Why choose between cannabis and beer when you can have both? At the Canadian Brewing Awards in Halifax, brewers from all over Canada gathered to show off their best brews, but one in particular stood out, and it doesn't even exist yet.
Expert brewers know that to get a good kick out of beer, the key ingredient is hops, but hops are relatives of the marijuana plant, so why not use it to brew beer if cannabis is going to get legalized in the country anyway?
One company in Toronto is currently developing a type of beer that, instead of hops, will contain cannabis. Surprisingly, it will be non-alcoholic.
"Cannabis is by far a safer and healthier alternative to alcohol, and this is the first time in any of our lifetimes that we're able to bring a product like that to market," says Dooma Wendschuh, CEO of Province Brands of Canada.
A Beer Made From Marijuana
The cannabis beer will contain a small amount of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC — just 6.5 milligrams. Wendschuh says the ultimate goal is to make a product that can't get a person drunk more than a beer could, something that would feel familiar to those who've already drank beer in the past. Also, creating something close to actual beer would make it easier to regulate, but all this would require extensive development and research. Right now, the initial goal is to create a cannabis-based drink that will affect the consumer and leave their system in a similar amount of time as alcohol would.
In this undertaking, one of the biggest hurdles is the amount of time it takes for cannabis to kick in. As such, the company is trying various accelerants to speed up the cannabis beer's "kick."
Two Types Of Cannabis Beer
The company is developing two variations of the cannabis beer: the first is the non-alcoholic one already mentioned, and the second is a beer that's completely made out of cannabis through an entirely new brewing process. More than anything, Wendschuh is most excited about the latter.
"If we can create something that is a true alternative to alcohol, you know, that could change the world in so many ways ... to make that kind of change and to create something that could be healthier and safer but still convey a lot of the benefits of psychoactives," he said.
Canada's federal government is expected to legalize consumable marijuana next year, and that's when Province Brands plans to launch its cannabis beer. The company is also opening a brewing facility soon to work on the product further.
What do you think would cannabis beer taste like? As always, feel free to speculate in the comments section below!
