New Belgium Brewing Company’s The Hemperor HPA
Ever take a sip of pungent IPA and think, “hey, that smells like weed?” Well, the nose is an observant instrument. Turns out hops have a high concentration of something called terpenes, fragrant oils produced by plants and herbs which give them their distinct aroma. The terpenes in hops are very similar and complementary to those of the cannabis plant, making them kissing cousins for beer enthusiasts.
“As it happens, they are two of the most closely related plants in the family Cannabaceae genetically,” says Elan Walsky, co-owner and co-founder of Coalition Brewing in Portland, one of the few breweries blazing the trail in the field of terpene mixology.
“What that means is they’re producing a lot of the same flavor and aromatic compounds,” adds Walsky.
So cannabis and hops are not only in the same family, they’re practically siblings.
Combine this botanical knowledge bomb with the recent legalization of cannabis in several states (including California), emerging scientific evidence of medicinal benefits to cannabidiol (aka CBD oil), plus the craft beer boom, and a healthy, thriving relationship between buds and suds seems like a no brainer.
So why is there only a small handful of breweries exploring what seems like such a natural relationship? The answer is far from simple but makes a lot of sense from a business perspective. Basically, it’s legally risky to use anything cannabis related in making beer, even if there’s no trace of THC.
Although some of the states have made it legal to grow, distribute and purchase both medicinal and recreational cannabis, the federal regulatory system is a different story. Not only is THC classified as a controlled substance, but rules surrounding extracts such as CBD and cannabis-derived terpenes are held in a very dodgy gray area, especially for brewers and distillers.
“Currently the TTB (Tax and Trade Bureau)—the long arm of the law in beer—has shot down attempts at using [certain terpenes] in beer due to being derived from cannabis,” says Dennis O’Connor, CEO of Thorn Street Brewery. Back in 2016, Thorn Street collaborated with Jetty Extracts on a beer playfully called “OG HighPA” and it was a smash hit. Even though the beer did not have a single nanoliter of THC, federal regulators weren’t having it.
“That raises the question: What makes marijuana illegal in the first place? Doubtful it’s the smell,” says O’Connor. “Hopefully the law catches up with science and we can try again later.”
While Thorn Street may have thrown in the towel on this boundary-pushing experiment (for now), others are still forging ahead. Colorado-based New Belgium Brewing Company recently launched its Hemperor HPA, an IPA that is brewed using a hop blend that, according to the company, “recreates” hemp terpene flavors. Last year, Lagunitas tried its hand with Supercritical Ale, a collaboration with AbsoluteXtracts utilizing its cannabis terpenes in exchange for the brewery’s hops terpenes (for a special vape blend). But, while Supercritical Ale was highly popular, Lagunitas is holding off brewing it again due to what spokeswoman Karen Hamilton refers to as a “changing landscape.”
So how is Coalition confidently making its Two Flowers CBD-infused IPA? By using a special proprietary blend that is not derived specifically from cannabis, while also keeping it local and in draft form only.
“Beer is so intimately connected to the land, and it’s important to show how it all ties in,” says Walsky. “There’s a ton of hoops to jump through, but putting the time and energy into it is worth it for us. We see the clear connection there and think consumers do also.”
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