Been reading a little about new venues for tourism in Washington state and Colorado since they decided to legalize Marijuana for recreational use and it only makes sense to me that pretty soon we will see craft brews starting to pop up from that area brewed with cannabis.
Just wondering if anybody else has had any thoughts on this or, better yet, heard any rumors. I mean cannabis and hops are in the same family, right?
I wanna say I remember hearing some water cooler talk at work about a rumoured "bud-brew" a while back, something created in the nether regions of Amsterdam or some-such, but i don't have anything other than vague memories to back that up. Thoughts?
I have actually talked about weed additions to beer with the head brewer at Beau’s Brewery in Eastern Ontario.
Keep in mind, generally speaking weed around here is pretty easy to get, not too expensive, and not likely to get you into trouble.
Anyway, when I suggested trying to add a lb of fresh buds and see what happens he said the THC gets neutralized somehow - maybe by the boil. So whatever flavor it might add, you ain’t going to get the least bit high, and you might as well save it to smoke while you drink the beer.
Non THC cantaining Cannabis on the other hand should get you some sort of interesting flavor, but I have never actually tried a beer with it in. Wonder if the oils contained are in any way similar?
People make pot tea and cook with pot, so why would boiling in wort “neutralize” the THC? I would imagine that since the feds control part of the licensing of all breweries that even though the states have legalized pot a brewer isn’t going to risk their license, and federal prison time, to make a commercial pot beer.
If I had done this before :lol: I would have put ground herb as sort of a dry hop in the secondary. I also would have tried putting a teaspoon of kief in each bottle. And I would have liked to try adding a vegetable glycerin extract at some point.
THC is fat soluble and alcohol soluble. It’s NOT water soluble (which is why you can’t just eat it plain, and get high). It needs to be cooked into fat, or ground fine, and soaked into a high proof alcohol solution. I dont beleive boiling it in wort would work very well, otherwise im sure this would be common practice amoungst hippies. I think making a high proof alcohol tincture and adding it to the conditioning vessel would be the best method of adding THC to beer. Although I can’t imagine marijuana being a very good flavor in beer… Plus their might be some legal restrictions about mixing intoxicants like that.
I’m a Washington resident right now and do not indulge in pot. It would be very illegal to try this anywhere outside of this state or Colorado. Don’t try this at home, it would probably be gross anyway. So far the state hasn’t said or done much about the new laws. Maybe in a few years.
[quote=“S.Scoggin”]THC is fat soluble and alcohol soluble. It’s NOT water soluble (which is why you can’t just eat it plain, and get high). It needs to be cooked into fat, or ground fine, and soaked into a high proof alcohol solution.[/quote]Perhaps boiling it causes the THC to be broken down or it evaporates. But as already posted, “hippies” do indeed add THC to beer by dry-hopping with it and the results do indeed get said hippies high.
On a related note I knew a Janitor (who was even dirtier than a hippie) who added a pound of mushrooms to a wine kit. I had no interest in trying it myself, but the feedback was that it gets you really really high. Just FYI
I’ve heard the flavor profile changes a little and ya might get slightly more buzzed. I’ve known a few brewers who have done this. As a licensed healthcare practicioner, I must decline any tasting or participation. I’d be curious to try a sip if I were allowed.
There are hemp seed beers on the market. But the seeds don’t contain any THC. Plus they don’t contribute much flavor. So it’s more of a marketing thing
A friend of mine likes to unwind after work with just a single beer and a smoke. He’s been working with me on using his strain to make a really good IPA that’ll be duel purpose.
We’'re going to try soaking the herb in high proof vodka for a few days and adding that to the final conditioning stage. Apparently, it is crazy potent so tread lightly if you’re following this process. The THC utilization increases with alcohol content. So, if you’re dry-hopping with it, you won’t get as much out of it (which in my opinion is a good thing given my dislike for more than even a mild high).
To get back on track, though, I doubt very much that there will be any kind of marketed cannabis beer any time soon. The combination of those two forces would send the ATF into conniptions. The only way to do it, maybe, and the odds are small, would be to market it for medicinal purposes. But, given alcohol’s reputation for hurting the immune system, the odds are stacked against it.
I tried a beer in Madrid that was made with Cannabis…Aroma, flavor and taste were all there, beer was a 6.5 %, and I got a “decent” buzz from it…But that may have been cause it was a 22oz. beer, and I had it all for myself… :cheers:
