Hep Cat, Flat Earth's Session Blonde Ale. The term Hep Cat comes from the slang term used to describe Hipsters back in the 1960's & 70's. I also shouldn't be calling this "new" since it was first brewed for the St. Paul Jazz Festival a few years back. Since this is the first time I've seen it in bottles, I'm guessing it was popular enough to bring it into the form of a bottle.

Hep Cat pours a fairly dark yellow color with a bit of clarity to it but is otherwise pretty hazy. There's a fair amount of active carbonation inside of the glass. The head is pretty thin and white in appearance and there's a fair amount of lacing in here too.

The nose has a prominent pale maltiness to it, some yeastiness, flaked corn sweetness and a very light floral hoppiness. It smells pleasant to say the least!

The flavor starts out with notes of flaked corn, barley and mild yeastiness. On the back end of the flavor is a hoppy bitterness and pale malt sweetness. As expected though, the aftertaste is very dry.

The palate is light both in terms of body and carbonation. I feel pretty confident when I say that virtually no beer drinker should have trouble drinking this.

Hep Cat tells you upfront about being a good sessionable Blonde Ale and it delivers on that promise. I have to admit I wasn't expecting too much in terms of flavor but this was actually quite tasty. It's safe to say that even those who aren't into craft beer or even session ales will find something to love about Hep Cat.

Flat Earth Hep Cat - 8.5/10