Budding brewers ready for grow biz

A homegrown startup is behind a weed-inspired innovation in beer. Torontobased Province Brands has created “the world’s first beer brewed from cannabis,” The Guardian reports.

The groundbreaking brew is alcohol- and glutenfree, and reportedly packs a prompt high. And unlike other cannabis beers on the market – which are made from barley, dealcoholized and infused with marijuana oil – Province Brand’s beer is brewed from “the stalks, stem and roots” of actual cannabis plants.

As of October 17, marijuana will be legal for recreational use in Canada, with the legalization of edibles anticipated to follow a year later.

“I don’t think there was anywhere else in the world where we could do this business. Canada is already leading the world in creating an industry around medical cannabis and we expect them to continue to lead the world in trading and industry around adult-use cannabis,” Dooma Wendschuh, CEO and co-founder of Province Brands, told The Guardian.

Wendschuh said that the startup aims to produce a beer that “will be roughly the equivalent of a single dose of alcohol” (the prototypes have averaged roughly 6.5 mg THC per brew). Province Brands also has plans for another world’s first: a $50 million-brewery dedicated to the unique brewing technique where it will produce a range of beers using various strains of cannabis.

Creating a pleasant-tasting brew was a challenge, Wendschuh admitted. His first foray “tasted like rotten broccoli” but after teaming up with a chemist, he succeeded in striking a balance between the chief ingredients. “The flavour is dry, savoury, less sweet than a typical beer flavour,” said Wendschuh. “The beer hits you very quickly, which is not common for a marijuana edible.”