(Submitted Photo/Rebellion Brewing)

By Mat Barrett

Hoppy Pollinator

‘The best honey in the province’: Rebellion Brewery latest seasonal highlighted by honey from Tisdale

Apr 6, 2020 | 2:00 PM

Rebellion Brewing in Regina has released a new batch of beer, and it features some local ingredients.

“Hoppy Pollinator” is the latest seasonal batch created by the brewery and one of it’s main ingredients is over 1,200 pounds of honey from Tisdale. Rebellion President Mark Heise said they’ve been using honey from Tisdale for a few years now, and they had a few extra barrells around, leading to the creation of Hoppy Pollinator.

“We finally told the brewers, figure out a recipe and let’s giv’er,” Heise said.

The honey used in the beer is from Riou Apiaries, and Heise said they like to shine a light on the things being done around the province and using local ingredients.

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“The best honey from the province is coming out of Tisdale,” Heise told northeastNOW. “So, that’s where we go to, we always want to use the best product we can get our hands on.”

Another product that people may know from Rebellion that also features some Tisdale honey is the “Prairie Cherry Mead”, which also features sour cherries from Lumsden, Sask. Heise said it’s not something that continues to be made, but it may still be hanging around on shelves.

Hoppy Pollinator is a 14 per cent alcohol by volume beer and Heise said the alcohol “sneaks up on you.” It’s a very hoppy beer as well, but Heise said it’s not very noticable.

“I think of it as kind of like an orange marmalade, apricot marmalade, so big and rich,” he said. “I wouldn’t call it sweet either.”

He said with people in isolation, and practicing social distancing at this time, it’s a good time to try this beer. Heise said it’s not something to drink lots of on the patio like a light beer, but more like something you’d have while watching a movie or relaxing at home.

“I suppose you could drink it all yourself,” Heise said. “But if there’s someone you’re able to co-isolate with, it’s a good one to share as well.”

While Heise isn’t promoting hoarding, he said a beer with this type of alcohol volume, it does keep for a long time, similar to a wine. Only one batch of Hoppy Pollinator was made, but Heise said it should take some time for it all to be gone as they’re only selling them in single cans.

He said it’s a really unique beer and it’s tough to describe it for Heise, a person who has numerous certifications in beer related fields.

“I can’t recall any other one that tastes like this,” he said. “So I was a little worried about launching it because it was kind of weird, and there was no reference point, but I knew it was delicious.”

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mat.barrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6