Belt’s Beer Garden: Sky High

Mar 29, 2024

Mountains Walking hails from Bozeman, Montana and has been crafting up some amazing beers since 2017.

Founder and head brewer, Gustav Dose, has studied brewing around the world and takes a more open-range approach to brewing, with their website even saying “we don’t want to tightly control our beers. Instead, we’d rather give them a healthy measure of freedom. It’s exciting to see what happens when the fences are taken down.”

You’ll find a lot of different pale ales and IPAs on their draft list but they also have two 1000-gallon cypress barrels for mixed fermentation brews, create some decadent stouts and sours, and love to experiment as well.

Today I have one of those experiments, with their Sky Flowers - Citrus.

Sky Flowers is not your typical IPA…no, this is an INDICA Pale Ale, a cannabis-inspired hybrid pale ale that was hopped with Citra and experimental hop YCH638. Then, post fermentation, they infused it with terpenes from a literal strain of weed - Grapefruit Kush. Don’t worry, it won’t get you high and it’s legal in every state. It comes complete with a 5.5% ABV, 42 IBUs, and a price tag of $18 per four-pack.

It poured a slightly hazy straw color with about a finger of fluffy eggshell white head building up. The foam slowly fades down and leaves almost no lacing as it does so. A few clumps of bubbles cling to the side of the glass but it mostly remains clean.

My first sniff had me saying “whoa…”, as the beer certainly lived up to its billing. It reeked of dank weed and super juicy tropical fruits. Orange, passion fruit, pineapple, and guava mixed well with the cannabis notes from the Grapefruit Kush. It was light and juicy, dank and inviting…and I couldn’t wait to dive in.

I will say, even from 5-10 feet away, you could smell the dankness of Sky Flowers. It was *THAT* dank!

The sip begins with a super soft and creamy mouthfeel. But even with that creaminess, it was quite light and refreshing. There is a small fizzle of carbonation that buzzes underneath the flavors.

Bursting out of the gate are big juicy flavors of orange, grapefruit, and passion fruit. The tropical and citrus notes pounded my taste buds. After a brief moment or two, those pineapple qualities joined the delicious assault, bringing a slight acidity to it. But they were not alone, as a tart lemon also appears right around the midway point.

However, soon after those dank flavors begin to surface. It’s mostly in the guise of a slightly pithy grapefruit rind flavor but there are definite herbal characteristics as well.

There is a slightly bitter twinge towards the back-end but, overall, Sky Flowers remains light and crushable. The finish was super clean with just a tiny bit of cottonmouth building throughout the pint.

Sky Flowers was a phenomenal beer. One of my new favorites. If you like tropical and citrusy flavors (and dankness), this beer will rock your world. Light, crushable, delicious. Do not hesitate. Get this beer if you can.