Cannabis-Brewed Beer Should Be Ready to Sell When Legalized
Province Brands Says Cannabis-Brewed Beer Different from Infused Beverages – LPC
Province Brands of Canada announced its “world’s first cannabis-brewed beer” will be ready when cannabis edibles are legalized in 2019. That’s a big difference from cannabis-infused drinks, said Dooma Wendschuh, co-founder and CEO of Province Brands.
“People said it was completely impossible,” Wendschuh said. “We did not listen. We figured there must be a way. We spent an insane amount of money and hired some of the top researchers in the world and we were very fortunate to find people who were prepared to make this their life’s work.”
It took those top researchers five years to find the right formula. The initial batches “tasted like rotten broccoli and would have cost $60 a bottle” according to Wendschuh. Presumably they’ve made a better-tasting cannabis-brewed beer, but the public will not get to taste it until cannabis edibles including beverages are legalized later in 2019.
The company says the taste of its cannabis-brewed beer includes flavours of beer, hops, and cannabis, and will contain 6.5mg of THC. However, there will be a lot less sugar, making it less sweet and lower in carbs than a traditional beer. The company says each bottle will be around 40 calories.
Province Brands, which describes itself as a “highly disruptive premium adult beverage company”, already announced the launch of its hemp-based beer. Cambridge Bay Imperial Pilsner is a 7% beer brewed from hemp instead of barley or other grains.
Market for Cannabis Edibles and Other Products Could Be Huge – LPC
When cannabis was legalized in Canada on October 17, 2018, it didn’t include certain cannabis products including edibles, beverages (including cannabis-brewed beer), extracts, and topicals. In December 2018, Health Canada announced proposed regulations for these new cannabis products.
At the time, at least one industry expert predicted that the edibles market could make up 40 to 50 per cent of the total market in Canada. States in the US such as California, Colorado, and Oregon report that edibles and other cannabis products represent 43 per cent of the total market.
However, a new cannabis-brewed beer could change the market, since this product does not yet exist anywhere in the world. Health Canada does not allow cannabis to be infused with alcoholic drinks. Province Brands’ cannabis-brewed beer does not contain alcohol, and presumably will avoid some of the issues that cannabis-infused drinks. These include bad taste and indissoluble material floating in the beverages.
