It only makes sense that a classic California beer company would end up teaming up with cannabis company.
Last week, Lagunitas Brewing Company debuted their SuperCritical Ale, a beer brewed with terpenes, aromatic compounds of essential oils that are extracted from some plants, including cannabis and hops. “What we’re trying to focus on really has nothing to do with the drug component,” explains Lagunitas brewer Jeremy Marshall in a promotional video for the beer. “Instead what we’re interested in is a molecule known as a terpene.” Sixty barrels of the hoppy beer were produced and they do not contain THC, the chemical in marijuana that triggers a psychoactive effect.
The beer, which is only available in a few California locations, is part of a partnership between Lagunitas and cannabis-extract manufacturing facility, CannaCraft Inc., who provided the terpenes needed for the beer. In exchange, Lagunitas helped them develop new vaping products and obtain a beer-like aroma for a product of theirs that does include THC.
Lagunitas has been pro-marijuana for some time. One of their beers, the Undercover Investigation Shut-Down Ale, recognizes a 2005 raid by state Alcohol Beverage Control agents who sought out to arrest employees smoking pot at the beer company’s plant in Petaluma, CA. The raid happened on March 17, St. Patrick’s Day, when legend says that employees planned to smoke an eight-inch joint with the circumference of a dime. At the time, the brewery threw weekly open-house parties for employees and regulars at smoker-friendly 4:20 p.m. on Thursdays — and the raid occurred during their largest open-house yet.
They aren’t the first company to combine booze and weed. There are weed-infused wines on the market in California, like CannaWine. And Humboldt Distillery in Northern California has brewed batches of vodka infused with hemp. These partnerships are a sign of the times, as California gears up for the legalization of recreational marijuana use that kicks in on January 1, 2018.
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